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What to do when visiting Destin Florida
19
items From hotel to food to shopping, here’s a list of our favorite things in Destin.
Map
Sections
4
Hotel
Food
Shopping
Things to do
Hotel
Only place we’ve ever stayed since 2015!
We have stayed here since 2015 and can never bring ourselves to go elsewhere. The pools are great, some walkable restaurants, close to Target and Walmart for groceries, covered parking, tiki hut, onsite restaurant and so much more!
Pelican Beach Resort
Food
Whether we liked it or not, throwing the rec in here! Be sure to read our notes
The food portions are HUGE! We love going here at least one night for breakfast for dinner. The whole vibe is laid back and local.
Donut Hole Bakery and Cafe
Hands down the BEST pizza in Destin! I’m GF and their GF pizza is 10/10. My family also loves their chicken wings. Be mindful when ordering and give yourself plenty of time as the wait can be lengthy at times.
Merlins Pizza
A must go every vacation (sometimes twice 😂). My husband says it’s overpriced food with a good view but the view makes it WELL worth it. Just know the wait times can be VERY long but go outback and hangout by the ocean while you wait
The Back Porch
The food is just whatever but the view is amazing. Right on the bay with boats coming in and out. Just know if you go down to the boardwalk you’re going to pay for parking. 2025 pricing was $20
Margaritaville Restaurant - Destin
YES YES YES. Everything here is so good. Maybe not your typical pick but we smelled this food in the elevator at our condo and decided to look it up. So glad we did. Great food with great prices! And GF buns!
FATBOYS - Destin FL
New location and is in the COOLEST old building. I was particularly excited bc they had GLUTEN FREE donuts. We will definitely be back
Parlor Doughnuts
This is a hit or miss for many. The food portions are HUGE. If you go during prime dinner time, you will wait HOURS. We actually took this off our must do last year but only bc it wasn’t a must across the whole fam
McGuire's Irish Pub of Destin
We found this shop last year and we’re excited we did! YUMMY!
Curly Cream Rolled Icecream
We love going here because it’s walking distance from our condo. It’s good but pricy.
The Cone Ice Cream and Coffee
Shopping
Limited options but 🤷🏻♀️
Great vibes with a play area for kids, great restaurants and plenty of trendy stores to shop at. We typically hit this shopping complex up multiple times during our trip
Destin Commons
Only Target in town. Has fresh groceries and a variety of other staples. Can get picked over fairly quickly but a great back up option to Walmart.
Target
It’s the only Walmart in town. Definitely on the dirty side and gets picked over quickly. However for the most part, we can get everything we need here. Their liquor selection is quite good.
Walmart Supercenter
They’ve lost quite a few stores since last years visit but still worth checking out. We love hitting up Nike here and can usually get quite a few good deals. It is a decent drive down from the heart of Destin and if 98 traffic is heavy, expect delays...
Silver Sands Premium Outlets
Things to do
Things we like to do at night
Our teens have this down as a must do every time. It’s pricy but they love it. There’s also an inside arcade.
The Track - Destin
We’ve been here two years in a row and will go back next! Great staff, lots of options, and easy location to get in and out of. There’s an escape room down at the boardwalk but this one is cleaner.
Escapology Escape Rooms Destin
We’ve never done the waterpark but we’ve gone putt putting the last two years. Worth noting that the water park is closed but the golf is open later, which is confusing. The first year we went we thought the whole place was closed.
Big Kahuna's Destin
This is close to the back porch! We go to dinner and then head over here for dessert. Unique candy but again, pricey.
Candymaker Candy Store
Went here for July 4th and boy - what a show! But also, it was also a nightmare to get out of. The parking is not ideal. It’s very isolated. And with a limited set of restaurants, wait times are long. I would recommend going NOT during a busy time bu...
Baytowne Wharf