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Curaçao

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2025

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Overview

With glorious hidden beaches, wondrous caves, amazing snorkeling and diving, and a wild, undeveloped windward coast dotted with prickly cacti and whiptail blue lizards, Curaçao feels like a Caribbean dream.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Cactus stands tall in Christoffel National Park, with Mt. Christoffel in the background, Curacao. (Marjie Lambert/Miami Herald/MCT)

    Christoffel National Park

    Curaçao

    This 1800-hectare preserve is formed from three old plantations, including the Savonet Plantation, which is now the excellent Savonet Museum; combination…

  • Museum Kura Hulanda

    Museum Kura Hulanda

    Willemstad

    Located in a 19th-century merchant's house and slave quarters, this excellent museum documents the brutal history of slavery in the New World, including…

  • Blue Room

    Blue Room

    Curaçao

    Curaçao's most majestic natural wonder is a hidden cave on its western shore, accessible only via the ocean. The prime attraction of the cave is its…

  • Landhuis Bloemhof

    Landhuis Bloemhof

    Willemstad

    As visitors wander the leafy grounds of this 1735 plantation home they encounter a range of things. An old car covered in mosaic tiles depicting sea…

  • The pristine Grote Knip beach on the tropical Caribbean Island of Curacao

    Grote Knip

    Curaçao

    This West End beach is a stunner. In fact, you've probably seen it on the cover of a Curaçao tourist brochure: a perfect crescent of brilliant white sand,…

  • UNSPECIFIED - JANUARY 20: Queen Emma pontoon bridge in St Anne bay at Willemstad (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1997), Curacao Island, Netherlands Antilles. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

    Queen Emma Bridge

    Willemstad

    Spanning Sint Annabaai, this local landmark is sometimes called Our Swinging Old Lady. It's a pontoon bridge that swings open to make way for oceangoing…

  • Klein Curaçao

    Klein Curaçao

    Curaçao

    Remember the one book/song/food/friend you would bring if you were going to be stuck on a desert island? That'll come in handy when you take a trip to…

  • Shete Boka National Park

    Shete Boka National Park

    Curaçao

    Shete Boka means 'seven inlets' – the park is named for a series of picturesque coves carved out of the limestone along this 10km stretch of coastline…

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Best Things to Do

From cocktail-tasting workshops to ATV tours and more, these exciting activities will show you the best of Curaçao’s peerless cultural blend.

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