Trip Planning
The TakeYourBackpack guidebooks are your all-in-one travel companion, featuring the best cities, national parks, hikes, beaches, and unique sites, along with essential tips on when to go, how to get around, exchanging money, and even local phrases to get you started — everything you need for a smooth, unforgettable backpacking adventure.
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Planning a backpacking route through Aruba can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized Aruba itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.
Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.
Travel Essentials
No vaccinations are required for most travelers visiting Aruba, but routine shots (MMR, tetanus-diphtheria, flu) should be up to date, and hepatitis A and B are commonly recommended. A yellow fever vaccination certificate is only needed if you arrive from a country with yellow fever risk. Mosquitoes can spread dengue, chikungunya and Zika here, so pack repellent and check with a travel clinic 4 to 6 weeks before your trip.
vaccination requirementsWhen I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.
These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in Aruba, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.
There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with
Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.
HolaFly eSimCulture & Customs
Arubans are relaxed and friendly, and locals appreciate a polite, unhurried attitude, so greet staff before asking for anything and don’t rush service. Do cover up when you leave the beach: walking through Oranjestad, supermarkets or restaurants in swimwear or shirtless is considered rude. Don’t remove coral, shells or stones, drive off-road outside marked tracks, or stack rocks in Arikok National Park, as the fragile desert ecosystem is protected and fines apply. Topless sunbathing is not accepted on public beaches, and nudity is illegal. LGBTQ+ travelers will find open acceptance, and women can dress freely in tourist areas, though more modest clothing suits churches and quieter villages.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for Aruba.
- Keshi Yena: a round of Edam or Gouda cheese hollowed out and stuffed with spiced chicken, olives, raisins and capers, then baked. It started as a way to use cheese rinds left by Dutch colonists and is now the island’s signature celebration dish.
- Pan Bati: a slightly sweet, thick cornmeal pancake cooked on a griddle. It is the standard side for fish, soups and stews, and no proper local plate comes without it.
- Funchi: a firm cornmeal polenta, often sliced and fried, that arrived with West African influence and became the everyday starch of Aruban homes.
- Stoba: a slow-cooked stew of goat (cabrito) or beef with tomatoes, peppers and spices. It is home cooking at its most typical, served at family lunches and local snack bars.
- Sopi di Pisca: a hearty fish soup with root vegetables and herbs, a fisherman’s staple that reflects how much the island lives off the sea.
- Pastechi: fried half-moon pastries filled with cheese, ground beef, chicken or tuna. They are the island’s breakfast on the go, sold at bakeries and roadside stands from early morning.
- Bolo Pretu: a dense, dark fruitcake soaked in rum or wine, baked for weddings, birthdays and Christmas.
Tap water in Aruba is safe to drink and among the cleanest in the world, produced by desalinating seawater and strictly tested. Locals drink it straight from the tap, and it is fully recommended for tourists. Bottled or filtered water isn’t necessary, so a refillable bottle saves money and plastic.
The main language in Aruba is
Papiamento. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Papiamento skills have become a bit rusty.
Want to understand locals better?The complete Travel Guide for Aruba includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.
Get your local basic phrases 👉
Get the Travel Guide - is spoken almost everywhere travelers go in Aruba, from shops and restaurants in Oranjestad to the resort strips of Palm Beach and Eagle Beach. Younger Arubans and anyone working in a guesthouse or tour company are usually fluent, since English is taught from early in school. In quieter neighborhoods like Santa Cruz or Savaneta you may meet older residents who are more comfortable in Papiamento, Spanish or Dutch, but basic English still gets you through. Papiamento is the language that wins smiles: learn “bon dia” (good morning) and “danki” (thank you), and use Spanish if English stalls with Venezuelan-born staff.
Money & Payments
The local currency of Aruba is AWG (ƒ).
Getting cash in Aruba is easy, with ATMs at banks, supermarkets, the airport and along the Palm Beach strip, most dispensing Aruban florins and some also US dollars. Expect a local fee of about US$3 to 5 per withdrawal on top of whatever your home bank charges. Visa and Mastercard are accepted in nearly all hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and car rental offices, but small snack bars, food trucks, local buses and some beach vendors are cash only. Bring US dollars rather than euros, because dollars are accepted everywhere at the fixed rate of about Afl 1.79 per US$1, while euros are rarely taken. Change is often given in florins, so spend them before you leave. If you need to exchange other currencies, use a bank such as those in Oranjestad rather than street changers, and always ask for small bills.
In Aruba, most restaurants add a service charge of 10 to 15% to the bill, so check before tipping, and leave an extra 5 to 10% only for good service. If no service charge is included, tip 15 to 20%. Taxi drivers expect about 10 to 15%, and hotel porters around US$1 to 2 per bag.
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Over the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.