Cruise ship arrival brings a lot of traffic but, when the boats leave, wander around the character houseboats on the dock or stroll down to Wilhelmina Park’s colorful waterfront garden and feast your eyes on the tropical flora or get out your camera and capture photos of Beth Israel Synagogue. Don’t miss the Protestant Church behind the Sonesta, Aruba’s oldest house of worship reminiscent of Pennsylvania Dutch country and get a photo of the altar cloud studded interior of Saint Franciscus Church – Aruba’s largest Roman Catholic Church on the Island.

The Archaeological Museum of Aruba has interesting archaeological artifacts as does Fort Zoutman, Willem III Tower and Museo Arubano – built in the late 1700’s as a defense against pirates who raided the island of anything of value. The Numismatic Museum is a small museum where numismatists can spend hours studying the coin collection created by one man who researched and logged each of the 35,000 specimens – truly a labor of love.

And for culture – visit the Cas di Cultura and see a folkloric show or take home a painting created by one of Oranjestad’s local artists. collapse -