61 Best Sights in U.S. Virgin Islands

Part of Buck Island Reef National Monument, this is a must-see for anyone in St. Croix. The beach is beautiful, but its finest treasures are those you can see when you plop off the boat and adjust your mask, snorkel, and fins to swim over colorful coral and darting fish. Don't know how to snorkel? No problem—the boat crew will have you outfitted and in the water in no time. Take care not to step on those black-pointed spiny sea urchins or touch the mustard-color fire coral, which can cause a nasty burn. Most charter-boat trips start with a snorkel over the lovely reef before a stop at the island's beach. A hike leads uphill to an overlook for a bird's-eye view of the reef below. Amenities: none. Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

A tour of this distillery, established in 1760, culminates in a rum tasting, all of which are sold here at good prices—including more than a dozen flavored rums you'll find in popular St. Croix cocktails like the Cruzan Confusion. The distillery is also the best place to pick up a bottle or two of Cruzan's premium single-barrel and Estate Diamond rums. It's worth a stop to look at the charming old buildings and learn about the distillation process, even if you're not a rum connoisseur.

When you're tired of sightseeing, stop at this shady park on the street side of Fort Christiansvaern for a rest. It's named for a famed labor leader, judge, and journalist who started the first newspaper not under the thumb of the Danish crown (his birthday, November 1, is a territorial holiday celebrated with much fanfare in St. Croix). Public restrooms are available.

The large yellow fortress dominates the waterfront. Because it's so easy to spot, it makes a good place to begin a walking tour. In 1749 the Danish built the fort to protect the harbor, but the structure was repeatedly damaged by hurricane-force winds and had to be partially rebuilt in 1771. It's now a National Historic Site, the best preserved of the few remaining Danish-built forts in the Virgin Islands. The park's visitor center is here, and rangers are on hand to answer questions.

This is one of the most interesting hikes on St. John, but it's only for the physically fit as the 2-mile return climb, rising 900 feet from sea level back to the trailhead, is a real workout. Along the way, one short side trail to the west takes you to a small pool where indigenous inhabitants carved petroglyphs into the rock. Another short side trail to the east leads to the plantation's greathouse, a gutted but mostly intact structure with vestiges of its former beauty. Down at sea level, walk around the sugar factory ruins. The beach here makes a great place to cool off before hiking back up. Difficult.

At this 17-acre estate, fragrant flora grows amid the ruins of a 19th-century sugarcane plantation (the former overseer's house has been left open to the elements as a habitat for native fruit bats). There are miniature versions of each ecosystem on St. Croix, from a semiarid cactus grove to a verdant rain forest, along with hiking trails, a small museum, and a collection of seashells. The garden's orchid and bromeliad blooms are impressive. 

The first Danish Lutheran church on the island when it was built in 1753, the Steeple Building has been given new life as a museum with archaeological artifacts and exhibits on plantation life, the architectural development of Christiansted, the island's native inhabitants, and one-time St. Croix resident Alexander Hamilton. As of this writing, however, the building was closed for roof repairs. Admission, when it's open, is included in the price of visiting Christiansted National Historic Site.

Giant bubble makers, a rainbow-colored gear table, and a larger-than-life abacus are just a few of the interactive exhibits at this indoor, family-friendly, play-and-learn museum. Science was never so fun!

Covering more than two-thirds of St. John, Virgin Islands National Park preserves the island's natural environments and is a must if you're interested in bird-watching, snorkeling, camping, history, or just strolling in beautiful environs. At Francis Bay there's a boardwalk through the mangroves, where birds may be plentiful; Trunk Bay boasts an underwater snorkel trail while Salt Pond Bay offers pleasant snorkeling too; Cinnamon Bay's campground offers bare sites, eco-tents, and cottages; and you can explore plantation history at Annaberg Sugar Mill and Catherineberg Estate ruins.

There are more than 20 trails on the north and south shores, with guided hikes along the most popular routes. A full-day trip to Reef Bay is a highlight; it's an easy hike through lush and dry forest, past the ruins of an old plantation, and to a sugar factory adjacent to the beach. It can be a bit arduous for young kids, however. The nonprofit Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park runs a $75 per person ranger-guided tour to Reef Bay that includes a safari bus ride to the trailhead and a boat ride back to the visitor center. The schedule changes from season to season; call for times and to make reservations, which are essential. To pick up a useful guide to St. John's hiking trails, see various large maps of the island, and find out about current Park Service programs—including guided walks and cultural demonstrations—stop by the park visitor center at the western tip of the park in Cruz Bay on North Shore Road.

This staircase "street," built by the Danes in the 1700s, leads to the residential area above Charlotte Amalie. Although historic Blackbeard's Castle, at the top, has been closed due to hurricane damage since 2017, the splendid views are worth the trek. If you count the stairs as you go up, you'll discover, as thousands have before you, that there are more than the name implies.

Built in 1848 from stone quarried on the island, the church has thick, arched window frames lined with the yellow brick that came to the islands as ballast aboard ships. Merchants left the brick on the waterfront when they filled their boats with molasses, sugar, mahogany, and rum for the return voyage. The church was built in celebration of the end of slavery in the USVI.

If you're strolling downtown Christiansted's streets, it's worth a peek into the Christiansted Apothecary Hall. Although the exhibits are behind Plexiglas, they give you a glimpse into a 19th-century pharmacy. This tiny museum is at the original location of a pharmacy that operated from 1820 to 1970.

St. John's highest peak rises to 1,277 feet. Route 10 passes near enough to the top to offer breathtaking vistas. Don't stray into the road here—cars whiz by at a good clip along this section. Instead, drive nearly to the end of the dirt road that heads off to Picture Point and the trailhead of the hike downhill to Lameshur. Get a trail map from the park service before you start. It's a relatively easy 2 miles (3 km) down, but the hike back up is strenuous due to the steep incline.

Watch jets land at the Cyril E. King Airport as you dip into the usually calm seas. Rocks at either end of the shoreline, patches of grass poking randomly through the sand, and shady tamarind trees 30 feet from the water give this beach a wild, natural feel. Civilization has arrived, in the form of one or two mobile food vans parked on the nearby road. Buy a fried-chicken leg and johnnycake or burgers and chips to munch on at the picnic tables. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; toilets. Best for: sunset; swimming.

On the island's breezy North Shore, Cane Bay does not always have gentle waters but the scuba diving and snorkeling are wondrous. You can see elkhorn and brain corals, and less than 200 yards out is the drop-off called the Cane Bay Wall. Make Cane Bay an all-day destination by combining a dive with food and drinks at the casual bars and restaurants that line the waterfront, including the excellent AMA at Cane Bay. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

The base for Captain Morgan–brand rum is made from molasses at this massive, industrial-scale distillery. The tour includes exhibits on island and rum history, a movie about the process, and a tram ride through the distillery. An extensive gift shop features a wide variety of branded clothing and keepsakes as well as rum for purchase. The tour ends with tastings of the many varieties of Captain Morgan rum (the original spiced, white, aged, dark, and fruit-flavored) plus two cocktails.

At this fine example of an 18th-century sugar and rum factory, there's a storage vault beneath the windmill. Across the road, look for the round mill, which was later used to hold water. In the 1733 slave revolt Catherineberg served as headquarters for the Amina warriors, a tribe of Africans that had been captured into slavery.

A peaceful place amid the town's hustle and bustle, the park has memorials for three famous Virgin Islanders: educator Edith Williams, J. Antonio Jarvis (a founder of The Virgin Islands Daily News), and educator and author Rothschild Francis. The last gave many speeches here.

Locally called Tortola Wharf, this is where you can catch the Native Son and other ferries to the BVI. The restaurant upstairs is a good place to watch the Charlotte Amalie harbor traffic and sip an iced tea. Next door is the Charles F. Blair Jr. Seaplane Terminal, where Seaborne Airlines offers service to St. Croix, the BVI, and Puerto Rico.

A bronze bust of a freed slave blowing a conch shell commemorates slavery's end in 1848—the garden was built to mark emancipation's 150th anniversary in 1998. The gazebo here is used for official ceremonies. One other monument shows a scaled-down model of the U.S. Liberty Bell, with a plaque remembering the Virginia-bound English settlers who stopped here in 1607, a month before they established Jamestown.

The restored estate, with a windmill, cookhouse, and other buildings, gives a sense of what life was like on St. Croix's sugar plantations in the 1800s. The oval-shape greathouse has high ceilings and antique furniture and utensils. Notice its fresh, airy atmosphere—the waterless stone moat around the greathouse was used not for defense, but for circulating cooling air. The estate produced sugar and molasses from 1767 to 1934, first with animal power, then wind, and finally with a steam engine to crush the cane. If you have kids, the grounds are the perfect place for them to run around, perhaps while you browse in the museum gift shop or attend a food demonstration using the still-functioning ovens in the cookhouse. It's just outside of Frederiksted.

Because there's little shade, this beach gets toasty in the afternoon, when the sun comes around to the west, but the rest of the day it's a delightful stretch of white sand. The only facilities are a few picnic tables tucked among the trees and a portable restroom, but folks come here to watch the birds that live in the swampy area behind the beach. There's also a boardwalk here for bird-watching. In addition, the park offers weekly bird-watching hikes; sign up at the visitor center in Cruz Bay. To get here, turn left at the Annaberg intersection. Amenities: parking; toilets. Best for: snorkeling; swimming; walking.

The former Coconut Park was renamed in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. It's a great place to put your feet up and people-watch. Five granite pedestals represent the five branches of the military, bronze urns commemorate special events and can be lighted, and inscribed bronze plaques pay tribute to the territory's veterans who died defending the United States. There's also a children's playground.

This historic church has a massive mahogany altar, and its pews—each with its own door—were once rented to families of the congregation. Lutheranism is the state religion of Denmark, and when the territory was without a minister, the governor—who had his own elevated pew—filled in.

Representatives from the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism welcome visitors arriving at the Frederiksted cruise port in a tent at the cruise pier.

Located on the pier, Frederiksted's welcome center has brochures from numerous St. Croix businesses, as well as a few exhibits about the island. It's only open when cruise ships are in port. When the welcome center is not open, visitors can check with the tourism office in the old Custom House at 321 King Street (Suite 7).

The museum houses fishing nets, accordions, tambourines, mahogany furniture, photographs, and other artifacts illustrating the lives of the island's French descendants during the 18th through 20th centuries. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.

Popular for its bars and restaurants, Frenchtown is also the home of descendants of immigrants from St. Barthélemy (St. Barth). You can watch them pull up their brightly painted boats and display their equally colorful catch of the day along the waterfront. If you chat with them, you can hear speech patterns slightly different from those of other St. Thomians. Get a feel for the residential district of Frenchtown by walking west to some of the town's winding streets, where tiny wooden houses have been passed down from generation to generation.

Built in 1867, this neoclassical, white, brick-and-wood structure houses the offices of the governor of the Virgin Islands. Outside, the bright red Danish-style guard house is a perfect place for a photo. The view of the harbor is picture-postcard pretty from the First Lady's garden directly across the street.

The inside of the building is currently closed to visitors.

This imposing building stands at the head of Main Street. Once the island's premier hotel, it has been converted into offices, shops, and a deli.