Oranjestad – Tourist Attractions & Things to Do by your own (Aruba)

After our plane wreckdiving in the morning, we had a few hours to explore the city of Oranjestad on foot before leaving the AIDA.

The AIDA Port Info of Aruba

location: Oranjestad Port, Pier B
Lying time: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
All on board: 6.30 pm
Port info of aidA: Download

Oranjestad – The capital of Aruba

The capital Arubas has 30,000 inhabitants and the cruise terminal is quite central. If you walk from there the coastal road and the surrounding roads, you have actually seen the most important thing. Our first stop was of course the “I Love Aruba” sign,which is a great photo motif.

The sights of Oranjestad

Not far away is Wilhelmina Park, where you can observe iguanas. North of Wilhelmina Park is the zoutman fortress with the Willem III Tower.

Main Street with the Aruba Tram

On Main Street you will find the Tram Aruba, which started operating in 2013. It runs at regular intervals between the cruise terminal and the city centre. The historical-looking rail vehicles are operated according to the Hydrail principle and generate their required energy from solar and wind power. The tram also stops at the National Archaeological Museum of Aruba.

The blue horses in Oranjestad

Rosalinda, Saturnina, Bonifacia, Eufrosina, Celestina, Sinforosa, Escapia and Ambrosio. These are the names of the eight blue horseslocated in different places in Oranjestad. We wondered why they were standing there and why they were blue. After a little research, we found out that history says that once up to a thousand animals inhabited the island strong herds, because in the past the tie trade, especially with horses, was an important factor for the development of trade and settlements. For four centuries, numerous horses were kept on the island in order to be transported quickly and easily to other places. The blue color is supposed to be a symbol for the journey of the animals on and off the island – as if they had risen directly from the floods.

Shortly after 6 p.m. we walked back to the ship. Then we quickly paid a short visit to the AIDA dive center on deck 3, because here we had to try on our equipment for the AIDA dives and collect it together. When all this was done, we went to dinner while the ship left the port of Oranjestad.

Starbucks Global Icon Island Mug of Aruba

We are collecting the Starbucks Mugs from the cities and islands we visit on our travels. Unfortunately, not every city that has a Starbucks store with an own mug. But if the city has an own mug we like to collect them as a souvenir. We only collect city mugs from the "Global Icon Series", which was released in 2008. You can see our complete collection here: Starbucks - Our collection of Mugs from the Global Icon Series

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Aruba has a Starbucks and also a cup of 🙂

All travelogues from our AIDA Cruise (Caribbean Sea)

If you read the list of islands that AIDA is heading for on the route Caribbean Islands, you might think it was a dream for a moment: Dominican Republic, Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua. To reach eleven islands in 14 days is already a house number. But that was also the reason for us to choose this route. A cruise is predestined to get to know the Caribbean with its thousands of dream islands in a relaxed way. Here you can find all travel reports of our 14-day Caribbean cruise with AIDAdiva.

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Day 01 » Dominican Republic: Punta Cana – Short stopover before our cruise
Day 02 » Dominican Republic: AIDAdiva – Our 14-Day Cruise in the Caribbean Sea
Day 03 » Day at Sea
Day 04 » Aruba: ABC Islands – Diving at the Renaissance Plane Wreck
Day 04 » Aruba: Oranjestad – Tourist Attractions & Things to Do by your own
Day 05 » Curaçao: Curacao – Island Tour, Attractions & the best Photo spots
Day 05 » Curaçao: Ocean Encounters Curacao – Diving with Dolphins
Day 06 » Bonaire: ABC Islands – Diving in Bonaire National Marine Park
Day 06 » Bonaire: Kralendijk – Travel Guide & Things to Do
Day 07 » Day at Sea
Day 08 » Grenada: Diving on the wreck of the cargo ship Veronica L.
Day 08 » Grenada: Molinere Bay – Diving at the Underwater Sculpture Park
Day 08 » Grenada: Saint George’s – Tourist Attractions, Things to Do & Photo spots
Day 09 » St. Vincent: Kingstown & Hiking La Soufriére Volcano
Day 10 » Barbados: Wreck diving in Carlisle Bay Marine Park
Day 10 » Barbados: Snorkeling with turtles in Carlisle Bay
Day 11 » St. Lucia: Diving in the Caribbean with Scuba Steve’s Diving
Day 12 » Dominica: Dolphins, Whale-Watching & the capital Roseau
Day 13 » Guadeloupe: An island tour & the town of Pointe-a-Pietre
Day 14 » Antigua: St. John’s, Nelson’s Dockyard & Fort Berkeley
Day 15 » Day at Sea
Day 16 » Dominican Republic: Punta Cana – Relax one day on the Beach