Best Things to do in Willemstad Curacao: What I did in One Day

I remember when I first arrived in Willemstad, Curacao and I was immediately in awe of all the colorful buildings and how nice everything looks. This is really not the norm for Caribbean capital cities. Willemstad is hands down one of my favorite places in the Caribbean.

I personally spent one day in Willemstad, because we had a really long 30 hour layover on our way to the Dominican Republic. I really love the European style architecture of all the buildings and hotels around the city.

After spending the entire day walking around Willemstad and doing a lot of exploring, I think I am pretty qualified to make this guide on the best things to do in Willemstad Curacao, based on my personal experiences.

We stayed at Saint Tropez in Pietermaai and arrived at the hotel at around 11 am, a few hours before check-in. Instead of sitting around waiting, we left our luggage and just started walking. That ended up being the best way to experience the city.

We didn’t book a walking tour or create a strict itinerary. We walked through Pietermaai, explored Punda, crossed the Queen Emma Bridge, wandered around Otrobanda, stopped for food and drinks and stayed out until wee hours in the morning.

Willemstad isn’t a city where there are a lot of individual activities to partake in, but the best way to describe it is that the entire city is the attraction.

Walk around Pietermaai

One of the first things I recommend doing in Willemstad is simply walking around Pietermaai. This is where we stayed, so it was also the first part of Willemstad that I really got to explore.

Our hotel, Saint Tropez, was right along the waterfront in Pietermaai. Once we left our luggage, we started walking without really knowing where we were going. We didn’t have a tour booked or a list of streets we needed to see. If something looked interesting, we walked toward it. That actually became one of my favorite parts of visiting Willemstad.

To me, Pietermaai looks like a very typical European city. There are cobblestone streets, very old colorful uildings, small hotels and fun packed places to eat and drink. Almost all the restaurants had people sitting outside of them in typical European fashion. I loved this about Willemstad because it’s very different from most other Caribbean towns I’ve visited.

I’d also say that just simply exploring on foot is a great way to find other things to do in Willemstad without spending lots of money.

See the Handelskade Waterfront

I’ve never seen pictures of Curacao without seeing this famous area. The waterfront is lined with very brightly colored Dutch-styled buildings. I was really surprised because seeing it in person makes me understand why so many people come here.

UNESCO describes historic Willemstad as a particularly well-preserved Dutch colonial trading settlement whose architecture also shows influences from other cultures and colonial cities in the region.

You don’t really need to schedule time specifically for Handelskade either. If you’re exploring Punda and walking toward the Queen Emma Bridge, you’re going to see it naturally like I did.

Cross the Queen Emma Bridge

I actually came here twice because I went during the day time and we took pictures and ate some food nearby. Then we came back at night at it looked even more spectacular. There were lights on the bridge and hundreds of people walking, eating ice cream and just hanging out.

If you have 1 day in Curacao or 10, this is just a cool experience that you have to do. Along our journey through Willemstad and stopping off at different interesting places, it was only a matter of time until we came across the famous Queen Emma Bridge. You really can’t miss it. This bridge is a popular tourist attraction, day or night.

We happened to be standing in Otrobanda waiting for our food when the bells started ringing and the entire bridge slowly swung open for a passing ship. Suddenly our simple walk back to the hotel turned into an unexpected hour exploring a part of the city we hadn’t planned on seeing.

While we were exploring, we ventured into Otrobanda and decided to buy some food there. While we were in line waiting on the food, the Queen Emma Bridge bells started to ring and eventually the bridge opened up for ships to pass through. That means we were stuck on the other side of where out hotel was for about an hour. But, that was no problem we just ate, fed some stray dogs and explored this side of the bridge. However, if you do get stuck while the bridge is opened for ships to pass, there is a free ferry that can take you to the other side.

At night the bridge lights up with many different colored lights lining the top of the bridge, arched over the entire length of it. There are many tourists this time of night on the bridge eating ice cream and being romantic and having a stroll along the bridge. This is definitely one of the more iconic things to do in Willemstad.

Hangout with food and drinks after dark

One thing I really enjoyed about Willemstad was how easy it was to stop somewhere, sit outside and just enjoy the atmosphere. We eventually went back to Saint Tropez and had drinks and something to eat while looking out at the water around sunset.

After walking around in the Curaçao heat for hours, this was probably one of the best decisions we made all day. Pietermaai is particularly good for this because there are plenty of restaurants and bars packed into the neighborhood. You don’t necessarily need to visit the same place I did though. I didn’t even visit that many places. You can just walk around and see what catches your eye.

I think the better advice is simply to leave some time to sit down somewhere in Willemstad. Don’t spend the entire day rushing between attractions. Some of my favorite moments in Willemstad were when we weren’t actually doing anything. If you’re still in Willemstad at night, go out for dinner. We ended up going out pretty late and I was surprised by how alive the city still felt.

Restaurants were busy, people were sitting outside, bars were open and the streets around Punda and Pietermaai still had plenty of activity.

We eventually found La Bohème down one of the smaller streets and ate there because it was one of the few places we came across that wasn’t completely packed.

The small amount of food I experienced in Willemstad felt very international, with a mixture of Caribbean, Dutch, European and other influences. I simply wasn’t in Curaçao long enough to eat at enough local restaurants to tell you that my experience represented Curaçaoan cuisine as a whole. I just remember seeing a lot of general stuff like burgers, pasta and sandwiches.

Frequently Asked Questions about Willemstad