Duval Street, Key West

a first stop in key west for many tourists is duval street. duval street is lined with bars, restaurants, hotels, and shops. duval street is the center of key west's party area. the duval street area is a good place to start your visit to key west.

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Duval Street is the heart of downtown Key West's commercial area. This is the center of the island's bar, restaurant, hotel and tourism industry, though there are hotels spread throughout Key West.

Key attractions for many visitors on Duval Street include Sloppy Joe's, Hog's Breath, Margaritaville, Irish Kevin's, and the tourist trap known as Southernmost Point.

If you are a drinker, which I am not but I can appreciate the show, than you can do the Duval crawl. The Duval crawl started with you and some friends at one end of Duval Street, you walk to the other end of Duval Street hitting every bar on Duval, taking a shot or drinking a beer in every bar you hit. See who makes it to the end of Duval on their feet.

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We walked down Duval Street with all of the other tourists looking in the colorful and pricey shops and cafe's. There were a lot of T shirt shops, cigar stands, and a few very artsy and orginial gift shops. Once the cruise ships left it was quieter and less congested.

This is the spot to go in the evening to enjoy some music , have a drink and people watch. As we walked along the street music poured out of every doorway , everything from Country , pop and of course Irish music.

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I’m happy I didn’t buy shore excursion on the ship, instead we strolled along Duval street and we rewarded with having lunch with pirates. Moreover, Kew West is approximately 2 miles wide by 5 miles long. If I had more time, I would walk north to South and East to West all the way on my feet. We visited The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory (voted #1 attraction in Key West for the Fourth Consecutive Year by the “People Choice Award” in Key West). We saw hundreds of living butterflies that are huge and beautifully colorful, exotic birds in a climate-controlled greenhouse. It’s not that big as you first think, it’s rather too small and crowded, but full of wonderful colors!
They have a nice gift shop with nice prices for gift shops and many things on sale. I bough a lot of Christmas ornaments to my collection at the very good price.

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Duval Street is pretty much the center of everything in old Key West. At one end (SW), you have the southernmost point, Victorian cottages and interesting shops. Maybe the occasional gay bar or female impersonator show. Cuban cigar stands, road side daiquiri and beer bars, and the wonderful Key West Butterfly Conservatory. There's even a slightly-disguised Denny's Restaurant which you WILL appreciate if you happen to be up before noon on a weekend day and would like some food for breakfast.

The NW end is rowdier, with Mallory Square and all the famous and wild bars as part of the environs. T-shirt shops, places to buy paraphenalia of questionable legality, it's all there. I found the NW end entertaining...I'm just glad that our cottage was far enough away from all the noise. This is NOT the sort of place where you visit cooking stores or buy gourmet olive oil. You might find other kinds of oils for sale, though. Have a talk with your kids before you take them into the area at night.

But one note...it's basically safe, nobody really hassles you here. Too laid back for hassle, and probably too hot, too. I'm sure crime occurs, but I never felt threatened anywhere on Duval Street at any time, night or day.

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This is the main street in the old part of the city, and you will end walking it a lot. There are a lot of restaurants and galleries. Truman house, Pan Am house, Hemmingway house, Audobon house are either on it, or within the immediate vicinity. There is also a theater.