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Dunedin, Florida probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind when almost anyone thinks Florida Vacation.
But I’m here to tell you today that Dunedin is worth visiting and is a surprisingly good Florida vacation spot for people that love nature, small towns, and beer.
I haven’t spent the night in Dunedin yet but I have visited twice, once to visit Caladesi State Park and once to see the downtown and Honeymoon Island State Park.
I would definitely go back and use it as a base for the area though! It’s a small trek making it down to St. Pete from here but for north of Clearwater, it’s perfect.
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.
It has a great bookstore
Obviously the first thing on the list, and the first thing I look up in a new town I’m visiting, it bookstores.
Back in the Day Books is right in the heart of downtown Dunedin so it’s easy to visit when you’re checking everything else out.
They had a good selection and variety of genres, as well as some other bookish goodies like shirts and tote bags and things like that.
Aside from the different editing styles, just look at the difference!!
There are two state parks nearby
The two reasons I visited Dunedin were for the state parks, Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island.
I vastly prefer Caladesi Island, like, it’s so much better. It’s easily my favorite state park and beach in Florida.
However, they’re right next to each other so you might as well visit both if you have time, but I would leave more time for Caladesi.
You do have to go into Honeymoon Island to get to the Caladesi Island ferry, and that’s the only way to get to Caladesi without your own boat.
If you can only visit one, Caladesi. If you want a cheaper visit, Honeymoon Island. Either way, try to get to at least one if you can.
The downtown is super cute
I love a cute downtown and Dunedin has one. It has tons of shops and restaurants spread out over a few different streets, primarily Main Street, a little of Broadway, and along the bike trail a bit.
It’s a mix of cute handmade local type stuff, “fancy” gifts (“fancy” because I don’t know a better word), and touristy shops.
We ate at Casa Tina Mexican Restaurant next to the bookstore and it was pretty good. It’s not quite “typical” Mexican restaurant, but it’s not what I would call a hipster Mexican restaurant either, kind of in between, leaning more typical.
If you want a sweet treat, there are plenty of places to find ice cream in the area as well.
It’s great for getting out on the water
If you want to get out on the water for a bit, you can do that here! We didn’t do this on our visit (we were too cheap) but it’s a great option for something a little different!
ParrotDise Express Boat Tours (most budget friendly), A Boat Day, and Dunedin Sailing Charters are three good places to start your search.
There are plenty of great day trips
Dunedin is a great place to base yourself if you want to see the area via day trips.
No matter where you stay in this area, you’ll probably have to do a lot of driving (more than you think) if you’re not just seeing things in the town you’re staying in.
Some great Dunedin day trip options are:
- Tarpon Springs
- Downtown Tampa
- Safety Harbor
- Clearwater
- Clearwater Beach
- St. Pete
- St. Pete Beach
There are lots of breweries
I’m not a beer gal myself but if you are, you’re in luck! They have not just one brewery, but EIGHT! And a distillery!
And even better, they’re all within a mile or so of each other! None of them are right in the downtown area but they’re less than 0.5 miles away.
Dunedin breweries:
- Dunedin Brewery
- Dunedin House of Beer
- HOB Brewing Co.
- Soggy Bottom Brewery
- Cueni Brewing Co.
- Caledonia Brewing
- Cotherman Distilling Co.
It’s not as busy as nearby Clearwater Beach
If you love the area or don’t know if you love it but want to be in the area and want to be somewhere slightly less busy, Dunedin is a great alternative to Clearwater and Clearwater beach!
It’s still busy in it’s small town way, parking in the winter can be tough, but it’s a different kind of busy than Clearwater.
And while Dunedin has it’s touristy things, it feels WAY less touristy than Clearwater Beach, so if that’s what you want to avoid, then Dunedin is definitely better.
Plus, aside from it being less busy, it’s just much more visually appealing (appealing in general). No, it doesn’t have the beach right in town like Clearwater Beach, but with a short drive you’ll be to even better beaches.
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Have you been to Dunedin, Florida? Did you like it? Do you think it’s worth visiting?