Welcome to the shopaholic club. Guilty as charged! If you love to indulge in a little retail therapy every now and then then we are sure that this Happy Island will make you the happiest. Aruba is a shoppers’ paradise, you name it and you can find it here. From local hand made products, to luxury brands. From fashion and beauty products including locally grown and made aloe products to Cuban cigars. Shopping in Aruba can literally turn into a ‘shop till you drop’ kinda situation. Whether you are getting down from the cruise or driving down from the airport the first set of shops you will see will be in the downtown area (Oranjestad, the capital city of the island).
Shopping in Oranjestad, Aruba
There are two flea markets for shopping in Oranjestad that we like, one is to the left (right near the cruise port) and one is to the right (by the marina) of the cruise terminal. Then there is the “I Love Aruba” store to pick up souvenirs for you and your loved ones back home. Also you will instantly notice the plethora of jewelry stores for that bling you have been wanting or maybe even that engagement ring for the proposal you have been planning for your girl. Many of those are family owned business existing for over 30+ years offering collections of precious gemstones, luxury brands from Rolex to Chopard and much more. Plus, you can get great prices and quality with service centres in the U.S. too making it easy for maintenance of your priced possessions. The Renaissance mall in downtown flaunts a wide variety of luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Michael Kors, Cartier and much more.
If all this shopping in Oranjestad has got you hungry we’d suggest hop on to the free streetcar/trolley that’ll take you to and fro this street called the mainstreet. There is a tiny shop called “Pastechi House”. Get off there and indulge in some yummy local snacks called “pastechis”. Hey gotta refuel to continue mission “Shopping” right?
Shopping in Palm Beach Aruba
Another major shopping location in Aruba is the Palm Beach area with malls such as Paseo Herencia and Palm Beach Plaza mall, along with several boutiques in each of the hotels, and scattered flea markets at walking distance from the high-rise hotels.
In addition to shopping for luxury brands, jewelry and souvenirs to take back home, you can also shop for duty free items like brand name perfumes and beauty products from stores like Maggys and Penha, located in the malls mentioned above.
Grocery stores in Aruba
And two of our favorite shopping sites are the two major Aruba Supermarkets: Superfood and Ling & Sons, of which we often go to Superfood to pick up a variety of multicuisine ingredients, flavored Dutch cheese to pair with a worldwide selection of wines and alcoholic beverages available plus some sweet local and Dutch treats.
This is great if you have a kitchenette in your hotel room and you wish to indulge in some cooking. Besides these there are several small supermarkets scattered all over the island and near the hotel area that also have beers, snacks, sunscreen, and essentials to purchase.
Ps. If you wish to indulge in some free snorkeling by yourself without a tour and have forgotten your snorkeling gear back home or if you need to buy floats etc, you can check out these two stores: Superfood & Super Do it Center Shaba & Groceries.
So Get Set Go…Mission “Shop till you drop” begins. And by now we are sure you are distracted from this page and instead dreaming of creative ways to set aside money for your shopping spree in Aruba.
But, before you wander off be sure to check out the below links for activities that will please you as much as shopping, if not more. (Honest truth from one shopper to the other)
- Honeymoon/Babymooners/R&R- Now that you have spoilt your significant other with gifts click here to surprise them with these top 6 activities that will warm your partner’s heart.
- Culinary: If you love “Deals of the day” click here for you are sure to love the “Catch of the day”.
- Adventure: Sure shopping is a sport and gets your heart pumping, click here to find out what other activities on the island can get your heart racing too.
- Fitness/Wellness: Hey you need to build that strength to lift all those shopping bags, right? Check out some of the scenic workout activities that will lead to stronger muscles for lifting those countless shopping bags.
- Art & History: While you are enjoying the colorful work & patterns on your dresses & jewelry, click to enjoy some burst of colors & designs on the walls of the island’s sunrise city.
- Bonus: You need to flaunt those finds right? Click here to check out activities where you can do that.
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The places are so colorful and ready to take in more shoppers and those who dare to travel. I would like to visit it one day.
We hope you get there super soon 🙂 These shopping carts around the island clustered in spots truly make it such a fun experience, the burst of colors is so appealing!
I’ve never been to Aruba before but I heard so much about it!!! Can’t wait to go there…Soon i hope.
Oh you will love it for sure Chad, and we hope you get to visit Aruba soon 🙂
Aruba looks so beautiful. We had a trip planned to Aruba in April and had to cancel due to the pandemic. Hopefully we can still visit one day.
We hope you get to visit Aruba post this pandemic Ashley! It’ll be the perfect getaway, especially post these rough times.
I loved Aruba. Always important to check out the local shopping scene and see what the fuss is all about! 😉
Most definitely! Visiting the local markets is also such a great experience in getting to know a place better, plus picking up something to always remind you of your good times there is a must!
this is so interesting, Thank you for sharing so neat!! i have never been beofre I will have to add to my bucket list.
Go ahead! Aruba is definitely one for the bucket list! This and so many other experiences like swimming with the flamingos will easily move Aruba higher up on your list too 😉
This is a very wonderful post, thanks for sharing
Happy you liked in Emjhay 🙂
Wow, you can buy a lot of cool and unique things in Aruba. I would buy something colorful!
That’s perfect! There is no shortage of colorful things to pick from to take back home. We have added so many of those to several corners of our home to keep reminding us of this place and they look perfect!
I hope to visit this beautiful place after this pandemic. I miss travelling with my friends and family.
We do too! Can’t wait for this pandemic to end so we can get back out there exploring all these wonderful places!
it looks an amazing place to visit…the shopping centre especially looks awesome..thanks for sharing…wanna go there once…..
Our pleasure! We are happy you enjoyed reading through the post 🙂
I had no idea Aruba was such a shoppers paradise!
You could shop for days! 🙂 An absolute paradise even for shopping!
You’re killin’ me smalls! I really hope my cruise to Aruba in February doesn’t get cancelled.
Aruba is open to visitors now, so hoping there are no more waves of this pandemic and the trip stays on! Plus so many shopping spots are right outside the cruise terminal 😉
I would love to spend the day shopping here! I have never been to Aruba but would love to go.
We hope you get there super soon Marie. And you could easily spend a day or even more shopping for so many unique things on the island!
The place looks so colorful! I’d love to shop there someday.
The burst of colors and the unique items make for a fun shopping experience so you will enjoy it for sure 🙂
Wow this is so wonderful to visit. I will never stop looking at your wonderful photos. Makes me really excited to visit this place.
That is so kind of you to say, it makes us immensely happy to see that you are enjoying the photos and that they make you want to visit Aruba. This has always been our aim to transport our readers to the destinations through our posts and pictures 🙂 We hope you get to Aruba soon!