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It’s been described as a small desert island that sits outside the hurricane belt… and the best part about the 20 mile island.. there’s no bad view! Here to get us out of town to beautiful Aruba, from Island Travel Group, is Jennifer Wayland.
Here’s more information about Aruba from Jennifer:
Aruba, an island in the southern Caribbean, located 13 miles North of Venezuela is a small desert island, outside of the hurricane belt, where the weather is guaranteed not to affect your vacation.
Aruba is 20 miles x 6 miles, and very easy to navigate; you can hardly get lost, so I highly recommend a car rental while you are there. They drive on the right-hand side of the road as we do, and there are no freeways – very slow speed limits, so I consider it a very easy island to rent a car and drive on. You can tour the whole island and visit all the sites in one day, but you can’t hit all of the amazing dining experiences. There are amazing local restaurants dotted throughout the island you won’t want to miss and most hotels offer free parking, so keeping your car for a day or two is recommended.
Downtown, where the ships come in, there are many shops, restaurants and the port is lined with open-air souvenir shops that are fun to peruse. But I recommend the historic Eagle Beach area for more low rise hotels, and Palm Beach for your upscale, newer high rise hotels. Palm Beach is the place to be with a bustling nightlife scene. Downtown shops close at 6 pm; Palm Beach shops open at 6 pm (of course there is a hand full open outside these hours.) The food is AMAZING!
For this reason, while there is a hand full of all-inclusive resorts, it is recommended to choose a hotel with a European Plan, which means no meals. If you do choose an all-inclusive hotel, notice the great value in price, because I want you to feel comfortable hitting the over-water happy hour scene and Palm Beach dining and nightlife scene and being comfortable paying out of pocket on top of what you already paid for your all-inclusive vacation, which includes all meals and drinks.
Hilton Resort & Casino Aruba, formerly Radisson, has really improved this property – completely renovated rooms and commons areas. The gift shop is second-to-none. This property sits central Palm Beach, across the street from tons of great restaurants, shopping, and nightlife. This EP hotel has refrigerators and coffee makers in every room, which is very useful. LOVE that you can rent the cabanas on the beach ranging from $15-35 based on location – all very close to the water; after 4pm those un-rented are reserved for free. There are several spacious lagoon pools with zero-depth entry – great for small children. Cocktails are $15 each, and half-price during happy hour from 4-6pm. Hilton sits between Barcelo (All-Inclusive) and Riu (All-Inclusive resorts.)
I highly recommend an evening pub crawl on the Kookookunuku party bus [$47 per person.]
Learn more about planning your next getaway at Island Travel Group’s website HERE.