Aruba Travel Guide - touring Aruba - visiting Aruba - guide to Oranjestad

Aruba

Palm Beach, Aruba (cc)

Aruba Travel Guide

Introduction

Aruba can accurately be described as a magical mix of the tropics and marketing savvy, resulting in a wildly popular Caribbean destination. Aruba is actually the smallest of the ABC Islands (collectively, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao), 19 miles long and 6 miles wide at its widest, yet one that has done more to promote itself than either of the other two. And why not? It has top-notch resorts, a rollicking nightlife, gorgeous beaches, near-perfect weather, and colorful reminders of its Dutch colonial past. And visitors, for their part, have responded with a big thumbs-up, returning again and again to revel in its festivities and frolic on its beaches.

Location

Aruba is situated in the south Caribbean Sea, just 17 miles (27 km) north of the Venezuelan coast, west-northwest of its sister islands, Bonaire and Curaçao. It is part of the ABC islands group, which is in turn part of the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. Its principal towns are Oranjestad and San Nicolas.

How to Get There

Sightseeing

Towns on the Island

How to Get Around

Where to Stay

Where to Eat

Where to Party

Essential Information

Nearby Destinations

How to Get There

Sightseeing

Aruba's principal visitor attractions include its bustling capital, Oranjestad, packed with restaurants, casinos, nightclubs, shops and boutiques, with a good store of Dutch architecture and a hugely atmospheric waterfront; the 3,000-square-foot, mesh-enclosed Butterfly Farm, with its fabulous collection of butterflies from all over the world; the Bubali Bird Sanctuary, with myriad species of migratory and indigenous birds; the Ayo and Casibari Rock Formations, inland from Boca Andicuri; and the Arikok National Park, an ecological treasure with stunning flora and fauna and miles and miles of walking trails. Among its beaches, the most popular is Palm Beach, the most rewarding for snorkelers is Arashi, the most windsurfer-friendly is Malmok, and among the loveliest are the windward-side Boca Grandi and Bachelors Beach.

Main Towns