Christiansted

Denmark ran St Croix from 1734 until it sold the islands to the United States in 1917, and Christiansted, once capital of the Danish West Indies, keeps its 18th-century Danish stone buildings in pastel colours under red tile roofs. It was laid out to a plan, and the waterfront still shows it: Fort Christiansvaern in mustard yellow, the customs house, the scale house where sugar was weighed and the arcaded warehouse buildings behind, all preserved together as a national historic site. Behind them the streets are lined with shaded arcades built to keep the sun off, and Danish street names survive. The boardwalk along the harbour is where the town eats and drinks, and boats leave from here for Buck Island. Alexander Hamilton lived here from 1765, after leaving Nevis at the age of eleven, and clerked in the town.

The main sights

• Fort Christiansvaern - the yellow Danish fort on the waterfront.
• The historic site buildings - customs house, scale house and warehouses.
• The arcaded streets - colonnades built for shade behind the harbour.
• The boardwalk - the harbourfront where the town gathers.

When to go

December to April is the dry season; the town is walkable year-round but summer midday heat is heavy. The historic site buildings keep national park hours and close earlier than the boardwalk. Weekday mornings are quietest.

Good to know

It is small and a half-day covers it, and St Croix generally sees far fewer visitors than St Thomas, which means fewer services but also no cruise crush. Some historic buildings have been closed for repair for extended periods since the 2017 hurricanes. The town is quiet in the evenings outside the boardwalk.

Nearby

Buck Island's reef is a boat trip out; Frederiksted and the rainforest are at the other end of the island.

Key facts