How To Spend A Day In St. Barts

Jul 14

Jul 14 How To Spend A Day In St. Barts

Saint Barthelemy, which is a French-speaking Caribbean island commonly known as St. Barts, is known for its white-sand beaches and designer shops. Gustavia is the capital. St. Barts has been on my bucketlist for a very long time. I’ve always read about how expensive and luxurous it was, or if everyone that lives there was a model. That’s the myth from watching too much TV and reading magazines. I decided that I was going to go while I was in Anguilla. There was a few things we had to map out for this day trip.

How To Get There

You can fly or take the ferry there depending on where you’re traveling from. It takes 15 minutes by plane, from Anguilla, but the flight cost more. Roundtrip cost $285, but that doesn’t include your deportation tax which is a separate fee. That is $28. You also need a certain amount of people to get on the plane with you in order for the flight to actually leave out. Since the planes are small and they hold 8, you need at least 4 -6 people. This means you need to call Anguilla Air Services to find out. By ferry, you would have to go to St. Maarten first and then take another ferry to St. Barts. The timing of the ferries weren’t feasible at all. It is cheaper, but due to the timing, you would have to spend a night in St. Maarten in order to catch the ferry on time.

You will need your passport to get there. Do not travel heavy. You can travel with carry-on bags. Since I went for the day, I just packed a book bag. They only have one flight that comes back and forth each day. We had to make sure we were back to the St. Barts airport by 4pm.

How To Get Around

Renting a car is the best way to get around. They don’t have real sidewalks and I didn’t see a taxi at all or Uber/Lyft. The car rental is literally across the street from the airport. The airport isn’t big. The car rental was $57 for the day. If you take a ferry, then it will drop you off in Gustavia, which is where the shops are. You can walk around in that area if you don’t want to tour the whole island. They do have a lot of high end stores like Louis Vutton or Hermes, but also have shops for beach wear and souvenirs. Sidenote: The shops close at 1pm for lunch and don’t open back up until 4pm. Everyone goes on their break. Europeans love a good “siesta” (nap).

What Is The Currency

The euro is the official currency of 19 out of the 27 member states of the European Union. I suggest getting a credit card that has no international fees. You can always change your USD to EURO as well, but I always use my credit card because I love my points! Recently, news broke that 1 USD is equivalent to 1 EURO. That hasn’t happened in 20 years. I am still shocked by this from my past experiences traveling to Europe.