Naples Botanical Garden: A SWFL Must-See

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I don’t know why, but for years I wanted to visit the Naples Botanical Garden, and I finally got to this spring!

While my parents and I were in Bonita Springs visiting my aunt and uncle we decided to head to the Botanical Garden after shelling at Clam Pass Park.

I took like, a million pictures here and have a gallery at the end, so check that out!

It was in early March, I think midday on a weekday, and it was busyish but nothing too bad. It seemed average busy (obviously I have no comparison since I’ve never been there before but it was fine).

Like most botanical gardens it’s set up as a main loop with lots of smaller intertwining loops and paths throughout.

We did our best to see it all but I’m sure we missed something. Pretty close to the beginning is a big pond (manmade, i think) with a sort of waterfall feature at the far end.

It was really beautiful from here, and we even saw a snake! My dad was taking a picture of something and some ladies by him freaked out.

We all turned around and saw the snake slithering by his feet while he looked around to see what was going on, and he never even saw the snake! It was just a black racer, so nothing dangerous, but it was moving quick!

We made our way around the pond thing until we were at the top of the water feature, which looks like it’s not even there when you’re up there.

Not too far after this we got to the banana trees and I got to see banana pods!! Not like, a bunch of bananas on the tree, but the pod that the bunches grow from.

It feels silly because there are so many cool plants here but that darn banana pod may have been my favorite (living) thing here!

After talking to a guy here that told us about the banana pods, we kept on moving and made our way to my favorite (by far) part of the botanical garden: the musical swings!

This is a giant swing set and as you swing on it, it plays music! So when you have a bunch of people on it, it sounds really cool, like giant chimes! I should have gotten a video of it.

I could have spent all day on the swings but we had to keep moving. So, on we went!

Next up we got to a lake (natural) and got to see some birds. There were some typical Florida birds here and we also got to see a hawk (I think) up in a tree.

Those were all of my favorite parts, and we continued on through the succulent garden to the Asian garden.

I really liked the Asian garden, it was my favorite as far as the landscaping went. As far as plants go, I think the Brazilian garden, the first one we went through, was the best.

Finally, we ended in the little orchid room which I also loved. After reading The Orchid Thief I’ve been fascinated with them so it’s always exciting to actually get to see more than grocery store orchids.

I’m really glad we finally got to visit the Naples Botanical Garden. It was beautiful and definitely worth it. That said, musical swings aside, I actually think I liked the Kanapaha Botanical Garden in Gainesville a little more!

Travel Services I Recommend:
AllTrails – This is my favorite hike tracking app.
America the Beautiful – The national park pass is essential.
Booking.com – This is great for finding and booking hotels.
Get Your Guide – I recommend Get Your Guide for booking tours.
National Park Obsessed – This is the best national park planner.
Skyscanner – Skyscanner is great for finding and booking flights.
Enterprise – This is my rental car recommendation.
See all my resources here.

Where is the Naples Botanical Garden?

The Naples Botanical Garden is in East Naples, Florida. It’s about 10 minutes from downtown Naples, 30 minutes from Bonita Springs, 45 minutes from Everglades City, and an hour from Fort Myers.