The first day unfolds entirely in Willemstad, whose historic center, Punda and Otrobanda, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. The morning starts at the Kura Hulanda Museum, set in restored old buildings in Otrobanda, which documents the history of the slave trade and the African heritage of the Antilles. Next come the colorful stairs of Otrobanda, painted during the Kaya Kaya festival by artist Avantia Damberg, before a Creole lunch at the Old Market Plasa Bieu. In the afternoon, crossing the Queen Emma pontoon bridge leads to the floating market, and a gelato stop at Cielo closes the day. If this first day happens to fall on a Thursday, the Punda Vibes street party fills the district and ends with fireworks.
The second day swings to the island's wild west: an early climb of Christoffelberg, the trails of Shete Boka park and Boka Tabla, a swim at Grote Knip and dinner at Landhuis Daniel, an eighteenth-century plantation house right on the road back.
The third day ends facing the sea, in the east, with snorkeling straight from the shore over the Tugboat Beach wreck, a visit to Fort Beekenburg, lunch at Pasawá Box Eatery, then a relaxed afternoon at Mambo Beach. A fitting close to a long weekend on an island that reveals itself in small touches, from colonial cobblestones to white sand.
