Oranjestad, Happy Island Capital, Aruba

Royal Plaza Mall

The Royal Plaza Mall, a shopping center with Dutch architecture (the pink building), where you can find some luxury brands, focuses especially on jewelry and although it is not as visited as the Renaissance Mall, you should visit it to get to know it.

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Renaissance Market Place

The Renaissance Market Place, where you find cheap restaurants and variety stores, here there are also cinemas and restaurants like Casa Tua specializing in Italian cuisine and The dutch pancake house, which we consider the best place to have breakfast. As its name indicates it belongs also to the Renaissance hotel chain and is very close to the Renaissance Mall, here you will not find luxury stores, you will find variety stores and cheaper restaurants. At night they play live music and many tourists come as the nightlife of the city is centered here.

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Stadhui y Court of Audit

You can not miss two emblematic buildings of the city, the first is the city hall, also known as Stadhui, was built by a famous doctor of the island and was used as a home by his family until the 1980s, then sold to the state and currently It works like the town hall, a green color that attracts a lot of attention. the other building is next door, gray and similar structure, called Court of Audit (court of accounts) there are responsible for auditing public finances.

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Shops and supermarkets

If you Hosted in this city you may be interested in Ling & Sons one of the largest supermarkets in Aruba, you can find everything, although it is a bit far from the center, 2 km from the Renaissance Mall, more central we recommend Lee Feng Supermarket a little smaller but You also find many products for daily use and food. As you can guess most of the supermarkets on the island, especially small shops in residential neighborhoods are owned by people from China who have settled in this paradise and started large companies. An exception to the rule is Super Food Plaza that although it is not in oranjestad, is the largest of the island and you find products from all over the world especially Holland and Europe.

Restaurants

If you want to know the best of the cuisine, in Oranjestad you will find three exclusive restaurants, two of them contiguous, the first one is Wilhelmina (www.wilhelminaaruba.com) and next found Carte blanche (www.carteblanchearuba.com)

Both offer a quiet and elegant atmosphere, perfectly presented dishes and very few places, so you must book a long time in advance, even reaching 6 months, are restaurants for adults so children can not enter (in Wilhelmina can enter over 12 years). Carte Blanche offers a revolutionary experience in culinary, diners sit at a single table and in front of them prepare the dishes of the menu which is a surprise. There are no a la carte dishes. these two places are ideal for couples dinners and the cost of dinner per person is around 120 USD. The area is not very tourist, so it is recommended to go by taxi or private vehicle. The third is Elements, a restaurant at the Hotel Resort Bucuti & Tara, a modern environment with more affordable prices, dishes with small portions to avoid waste and is that the restaurant strives incredibly for environmental care, have menus for vegetarian, vegan and gluten free. It is on the outskirts of the city so if you stay in Eagle Beach or Palm Beach you will be much closer.

If on the other hand you are looking for cheap restaurants, ideal for eating every day we will give you some recommendations:

For Breakfast: The Dutch Pancakehouse, is really an excellent place, the best pancakes, has won several times the prize for best breakfast in Aruba, although it is open all day and they serve pasta, pizza and more, their specialty is pancake’s, also their prices are very comfortable, visit it, you will not regret it, it arrives early since it is very busy. (Renaissance Marketplace , www.thedutchpancakehouse.com,)

For lunch : Excelencia (Wilhelminastraat 21), Redfish (Orange plaza mall, www.redfisharuba.com), Don jacinto (Latin food, de la Sallestraat 26 ), CocoPlum (Caya G.F. Betico Croes #100 ),
Hamaka Sidewalk Cafe (L. G Smith Boulevard 1).

For dinner: Maroc (Tapas bar, Wilhelminastraat 74, marocaruba.com), Yemanja (firewood food, Wilhelminastraat 2, http://yemanja-aruba.com), Que Pasa (international food, Wilhelminstraat 18 , http://www.quepasaaruba.com), Casa Tua (italian food,
Renaissance Market Place, www.casatuaaruba.com), El gaucho (Argentine cuisine, Wilhelminastraat 80 , www.elgaucho-aruba.com) y Driftwood (Fish and seafood, Klipstraat 12, www.driftwoodaruba.com) In these restaurants and bars you can find prices between 15 and 30 dollars which is the average in aruba per dish.

If you are still looking for something cheaper, you should visit fast food chains such Burger King, wendy’s, Kfc, Pizza Hut y McDonald’s

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Oranjestad is a city that you should visit when you are in Aruba, although it is very big to walk all around, you can visit mainly the tourist sector, the residential areas are a little lonely, go to mid-morning on a sunny day and walk along the pier of the marina Seaport Village, you will see large iguanas by the side of the road and white luxury yachts that contrast with the blue of the sea and the sky, a beautiful landscape that you will surely enjoy.

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