St. Thomas guides

St. Thomas is the island every flight lands on, and the side you stay on sets the week. Magens Bay is 14 minutes from Charlotte Amalie, the Red Hook ferry is 36 minutes from the airport, and every area we measured needs a car. These guides are written to that, with every drive measured and every fee dated.

This page holds the planning guides first, then the beach pages, the things to do, the flights and the roads, and the two resort comparisons, with the month the facts were last checked at the end.

Planning guides

The planning guides come first: a honeymoon decided by where you sleep, a sailing week run from a house on land, the island with kids, the nightlife in its two clusters 28 minutes apart, Mountain Top and the overlooks, and Fort Christian on the waterfront. Each names its tradeoff, and the first one on St. Thomas is the cruise calendar: the beaches nearest the piers fill on ship days.

PlanningA St. Thomas honeymoon, planned from where you stayA St. Thomas honeymoon is decided by where you sleep. The airport to Red Hook is 36 minutes by car, and the side you choose sets how far dinner is: Frenchtown is 5 minutes from Charlotte Amalie, Secret Harbour 9 from Red Hook. Below: the areas measured for couples, the months, the evening clock and the court's marriage rules.Plan the weekA St. Thomas sailing itinerary, from a house on landA St. Thomas sailing itinerary can run from a house as well as a boat: a week with three days on the water and four on land. The water days take in Christmas Cove, St. John and the British Virgin Islands; the land days are measured drives. Below: each day, the rules afloat, and shorter versions.Charlotte AmalieFort Christian, St. ThomasFort Christian, St. Thomas's Danish fort on the Charlotte Amalie waterfront, was built between 1672 and 1680 and has been a National Historic Landmark since 1977, per the National Park Service. It is run as the Fort Christian Museum. Below: its history, its status as of October 2026, and the measured legs from both cruise piers.Overlooks and sunset timesMountain Top, St. Thomas, and the sunset overlooksMountain Top, St. Thomas, is an overlook for the daytime: the deck on St. Peter Mountain is open 9 am to 5 pm, per Mountain Top's own site, checked October 9, 2026 (the hours carry no date), and the earliest sunset of the year is 5:42 pm. Below: Drake's Seat, sunset times by month and which way to face.Evenings outSt. Thomas nightlifeSt. Thomas nightlife gathers in two places: Red Hook on the East End, and the Charlotte Amalie harbor from Frenchtown to Yacht Haven Grande. They are 28 minutes apart by car, on the left, on hill roads, so an evening is one or the other. Below: each cluster, the drives from the villa areas, and getting home.FamiliesThings to do in St. Thomas with kidsThe things to do in St. Thomas with kids come down to three gates and a few calm beaches: Coral World Ocean Park, the Skyride to Paradise Point and Magens Bay, where children under 12 enter free per the Magens Bay Authority as of October 2026. Below: what each costs, when each closes, and our measured drives.

St. Thomas beaches, with the drive from town

Magens Bay is the beach the island is known for, with lifeguards, showers and a $7 entry as of October 2026, 14 minutes from Charlotte Amalie. Snorkelers go east to Coki Beach and Sapphire Beach. Hull Bay and Brewers Bay are the quiet ones, and Honeymoon Beach on Water Island is a ferry ride. Every beach page carries its fee, parking, shade and our snorkeling read, with the drive measured from town.

Every St. Thomas beach compared

Things to do, by kind

The days fall into five groups: beaches, the water, the hills, a day trip to Jost Van Dyke, and the history and shops of Charlotte Amalie. Most start with a car. The things-to-do page sets the calendar to plan around, ship days included. The pages under it take each on its own, with what it costs and when it closes.

Getting there and getting around

Six airlines fly nonstop to Cyril E. King Airport from 14 mainland cities, on the Virgin Islands Port Authority's list as of October 2026. The airport is 12 minutes by car from the town ferry terminal and 36 from Red Hook, and a rental is the default on an island where every area we measured needs one. The pages below cover the flights, the airport, the two cruise piers, the car and the taxis, the map and the weather by month.

A villa or one of the resorts

Of the resorts people search for, one sells an all-inclusive plan on its own site as of October 2026: Bolongo Bay, on the south side. Margaritaville on Water Bay is a vacation club and is not all-inclusive. A villa trades the restaurant for a whole house and the owner's rate. Each page puts the two side by side with the taxes and the charges each states.

When these pages were last checked

The drives on every page are our own measurements from Charlotte Amalie or Red Hook; add ten minutes on a ship day. Every page carries the date its facts were last checked; the most recent check on St. Thomas was in October 2026.

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