What is the best way to get from Miami to Naples?

It is a couple of hours west across Alligator Alley; times vary a lot with traffic. That is the honest version — the number a map gives you is the version with no traffic, no rain and nobody else going the same way, and this route rarely offers all three.

Depending on the route, the options are a train where one runs (Brightline links Miami, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Orlando), driving yourself, an app, or a car booked ahead (Brightline, n.d.). A train still leaves you at a station with your luggage; a car booked ahead goes door to door. Driving yourself means parking at the other end and staying dry, sober and unbothered for the whole run. An app means standing at the kerb hoping someone accepts a long fare, and the fare can change with demand. The longer the trip, the worse that trade gets.

Flying in, the choice is MIA or RSW. The nearer airport is not always the faster door-to-door once the drive is counted, and the concierge will say plainly which one works better for your timing.

Booked ahead, the car is yours for the whole run: one driver, one fare agreed before it starts, luggage handled at both ends, and a car that waits if you are late rather than leaving. If you are going Naples and back the same day, the same car and the same driver hold the return, which is usually the half people forget to plan.

Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South hold the best tables, with beachfront dining a short drive off. A driver ties the evening together around the sunset. Most of these trips end up somewhere around Fifth Avenue South, Third Street South, Old Naples.