"Old Town" in St Thomas?

[jakenashleysmom]

Is there a district/area in St Thomas that would be considered the "old town"? We are thinking about walking around instead of going to the beach, and thought we'd like to visit a historic, quaint village type of area if one exists? We are willing to taxi, or ferry there. Thanks for your help!

[alphakitty]

Downtown Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas has many historic buildings. Here is a walking tour from Frommer's and a link to a map at the bottom of this page. Hope it helps. :)

 

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/stthomasusvi/0097010008.html

[m steve]

is the oldest town and the main town as well. Plenty of areas to walk to as well as the main shopping area. Walk up the hill to the oldest synagogue and next to it is a place once called Smith's Fancy. Plenty of little side alleys between main street and waterfront. It will be crowded as there usually is 5-6 ships in port.

[jakenashleysmom]

Thats true, about the 5-6 ships in port, thanks for pointing that out. Maybe thats not the trip for us? It is myself, dh, ds 11 and dd 9....don't want to do to much "historic"....may freak them out a little "we're on VACATION"! We really want to sail, but are trying to cut the cost down a bit. We are doing the beach at St Maarten and Coco Cay, so we hoped to do something different without taking a driving tour "car sickness" tends to happen on windy, island roads!

[The Islander]

Blackbeards Castle, which is just above downtown, can be done alone or combined with walking around town. It has some historic homes, the watchtower, pirate statues, nice views and swimming pools - check their website for details http://blackbeardscastle.com/. Combined with town, you could walk from Blackbeards down the 99 steps to town and walk around, have lunch and then take a taxi back from town to the ship. Downtown is historic and contains historic buildings but it is used today - the old warehouses house stores and shops, the old churches and synagogue are still used for services, some old homes are used for offices and some are still homes, the old Danish barracks is used as our legislature building - so it isn't an old town set up to be an old town museum type deal... rather its an old town that has maintained its use as the main town for the island.

 

--Islander

[jakenashleysmom]

Can you actually use the pools? I don't think we'd get away with a walking tour and lunch without a swim......:D

[jakenashleysmom]

While we're at it, any place where we could walk around, have lunch, then maybe hit the beach before heading back? Without a lot of driving (or none) in between? I know, I'm asking a lot....but I want it ALL!!!!:)

[The Islander]

Yes, if you visit Blackbeards (self guided or with a tour) you can use the pools. Check their website for photos, information.

 

Walk around and have lunch you could do in town. Hitting the beach too... not so easy as the beaches aren't in easy walking distance from town or Havensight. If you are docked at Crown Bay then Lindberg Bay is very close, a 20 minute walk from the dock or a very short drive.

 

--Islander

[jakenashleysmom]

Looks really nice there, I think the kids would dig a pirate castle! So jealous that you live there......:D

[The Islander]

Blackbeards is cool, however there isn't a castle there. While its called Blackbeards Castle it is actually a tower. The tower was used along with the tower at a similarly named property (Bluebeards Castle) and Fort Christian as defenses for the harbor during the Danish colonial days. Anyway just wanted to make that note as some folks go expecting a castle. ;)

 

--Islander