11 Best Things to Do in Naples, Florida This Month

Plan the Ultimate Naples Trip

Naples, Florida isn’t just for retirees anymore. This slice of the Gulf Coast packs in way more: world-class museums, wild mangrove forests, and some of Florida’s best shopping.

Here are 11 must-dos for your Naples itinerary.

Walk Through Naples’s Oldest House Made of Seashells

So before concrete became a thing in Florida, people got creative and built with tabby mortar—basically a mixture of burnt seashells, sand, and water.

The 1895 Palm Cottage survived countless hurricanes thanks to this DIY concrete method. Inside, you’ll find original furniture and even the old telephone switchboard that once connected the entire town.

In February 2025, they opened the new Smith Exhibit Hall right next door with cool interactive exhibits about Naples history.

Explore the Shopping District

Those cute wooden buildings at Tin City was a fish processing plant back in the 1920s when Naples was just a tiny fishing village. Now it’s a waterfront shopping spot with about 30 local shops in the original tin-roofed buildings.

Most tourists miss the hidden boardwalk behind the main area that gives you awesome views of Naples Bay.

The docks are also where Pure Florida launches all their boat trips, including dolphin cruises and Ten Thousand Islands tours.

Every October, they host this huge Stone Crab Festival that kicks off stone crab season with live music and fresh seafood.

This Car Museum Houses Vehicles Worth More Than $1 Billion

This place has one of the world’s most valuable car collections—we’re talking pristine vintage rides dating back to 1896—and there are no barriers between you and these automotive masterpieces.

You can get right up next to race cars that made history and concept cars that never made it to production. The whole museum is in this massive 80,000-square-foot building with next-level climate control—the entire place is pressurized and they filter the air twice to keep dust off the cars.

The mechanics often invite visitors into their workshop to see restorations happening in real time. They also run classes like ‘Engines 101’ where you can get hands-on with automotive history.

You Can Step Inside a 1947 Luxury Train Car Here

The Naples Depot Museum is housed in the old Seaboard Air Line Railway station from 1927 and shows how trains basically put Naples on the map.

The star attraction is this fully restored 1947 tavern car that you can actually walk through to see how fancy train travel used to be. Outside, they’ve got several vintage train cars sitting on the original tracks.

Besides trains, they’ve got this reconstructed Seminole village and a 1926 cottage that was about to be demolished before they moved it to the museum grounds. The self-guided tour starts in Exhibition Hall with displays covering everything from dinosaur times to Spanish colonial days.

They even do these ‘Rails and Tails’ events where you can bring your dog along for special pet-friendly tours.

This Sanctuary Protects Trees That Were Seedlings Before Columbus Arrived

Just a 30-minute drive from Naples, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is home to North America’s largest remaining old-growth cypress forest.

You walk through on a 2.25-mile elevated boardwalk that takes you through what’s basically a time machine to prehistoric Florida.

Some of these cypress trees tower 130 feet high with trunks as wide as 25 feet around—walking beneath them feels like being in a natural cathedral.

This Art Museum Contains Masterpieces Hidden in Climate-Controlled Vaults

The Baker Museum (part of Artis-Naples) is sitting on a secret stash of masterpieces by Picasso, Monet, and Lichtenstein that most people don’t know about.

They rotate the collection regularly, so every visit might show you something new from the vault. The museum now houses over 4,000 works of art with state-of-the-art climate control and lighting systems that would make other museums jealous.

The building itself is worth checking out just for the massive glass dome that floods the galleries with natural light, creating entirely different vibes depending on the time of day.

These Futuristic Dome Homes Are Slowly Sinking Into the Gulf

South of Marco Island, you’ll spot one of the weirdest sights in Florida—a cluster of concrete dome houses gradually disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico.

Built in 1980 by retired businessman Bob Lee as a self-sufficient vacation home with solar power and rainwater collection, these sci-fi-looking structures now stand about 180 feet offshore due to rising sea levels and hurricanes.

These days, the abandoned structures look like something from a post-apocalyptic movie set. You can only view them by boat or kayak now, and marine life has colonized the underwater portions, creating this accidental artificial reef that’s become a hotspot for fish and birds.

This Museum Complex Contains Pioneer Buildings Saved From Demolition

The Collier County Museum’s got a whole village of rescued historic buildings and a secret Cold War-era fallout shelter built to protect county officials if the nukes started flying.

The complex includes reconstructed pioneer buildings, a Seminole village, and exhibits showing Naples’s evolution from fishing village to luxury destination.

The five-acre grounds feature gardens with over 140 native plant species and an archaeological collection with artifacts going back 10,000 years. One of the coolest parts is the preserved 1926 cottage that was about to be demolished before being moved to the museum.

They’ve also got an impressive collection of swamp buggies—these bizarre vehicles locals invented to navigate the Everglades before actual roads existed.

This Historic Lodge Has Hosted Five U.S. Presidents

About 37 miles from downtown Naples in Everglades City is the Everglades Rod & Gun Club, a rustic lodge that looks like it hasn’t changed since the 1890s—because it basically hasn’t.

This time capsule has hosted five U.S. presidents and a parade of celebrities from Ernest Hemingway to Mick Jagger. Inside, you’ll find mounted game trophies, antique fishing gear, and vintage photos documenting over a century of Everglades adventures.

The dining room still serves old-school Florida cuisine using recipes that haven’t changed in generations.

The wooden docks have launched hunting and fishing excursions for over 130 years, and you can stay in the same rooms used by all those famous guests who came looking for adventure.

This Community Theater Has Won National Awards for Broadway-Quality Shows

The Naples Players started back in 1953, and despite being a community theater, they put on shows that rival professional productions.

They perform at the Sugden Community Theatre near Fifth Avenue South, with an impressive European-style auditorium packed with technical capabilities you’d expect in major cities.

They crank out over 220 performances yearly to audiences of more than 65,000 people.

You Can Walk Through Urban Wilderness Minutes From Luxury Shopping

Just minutes from Naples’s fancy downtown shopping districts is this unexpected nature preserve with a two-mile trail system that feels like genuine wilderness.

The Gordon River Greenway has these diverse landscapes with mangrove swamps and upland scrub areas, perfect for spotting wildlife right in the middle of the city.

You’ll walk on elevated boardwalks over wetland areas where alligators, otters, and wading birds hang out, seemingly oblivious to the nearby city.

Visiting Naples

You’ll find Naples on Florida’s southwest Gulf Coast, 40 miles south of Fort Myers. Most people fly into Southwest Florida International Airport, which is about a 30-minute drive away.

Visit October-May for perfect 75-85°F weather, or June-September for better rates (but expect afternoon thunderstorms). Getting around is easiest with a rental car, but downtown has the Naples Trolley Tours, and rideshare services work well too.