Things to
Do on St. Croix - Attractions - Places to Visit - Tours
Frederiksted
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Christiansted
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Parks
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Beaches
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Walking Tours
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Tours
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Plantations
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Maps
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Other
There are plenty
of things to do and places to see on St. Croix. You can
visit a rum distillery, tour a plantation, take a snorkeling
tour to Buck Island, explore a museum, attend an event and
watch the sun come up at the eastern most point in the U.S.
Fort
Frederik
Museum - construction
started in the 1700's. Governor General Peter Von Scholten
read the proclamations abolishing slavery in 1848 at the
fort. There a museum and art gallery on-site. There is an
admission fee of $3.00 for adults, however, for those under
the age of 16, admission to the museum is free. The fort
is open on Saturdays only and when cruise ship are
in port. Hours of operation are 8:00AM until 4:00PM.
The Market Place - this an area of Frederiksted that
has narrow streets and alleyways. It is a great place to
see and appreciate the city's historic architecture.
Caribbean Museum Center for
the Arts - serves and promotes the art and the artists
of the Caribbean region.
Museum Hours: Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to
4:00 pm.
Located at 10 Strand St & # 62 King St. - telephone: 340-772-2622
http://www.cmcarts.org
LAWAETZ MUSEUM
- take a walk through history. Wander through the lush gardens
and authentically furnished and historic home of the prominent
Danish-Crucian family, Lawaetz. You can take a guided tour
of the house and grounds where you will learn about how
these people lived and what their values were, during the
first half of the twentieth century. Admission fee for Adults:
$10.00, Children (6-12 years old): $4.00 Children under
6 years: free, Groups of 10 or more: $5.00 (Reservations
Required) The museum is open to the public from November
to April on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10-4pm;
From May - October, the museum is open on Tuesday, Thursday,
& Saturday from 10-3pm. For more information (or for tours
in Danish, Spanish or French) please call (340) 772-0598.
more info...
Other buildings of interest
in Frederiksted include the Old Customs House and Victorian
House.
Click here for more Frederiksted information and photos.
Jump
Up - held
in Christiansted four times a year, this fun evening is
filled with steel drum bands, lots of live music, and Mocko
Jumbies (stilt walkers) dancing in the streets. You will
find many local artisans selling their crafts and jewelry,
along with plenty of island food and drink along the streets
and waterfront boardwalk of this quaint and historic town!
Click
here for more Jump Up information.
The Wharf
- an area of about seven acres that forms the
Christiansted National Historic Site.
Fort Christiansvaern
- the best-preserved fort in the entire Virgin Islands.
Originally built using yellow bricks brought from Denmark
as ballast in sailing ships, the fort includes dungeons,
galleys, cannons, and awesome views of Christiansted harbor
and Hotel on the Cay.
Click here for more Fort Christiansvaern
information.
Apothecary Hall - this is the only historic Danish
pharmacy that has been made into a museum in the Western
Hemisphere. The museum can be found in its original location
which dates back 150 years! The museum is open Monday through
Saturday 10am to 4 p.m. - admission is free.
Hamilton House - This is the home where Alexander
Hamilton spent part of his boyhood. Hamilton was a Founding
Father of the United States. He was one of the most influential
interpreters and promoters of the Constitution and was instrumental
in the founding of the nation's financial system. He was
the Secretary of the Treasury and his portrait is currently
on the U.S. ten dollar bill ($10.00).
Lord God of Sabaoth Lutheran Church - built circa
1740, It is St. Croix's oldest extant church. Its Neo-Classical
tower, which was built in 1834, was designed by Albert Lovmand.
Albert was the official architect for the Danish colonies
at the time.
Steeple Building - This building was originally constructed
in 1734 as a church by the Danish West India and Guinea
Company. It was later used for many different purposes including
a hospital, community hall, a warehouse, bakery, school
and hospital.
Click
here for a photo
of the Steeple Building.
Other historic
buildings located in Christiansted include the Scale House,
The Old Danish Customs House, and the West India & Guinea
Company Warehouse. Many of these structures are still
in use today.
There are several
National parks, a National Monument (Buck Island) and wildlife
refuges on St. Croix. Click
here for more information.
St. Croix Heritage
Tours offers weekly
walking tours or Christiansted and Frederiksted. Each walk
lasts about 1-1/2 hours. 340-778-6997.
The Christiansted tour starts at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays at
the gazebo on the grounds of
Fort Christianvaern.
The US$12 fee covers all admission charges and a cold drink,
half price for children 10 and under.
The Frederiksted tour begins at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesdays,
and starts at the end of the cruise dock. The cost is US$8.
They also offer tours of Estate Mount Washington, the St.
Croix LEAP woodcarving operation, and Estate Little Princess,
which is owned by The Nature Conservancy. The groups range
from 10-25 people, additional guides are hired on for groups
larger than 25.
For more information, call 340-778-6997.
St Croix Heritage Trail
- Take a
driving tour of this Caribbean island's historic sites and
attractions which includes many significant natural areas.
A 72-mile driving tour, it is complete with historic
marker road signs that have the trail's brown and white
sugar mill symbol which guides visitors along the route
between Frederiksted and Christiansted. The route is primarily
along Centerline Road (route 70), extending from Hamm's
Bay in the west to Point Udall in the East.
http://www.stcroixheritagetrail.com
(Click
here for a brochure of the Heritage Trail)
Caribbean Adventure
Tours - Toll-Free 1-800-532-3483 · St. Croix
340-778-1522
By ground:
Visit the historical sites, Attractions, beaches, and shopping
with a knowledgeable guide. 3-6 hours of personalized tours
by taxi, van bus, or safari bus. Tours normally cost about
$30 for one or two passengers for 2 hours, and $40 for 3
hours
St. Croix Safari
Tours - Open air safari bus offering
historical island tours, 800-524-2026,
340-773-6700
The
Whim Plantation Museum
- a wonderfully restored plantation that includes an 18th
century neo-classical great house that is made of rock and
coral bonded together with a mortar of sugar molasses and
seashells. The site includes slave quarters, an intact windmill,
and factory. Guided tours and exhibits tell visitors the
story of life on a sugar plantation during the 17th century.
Once a year the museum hosts a "starving artists" day for
local painters and craftspeople to display and sell their
creations. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturdays,
10a.m. - 4 p.m. - Call 340-772-0598 for more information.
Admission $5 adults, $1 children.
Click here for Whim Plantation photos.
Lawaetz
Family Museum
- Little La Grange - Adjacent to the rainforest, this old
plantation dwelling and its gardens depicts Danish West
Indian life of the early 20th century. Guided tours 10am
to 3pm Thursday through Saturday and the last Sunday of
every month. Tuesday and Wednesday by appointment (772-0555).
Admission $5.00, group rates available 340-772-1539.
Visit the St. Croix Landmarks Society website for more information,
www.stcroixlandmarks.com
Sprat
Hall Plantation - 1-800-843-3584 - Located on route
63, 1 mile north of central Frederiksted, overlooking
Sprat Hall Beach.
Sprat Hall is the oldest plantation on St. Croix, It was
built when the French occupied the island back in 1650 through
1690. The current owner of the property, Joyce Hurd, was
born in the great house in 1927. She has lived there her
whole life. When Joyce was just 20 years old, in 1947, she
decided that her remarkable family home and all the treasures
to be found there should be shared with the rest of the
world. In 1947, Joyce began operating a Bed & Breakfast
out of the great house, she has been ever since!
Butler
Bay - Estate Butler's Bay magnificent Great house was
built during the Golden Age of sugar and rum production
on the island. The mansion has one of the most beautiful
arched galleries on the island, rivaled only by the handsome
ones at Estate Little Princess. The great house is privately
owned and is not open for tours.
Estate
Little Princess -
a 24-acre/9.6 hectare plantation belonging to The Nature
Conservancy that overlooks Christiansted harbor. It contains
18th and 19th century great houses, water-well towers, sugar
mills, and walking trails through native plants. 1-340-773-5575
easterncaribbean@tnc.org
Estate
Mount Washington Plantation - Located on the western
end of St Croix just to the North of Frederiksted. You'll
find a sign directing you off route 63 and up the dirt road
leading to the site...the plantation is about a mile inland
from the coast. This plantation is considered to be one
of St. Croix's most well preserved plantations. The plantation
was in operation from about 1780 to 1820...a time when the
island of St. Croix was one of the the largest producers
of sugar in the West Indies...second only to Barbados. There
is a private residence on the site which is closed to the
public. You are, however, welcome to go on a self-guided
tour of the 13 acre site. No admission charge, donations
are welcomed. 340-772-1026
More
Great Places of Interest and Things to do on St. Croix
The
Captain Morgan Visitor Center and Rum Distillery
- An exciting tour of the Captain Morgan Distillery awaits you at the Captain Morgan
Visitor Center which was built as part of Diageo’s, Captain
Morgan Rum Distillery on St. Croix.
For more information
about the Distillery and the Visitor Center click here.
The
Cruzan Rum Factory - 340-692-2280
St. Croix Leap/Rainforest - A unique woodworking
shop in the rainforest north of Frederiksted is well worth
the visit. Observe island mahogany and other locally grown
wood being transferred into utilitarian and decorative items
by skilled woodworkers and apprentices in this educational
project.
World
Famous Beer Drinking Pigs of Montpellier Domino Club-
Well they would get too drunk and now they can only have
non alcoholic beer, but it is still fun to see them drink
it! They have been featured on Inside Edition and mentioned
in Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine, among others. Located
in the middle of the rainforest on Mahogany Road (route
63). It's on the right if your are coming from the east
(Christiansted) or the left if coming from the west (Frederiksted).
There is a $1 fee to see the 6 pigs, $3 to video them, and
you buy their beer! You can eat there yourself (it offends
the pigs if you eat pork there! Ha!) There is a full bar
and local food for your enjoyment.
Click here to go
to Montpellier Domino Club's web page.
St. George Village Botanical Garden
- a 16
acre botanical garden built over a pre-Columbian
Indian settlement and the ruins of a 19th century sugar
plantation displaying
more than 1,500 native and exotic species and varieties
on its grounds. A rainforest walk and a cactus garden are
among the attractions. Museum Store and nursery. Open
every day of the year except Christmas Day from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m. Admission
$8 for adults; $6 for seniors over 60; and $1 for children
under 12; group rates also available.
more info...
Point Udall - Experience the
secluded eastern-most spot in the United States. On
your way to Point Udall you will pass a huge radio telescope
across from Cramer Park.
more info...
Tide Pools at Annaly Bay
- It is well worth
the hike to get to Annaly Bay and the Tide Pools on St.
Croix. After you make the difficult but scenic hike, you
will be rewarded with a relaxing dip in the tide pools.
more info...
Salt River and Columbus Landing
- Visit the only documented landing site under the US flag
of the fleet of Christopher Columbus on his voyage in 1493.
The Salt River area, a National and Territorial Park, holds
many historic and ecological treasures. In season, the St.
Croix environmental Association conducts tours of this area,
call 340-773-3663
http://www.nps.gov/sari/
Country Day School Gallery - has changing exhibits
featuring the work of Virgin Islands artists.
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