On the Caloosahatchee River, Fort Myers has a walkable historic center and the Edison and Ford Winter Estates along McGregor Boulevard. The Gulf beaches are separate towns across the water, so choose a riverfront base for city days or plan a drive to the coast.
The River District centers on First Street and the downtown waterfront. Restaurants, galleries, the Florida Repertory Theatre and the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center share its brick-paved blocks. Stay downtown and you can walk to dinner. Beach days still need a car or a longer transit trip.
Follow palm-lined McGregor Boulevard west from downtown to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, with their homes, laboratory and gardens. Hotels near McGregor are on quieter streets. If you want to walk to the estates, check the exact address.
South of the center, Bell Tower has shopping and restaurants, while Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve has a boardwalk through wetlands. These stops are spread out. The airport and Florida Gulf Coast University area sit farther southeast, so a rental car is useful for a trip that mixes city, nature and coast.
Winter and spring bring warm afternoons and comparatively little rain. Summer is hotter and wetter, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms. Southwest Florida International Airport is southeast of downtown. A LeeTran bus connects it through Daniels Parkway, but a taxi, rideshare or rental car gets you to a hotel more directly.