The Essentials
Club: FC Naples
Stadium: Paradise Coast Sports Complex — 3940 City Gate Blvd N, Naples, FL 34117 Seats around 4,600. A purpose-built soccer venue inside a sprawling 175-acre Florida sports campus — synthetic turf, LED lights, open sky
Tickets: Available at fcnaples.com/tickets. No formally designated away section — visiting supporters typically cluster in general admission
Nearest Major Airport: Southwest Florida International (RSW), about 30 miles north in Fort Myers
Driving from Fort Wayne FC Park: ~1,243 miles via I-75 S, roughly 19 hours nonstop. Atlanta is the natural halfway point if you’re splitting it into a two-day drive
Parking & Transit: Free parking at the complex. Rideshare is your best bet from downtown Naples
Weather: March through October means heat, humidity, and afternoon thunderstorms that arrive like clockwork. Pack light fabrics, sunscreen, and a rain layer
Where to Stay
The Inn on Fifth is the move if you want to be in the middle of everything — a boutique hotel right on Fifth Avenue South with a rooftop pool, solid restaurants, and walkable access to the best dining in town. For something a touch more affordable but still charming, the Bellasera Hotel sits just off Fifth Avenue with spacious rooms, a heated pool, and a quieter feel. On a budget, the Hampton Inn Naples Central on US-41 won’t win any design awards, but it’s clean, well-located, and gets you to both the stadium and downtown without hassle.
Eat & Drink
The Dock at Crayton Cove has been feeding Naples since 1976 and it still feels like the soul of the city. Waterfront, casual, unfussy — order the grouper sandwich and a cold beer and watch the boats. This is the one place you don’t skip.
Riptide Brewing Company is technically in Bonita Springs, about 20 minutes north of downtown Naples, but it’s worth the short drive. The taproom at 28120 Hunters Ridge Blvd has a laid-back, dog-friendly patio, a rotating lineup of house-brewed beers, and — this is the real draw — a row of pinball machines that will eat your afternoon if you let them. Open late on weekends, with trivia nights during the week.
Postgame, Bar Tulia in the Fifth Avenue corridor keeps things lively with craft cocktails, a strong local beer list, and a scene that skews more fun than fancy. It shares DNA with Osteria Tulia next door, which is where you go if you want one of the best Italian meals in Southwest Florida — housemade pasta, house-cured salumi, and a wine list that rewards curiosity. Make a reservation.
The morning after, Cove Inn Coffee Shoppe is a family-run counter joint that’s been doing pancakes and eggs since 1980. No frills, no pretense, just a solid breakfast with locals who’ve been coming for decades.
Things to Do
You’d normally start at the Naples Pier — it’s the most iconic spot in town — but it’s currently closed for a full rebuild after Hurricane Ian and isn’t expected to reopen until 2027. In the meantime, head to Naples Beach at Lowdermilk Park instead. A thousand feet of white sand, volleyball courts, tiki huts, and the same ridiculous Gulf sunset that made the pier famous. Paid parking, free entry, and the kind of light at golden hour that makes you forget you came here for soccer.
Fifth Avenue South is where Naples comes alive at night. It’s the downtown strip — restaurants, galleries, sidewalk cocktails, and enough energy to keep a postgame group entertained well past midnight. Walk it after the match. Mercato, up in North Naples, is the other move — a 53-acre open-air district with independent restaurants, bars, a dine-in cinema at Silverspot, and a second Bar Tulia location. It skews younger and livelier than Fifth Avenue and stays open late on weekends.
PopStroke in Fort Myers, about 30 minutes north, is a Tiger Woods-designed putting complex with two 18-hole courses, a full restaurant and bar, and an ice cream parlor — it’s mini golf for people who actually like golf, and a no-brainer if you’re traveling with kids or a competitive friend group.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, about 30 minutes northeast, is a 13,000-acre Audubon preserve with a boardwalk through the largest remaining virgin bald cypress forest in North America. It’s quiet, ancient, and completely unlike anything else in Florida — worth the morning if you want something beyond the beach.
The One Thing
Get to The Dock at Crayton Cove an hour before you think you need to. Grab a seat on the water, order the grouper, and just sit there. Naples moves at its own speed, and Crayton Cove is where you feel it. It’s the most Old Florida thing left in a town that keeps building new Florida around it.