Heading up from Miami

[LJP]

DH and i have just booked for the last week in Sept/ first week in October. We've managed to get Virgin flights to and from Miami for £315 each + tax - this seems to have been a good deal as I've been checking prices for months. We plan to spend most of the time down the coast but will drive to Orlando for around 6 nights out of the 15. How long does it take to drive and does anyone have any good suggestions on where to stay around the coast area? We're not fussed about Miami - maybe Fort Lauderdale and then across to Naples. Anyone got any experience of these places. Thanks for any hints and tips.

 

[Van Helsing]

How about Disney's Vero beach resort ( about 1.5 hrs from Orlando )- the drive up will take about 5-6hrs.

 

[Tiggernut_jadie]

Naples is wonderful! We're spending a couple of days down there in November as it's a really beautiful, peaceful place adn makes a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Orlando!!!

The beach is HUGE and goes on for miles -lovely white sand and the sunsets are out of this world. My favourite memory from my last trip to Florida was sitting watching the sunset by Naples Peir - with the tiny wading birds dipping in and out of the waves, the pelican's diving for fish and the dolphins frolicking in the water right in front of our eyes!!!! Unforgetable!

 

[vernon]

I thought Naples was very pleasant ( if a little "stepford wives"ish) , nice beach and restaurants.

Given that Sept Oct is hurricane season you may want to rethink the beach idea, certainly about having to much firm planning booked. It may be better not to have anything paid for much before a week or so of departure.

IS there a particular reason you're not fussed about Miami? IMHO the Art Deco district of South Beach is a great place to visit. Again you could consider the Keys, but in hurricane season I'd be tempted to leave that as a last minute choice, just in case. If there are only the two of you I'd probably just "wing it" and use something like http://www.hotwire.com to book hotels in the last week or so, if you're particularly "carefree" you could just use them to book hotels a couple of nights ahead, I got a fantastic deal in Miami doing that.

Miami's great as is Vero in a very different way, Naples is a good choice, the keys can be great fun (pending weather) you could also consider going up to St Augustine and around the Jacksonville area, if you have a car and time to spare there are a lot of excellent destinations to choose from.

 

[LJP]

Thanks for the tips. Vernon, i don't know why we're not bothered about actually staying in Miami, i guess we've been told that it's just so built up and just like any other big city but i'm willing to give anything a go. Can you recommend any hotel? We were in Florida last year and were meant to stay on the coast the same time as the " big hurricaine " - i take on board your idea of leaving the booking of hotels until the last minute.
Has anyone experienced Disney's Vero Beach Resort - i like the sound of it!!

 

[Van Helsing]

Has anyone experienced Disney's Vero Beach Resort

Yip stayed there many times - aww the green cabin room over-looking the ocean, with a nice cool beer.

any questions fire-away

 

[vernon]

As far as recommending a hotel, the Richmond was my favourite that I've stayed at along South Beach ( http://www.richmondhotel.com/index.html ) but I booked it through hotwire and whereas their "regular" rate was over $200 a night I got it for about $60. I've used hotwire a lot along South Beach. Because there are a LOT of hotels in the area they tend to be quite aggressive on price through a "blind" source like hotwire. It is a slight risk as you don't know the hotel you're going to get but I've always been very pleased with the level of hotel provided for the cost.

Disney's Vero beach resort I've stayed at many times. It's a very nice top class beach hotel, run to Disney standards. You can check out the hotel on ( http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/guest/resorts/resortLanding?id=VeroBeachResortLandingPage ) If you have any further questions on Vero Beach you can ask on the DVC board although if you do a little research on that board you'll find plenty of topics on the subject. Vero beach is a fairly quiet area and the hotel is about 10 minutes drive "out of town" . There are a reasonable amount of decent restaurants within a short drive from the hotel and it has a couple of good restaurants in the hotel (although they are a little pricey by local standards)