Lee County covers the southwest corner of Florida's Gulf Coast, anchored by Fort Myers and extending out to Sanibel and Captiva islands. It is less flashy than Miami and less theme-parked than Orlando, which is part of the appeal — this is where Floridians themselves come to fish, shell, and slow down.
Fort Myers is the county's commercial hub, but its character lives along McGregor Boulevard, a 12-mile avenue lined with royal palms that Thomas Edison planted over a century ago. Edison and his neighbour Henry Ford both wintered here, and their adjacent estates — now a combined museum — are among the most visited historic sites in Florida. The riverfront downtown has been gradually restored and makes a reasonable base, though most visitors end up heading further out.
Sanibel Island, reached by a causeway from Fort Myers, has built its reputation on shells. The particular shape of the island and the angle of its shoreline conspire to collect molluscs from across the Gulf, and the "Sanibel stoop" — bent double at the waterline — is a recognised posture among visitors. The island has resisted the high-rise development that consumed most of Florida's coast; local zoning caps building heights and protects the extensive J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Captiva sits just north, quieter still.
Fort Myers Beach, on Estero Island, is the county's resort strip — bars, seafood shacks, parasail operations, and the dense pleasures of a proper beach town. Further south, Lovers Key State Park offers a quieter stretch of beach through mangroves, and Bonita Beach marks the county's southern edge.
The quieter side of the county lies across the bridges to Cape Coral and Pine Island. Cape Coral is a sprawling planned city built on canals — it has more miles of canals than any city on earth — but Pine Island, the largest island on the Gulf Coast, retains its fishing village character in places like Matlacha and Bokeelia.