8 Best Sights in Aruba

Take a free tour of the island's only donkey sanctuary where volunteers help abandoned and sometimes ill wild animals enjoy a happy forever home. This is a nonprofit organization and can always use help, whether financially or with chores. You can donate there or on their website, and you can even adopt a donkey—your donation goes to its annual feed and care. There is also a great donkey-themed gift shop. It's a great family outing for all ages. Bring apples and carrots if you want to make fast friends with the residents.  For any donation, you can have a one-on-one hugging session with a donkey for 30 minutes. It’s a great stress reliever. 

Plaza Turismo, off Surfside Beach, is the anchor of Linear Park which, when completed, will connect both main tourist beaches along the coast by boardwalks and walking paths. The first leg—a smooth paved biking and jogging trail that runs from Downtown Oranjestad along the sea all the way to the airport—is complete. There are many cafés, bars, and snack stops along the way, and there are also fitness pit stops with free-to-use public fitness equipment. It's a popular stretch for local fun runs and fitness initiatives, and locals and visitors use the easy-to-access Green Bike rental kiosks. The plaza has also become a go-to spot for cultural events and outdoor entertainment. A new portion was added in 2021 to the Malmok area that ends at Fisherman's Huts Beach. Both stretches have become popular treks for electric scooter riders; there are many new app-operated rental spots. When complete, Linear Park will be the longest of its kind in the entire Caribbean.

Walking around Downtown Oranjestad, look for a blue ceramic horse and an ancient canoe out front of a massive mustard-yellow and olive-green complex. This beautifully restored heritage home was once owned by the Ecury family and it's since been transformed into an ultra-modern, air-conditioned museum with interactive exhibits showcasing over 5,000 years of Amerindian culture. More than 10,000 artifacts are on display, and special exhibits by local artists are hosted on a regular basis.  For cruise visitors, it's a short walk behind the Royal Plaza Mall if you get off at that trolley stop. It's also a stop on Aruba Walking Tours. 

Aruba has the ideal conditions to grow the aloe vera plant. It's an important export, and there are aloe stores all over the island. The museum and factory tour reveal the process of extracting the serum to make many products used for beauty, health, and healing. Guided or self-guided tours are available in English, Dutch, Spanish, and Papiamento; the last tour on Sunday is at 12:30 pm. There's a store to purchase their products on-site, and they are also available online.  Look for their reef-safe sunscreen; it's available island-wide.  

Aruba has the ideal conditions to grow the aloe vera plant. It's an important export, and there are aloe stores all over the island. The museum and factory tour reveal the process of extracting the serum to make many products used for beauty, health, and healing. Free guided tours are available in English, Dutch, Spanish, and Papiamento every 15 minutes, or you can do a self-guided walking tour after their audiovisual presentation. There's a store to purchase their products on-site, but they are also available online. Look for their reef-safe sunscreen; it's available island-wide.

More than 80 species of migratory birds nest in this man-made wetland area inland from the island's strip of high-rise hotels. Herons, egrets, cormorants, coots, gulls, skimmers, terns, and ducks are among the winged wonders in and around the two interconnected artificial lakes that make up the sanctuary. Perch up on the wooden observation tower for great photo ops. (Bring bug repellent as the area is marshy and attracts mosquitoes.)  Go early in the morning to see the most avian activity.

The complex beside the Oranjestad marina and the park around it is the place where you're most likely to happen upon some great free entertainment, including pop-up festivals. Although there's live entertainment every night at the far end in the common area bandstand, many of the bars and cafés also have their own music. You'll also find a casino, movie theaters, and arty little shops that are open late. Occasionally, there's a big gala music festival, and every Friday night there's a local artisans' market from 7--10 pm. Even if there's no planned additional activity, it's a wonderful spot to explore in the evening to experience a truly enchanting tropical night full of colorful lights and sounds along the water. Look for the statue of giant flamingos to find it.

In the past few years, San Nicolas has seen an extraordinary revitalization and beautification thanks to new art initiatives organized by the local artists' foundation, ArtisA (Art is Aruba). What began as a simple mural project in 2015 has since blossomed into the establishment of an annual Aruba Art Fair, whose aim is to create more public art projects every year. Today, incredible murals cover entire buildings, and there are sculptures and mosaic benches scattered around town. Self-guided tours are possible, but a guided tour provides insight into the artists, the inspiration behind their work, and access to all the visual effects included in the new interactive art.