Don't want to shop or beach

[aruss]

Are there any tours out there that don't include shopping or beach stops? We are just wanting to see the sights, learn the history, and stop at some beautiful beaches, but not spend more than 20 minutes or so at them. Does anyone have any ideas?

[The Islander]

Downtown is where the tours take folks to shop. You don't have to shop. Downtown, named Charlotte Amalie, has lots of historic buildings you can look at and enjoy. You can do a self guided historic walking tour and see the Fort, legislature building, old churches, 99 steps... And for the beach, you can indicate that you don't want to get off at any beach for swimming, that you want to just ride along as they stop at the beach drop offs and look at them.

 

--Islander

[Ms411]

How many is your "we?"

 

You can Google st thomas virgin islands walking tour map and you should find links for at least one. The walking tours are for downtown Charlotte Amalie. You can either walk from your dock to town if you're at Havensight or take a cab if you're at Crown Bay, and then follow the recommendations on your map. After you've done a walking tour of town, you should be able to find a taxi that will be willing to give you a tour if your group is large enough.

 

Or, you can take the Blackbeard's Castle historic tour which is also in town and includes tours of restored historic buildings, and you'll have access to their swimming pool on the hill (fee involved here). After the Blackbeard's tour, you could then ask a taxi driver for a tour to other parts of the island. It really depends on how much history immersion you want.

[rubegoddess]

Are there any tours out there that don't include shopping or beach stops? We are just wanting to see the sights, learn the history, and stop at some beautiful beaches, but not spend more than 20 minutes or so at them. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

 

Did you check out your ship excursions? Most have a "taste of" or "hightlights of the island" tour. Or, often you can find a taxi with a driver who is more than happy to spend the day with you showing you around their island.

[CruiseLiz]

You don't want to go shopping or to the beach? Are you crazy?

 

Just kidding! :D

 

Have you considered a catamaran tour? Maybe you could do a 1/2 day boat charter tour (that either doesn't stop at the beaches or only stops for a brief while) and then do the walking tour of Charlotte Amalie w/ the Spanish Steps etc. in the afternoon.

 

Or, you could rent a car and do the highlights of the island on your own. There's a lot to see & you can hit all of the great spots in your own time while you circle the island. I would only recommend this if you feel comfortable driving on curvy roads however.

 

If you golf, that's also an activity that you could do. Mahogany Run has a course that's open to the public.

[aruss]

Thanks everyone, actually I'm asking for my mother and father. They don't want to spend the day at the beach with us, but want to see most of the island. I'll ask if they are up to a walking tour of downtown, but I was thinking more of a taxi type tour and Godfrey, EEE, and others all seem to include shopping and beach time. Does anyone know of a guided tour that sees most of the sights without a long beach drop off time?

[destinationparadise]

shoretrips.com offer various tour options. (sightseeing and shopping, or beach time and shopping, or just shoping etc.) although they seem a bit overpriced to me. airforce1 also offers a sightseeing only tour. or maybe they could just ask a taxi to take them to where they wanted to go for a "custom" tour.

[HandsUp]

Go to package# 6 on Air Force 1 Fun Tours http://havefunwithus.net/packages.html there is a tour package that do not have any Shopping.

 

 

Hands Up

[aruss]

I looked at Air Force 1's website and that two hour island tour does sound pretty good and something my parent could handle. I'll have to do a search on this board and see if everyone has had good experiences with them. If you've been on a tour with Air Force 1, I'd appreciate any feedback.

 

TIA!

[Ms411]

aruss, the US Virgin Islands have a Certified Tour Guide program, and they offer tours without beach for $25 pp. These guides have completed coursework from the University of the Virgin Islands.

 

You can get a description of the tours from their website http://www.certifiedtourguides.vi

[ManOfTheYear]

I looked at Air Force 1's website and that two hour island tour does sound pretty good and something my parent could handle. I'll have to do a search on this board and see if everyone has had good experiences with them. If you've been on a tour with Air Force 1, I'd appreciate any feedback.

 

TIA!

 

Used them in the past and will use them in the future. Papa bear, our driver was fantastic! great sense of humor, great guy, great company, great choice.

 

 

Man Of The Year

[cockermom]

Like the OP, we're looking for a 2 - 2 1/2 hour narrated sight seeing tour without stops at a beach or for shopping when we arrive in St. Thomas in January. Our first choice was Air Force 1 (package 6 sounded perfect); but, as luck would have it, they're completely booked the day we'll be there. Have contacted the tour company that Air Force 1 recommended, as well as two others, via emails and voice mail messages. Never heard back from any of them.

 

There appear to be fewer tour companies offering just the sight seeing tours, and I'm running out of companies to contact. DCL doesn't offer the "sightseeing only" tour option, so I'll have to hope that someone will return our call/email. Sigh.....

 

 

[aruss]

Cockermom, have you checked out that link from above about the certified tour guides. I don't know anything about them but they have some interesting sounding tours. My mom hasn't decided yet, but after reading your post, I'd better check with Air Force 1, to see if they are even a possiblity. Thanks for the heads up.

[seacuracao]

Like the OP, we're looking for a 2 - 2 1/2 hour narrated sight seeing tour without stops at a beach or for shopping when we arrive in St. Thomas in January. Our first choice was Air Force 1 (package 6 sounded perfect); but, as luck would have it, they're completely booked the day we'll be there. Have contacted the tour company that Air Force 1 recommended, as well as two others, via emails and voice mail messages. Never heard back from any of them.

 

There appear to be fewer tour companies offering just the sight seeing tours, and I'm running out of companies to contact. DCL doesn't offer the "sightseeing only" tour option, so I'll have to hope that someone will return our call/email. Sigh.....

 

 

Air force 1 was the first person I met while waiting for Henry Christopher from EEE tours.

I saw Sgt Jeff's posts on Henry and approached him for a tour. We live in the Islands. Believe me, beach and shopping are not on our list of to do's while in port.

Henry is YOUR MAN!!!! I hope he is free for your tour because he will do whatever you want and show you things off the beaten path if you are "Not Normal" like us!! He picked us up in this huge taxi truck even though we were the only 2 he had for the day. Not to worry,mon, Henry made us feel at ease and off we were. We saw the working St. Thomas, from shopping centers , radio stations at the top of mountains(with guided tour), his neighborhood, all of the sights and mountaintop viewing. I had worked in the area 20 years ago and was treated like a long lost brother.

 

I even offered to let Henry stop the tour once we hit town to walk around because I felt that he fulfilled all our expectations and we could catch a cab back on our own. NO WAY, said Henry, he takes care of his people from start to finish..

Remember...all these guys know each other intimately, are very, very proud of their island, and represent it to the max.

Henry...if you are out there, chef jeff from Curacao sends his regards and thanks for the wonderful time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My DW, who hails from the beautiful Island of Jamaica, was amazed at the beauty of ST Thomas and its vistas.....Please let me know how you make out in booking your tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cool:

[destinationparadise]

Air force 1 was the first person I met while waiting for Henry Christopher from EEE tours.

I saw Sgt Jeff's posts on Henry and approached him for a tour. We live in the Islands. Believe me, beach and shopping are not on our list of to do's while in port.

Henry is YOUR MAN!!!! I hope he is free for your tour because he will do whatever you want and show you things off the beaten path if you are "Not Normal" like us!! He picked us up in this huge taxi truck even though we were the only 2 he had for the day. Not to worry,mon, Henry made us feel at ease and off we were. We saw the working St. Thomas, from shopping centers , radio stations at the top of mountains(with guided tour), his neighborhood, all of the sights and mountaintop viewing. I had worked in the area 20 years ago and was treated like a long lost brother.

 

I even offered to let Henry stop the tour once we hit town to walk around because I felt that he fulfilled all our expectations and we could catch a cab back on our own. NO WAY, said Henry, he takes care of his people from start to finish..

Remember...all these guys know each other intimately, are very, very proud of their island, and represent it to the max.

Henry...if you are out there, chef jeff from Curacao sends his regards and thanks for the wonderful time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My DW, who hails from the beautiful Island of Jamaica, was amazed at the beauty of ST Thomas and its vistas.....Please let me know how you make out in booking your tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cool:

Seacuracao,

 

What sights did you visit besides moutaintop?

[cockermom]

Thanks for the suggestion, seacuracao. Sent an inquiry to the US Virgin Islands Certified Tour Guides, as suggested by a previous poster and am hoping to hear something from them (got fingers crossed) soon. Will definitely keep Henry Christopher in mind, if we don't hear back from the certified guide group.

 

Many thanks, again!

[NCTribeFan]

I've also booked with Air Force One for the shopping/tour/beach excursions in December.

 

I'll let you know how it goes!

[seacuracao]

Seacuracao,

 

What sights did you visit besides moutaintop?

There are probably about 30 vistas around the top of St. Thomas. There is a house along one of the roads with a lot of flora and fauna that we stopped at. A very eclectic French woman with an 18 yr old (very Funny) blind son who made a lot of fun at Henry and had us laughing in the driveway. Saw all the rich houses and history of those living inside. Didn't do Blackbeards, been there, done that.

What you should do is the morning tour of the island and then head to either Water Island or St John for the aft to maximize sights. I was going to do that but got to town around 2, walked around for an hour and went back to the ship instead. We were lined up to do "local restaurant", but realized the day before that you do not get too hungry if you have a decent breakfast. Unless the place is on a beach or over water, why waste 2 good hours when there is plenty of pizza waiting for you back aboard:cool:

[edcdcd]

We just returned from Caribbean Princess trip which included St. Thomas. We highly recommend Henry Christopher of EEE Tours for the history he shares, his experiences in military police on island, knowledge of plants, etc. He stops the vehicle often to get off and explain plants and their uses, while other tour operators passed us and kept on! Henry took us to several beaches so we could walk around, swam on one for 1/2 hr, took us to town for as long as we wished and then returned us to the ship. Be cautious when you're looking to meet up with him, for there is another Henry who does tours! Enjoy your time with Henry for you won't be disappointed!