At noon on October 1st I touched down in Curacao where I would spend the next month. I quickly got to my accomodation, Bed and Bike Pietermaai, and dropped off my bags. I had seen a bunch of pictures of the amazing colors of Willemstad and could not wait to look around. At first I had no idea where to start, the artwork is incredible and impossible to find it all if you don’t know where to look. On the first evening I walked around Punda and enjoyed the Queen Emma Bridge before heading back to check into my hostel and getting dinner for the night.
As I was going to be in Curacao for a whole month I was looking for some affordable tours I could do to learn about the city and optimize my time here. I decided to join the free walking tour one morning which was an incredible tour that took about 2 hours starting at the Rif Fort, through Kura Hulanda Village in Otrobanda and then over the Queen Emma Bridge to Punda. The guide did a great job explaining the history of the city and the island, local museums, and a great explanation of the revitalization of Otrobanda. This tour moved us along quickly but gave me good insight into what I should go and do on my own afterwards. I would highly recommend doing this tour if you are going to be in Willemstad for 2-3 days, get started with the tour and then spend the rest of your time enjoying the city using some of the information you gather while on the tour.
Throughout the next 2 weeks in the city I did a lot of walking to find good restaurants and art work as well as exploring the shipping districts and floating market. Based on my time I have put together an outline of what I feel people should try if they will be staying in or near Willemstad. Although Curacao has some amazing resorts and beaches, there is so much to see and it is worth getting off the resort for a few days to take it all in.
Places to stay:
As I mentioned, I stayed at Bed and Bike Pietermaai. This was a great hostel. The staff was very pleasant and the room was always clean. The location was also great within walking distance (1-2 km) from everything I wanted to see in the city. The only drawbacks with this are that the kitchen is only equipped with small appliances so you cannot cook a full meal easily. I also wish there had been a pool since there aren’t any great beaches right in the city so it would have been nice to have somewhere to relax.
Pietermaai is also full of a lot of Boutique Hotels. A few that I saw that had good locations and looked nice from what I could see are Wynwood Boutique hotel, Bijblauw Boutique Hotel, Scuba Lodge and Ocean Suites. These are all reclaimed from historic buildings in the area and have amazing aesthetics.
Bijblauw and Scuba lodge are both oceanfront (not beach front) and have pools as well so they are nice for relaxing. Wynwood does have a plunge pool but is not on the ocean.
Bijblauw has a coffee shop and restaurant that serves amazing food and has an outdoor seating area by the ocean which gets a nice breeze some days and is a nice place for dinner.
Places to Eat:
Coffee shops:
- I spent most of my days working from La Reina Coffee. This was the best price I found on an iced coffee so I stayed there pretty consistently.
- Van Gogh Specialty Coffee was also a great place to grab a coffee and sit for a while and work. It was a bit more expensive but the environment was really nice and they have bikes for rent as well if you want to take your coffee to go.
- Bijblauw, right beside La Reina, had both indoor and outdoor seating which made it a nice place to grab coffee in the morning. The food was also amazing if you wanted to grab breakfast or lunch.
- The last place I tried was La Bohème Curaçao in Punda. There was a food menu but I just grabbed coffee to go. The price was very reasonable and the coffee was definitely worth it.
Restaurants:
- Rustiq! I cannot rave about this restaurant
enough. It is located right in Kura Hulanda Village and has the most incredible food. I have the stew goat and it was amazing. As I don’t drink, I had a mocktail and it was also amazing. The prices were quite reasonable considering Curacao is very expensive. This restaurant is only outside so I would recommend going after dark to avoid the crazy heat. - Taqueria Maya: I have mixed feelings about my meal at this restaurant but overall I left happy. This is on the main street in Pietermaai with many other restaurants and a good atmosphere. I had a variety of tacos that were all quite good, however I did not love the Carne Asada taco which is typically my favorite as the seasoning was not what I would expect from a taco. The Al Pastor taco was amazing though. The price here was quite reasonable and I would recommend giving it a try.
- Tiki Loco: I popped into this restaurant for a quick appetizer one night so I do not have a detailed review but the Jerk Wings were definitely worth it. The service was also good and the prices were reasonable so I would recommend giving it a try if you are in the area.
Things to do:
- Free walking tour to get a feel for the city.
- Museum Kura Hulanda: This museum highlights the Atlantic Slave Trade, Africsn Cultures and modern slavery.
- Rif Fort for a bit of shopping or to try out some restaurants with a view of the open ocean.
- Punda Art and Culture Walk use the virtual map to find all the amazing murals and art installations in Punda. Many are tucked away in alley ways that you would likely miss but are worth finding if you have time to explore.
- Queen Emma Bridge: This is the swinging bridge that open when boats come in and out of the harbor and is something most visitors should try and hop on once for the experience. It only takes about 10 minutes if it is a small boat so won;t take much time out of your day.
- Scuba Diving: I had a great time diving in
Curacao as well. I use Dive Center Pietermaai for my 6 dives that I did and they were a great shop to dive with. I recommend going to see the corals at Playa Kalki and Superior Producer if you are an advanced diver.
I know there are many excursions to Klein Curacao or Sunset Tours you can do as well but I did not do any of them so I cannot make recommendations for these. After 2 weeks in Willemstad I moved to a new hostel in Jan Thiel to spend some time closer to the beach and explore the rest of the island.