Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Thomas has been a premier shopping mecca for as long as
anyone can remember. Three hundred years ago, Charlotte
Amalie was a Danish town filled with red-roofed ware-
houses that stored molasses, rum and spices. The shops you
see on Main Street were, for the most part, the shop-ends of
those warehouses. Alleys and passageways were cut to pro-
vide access to the waterfront where goods were unloaded
from ships anchored offshore or docked at Hassel Island.
Today's retail shops still line Main Street, while others can
be found along the widened Waterfront Drive. Alleys and
passageways still connect the two, but they are now charm-
ing cobblestoned mini-malls, which are closed to traffic.
The sheer number of shops and the diversity of the merchan-
dise sold can seem overwhelming. But if you take some time
to organize your shopping forays (and ignore the hawkers)
you'll have fun and you'll bring home some real bargains.
A Shopping Orientation
Dronningen's Gade
(Main Street) is Char-
lotte Amalie's major shopping street. The
13-block strip between Emancipation Park (on
the east) and Savan Gade at Market Square (on
the west) has as many shops as New York's
Madison Avenue.
Waterfront Drive
, widened
on land reclaimed from the sea, also has shops.
King Christian Walk
,
A.H. Riise Walk
,
Hibiscus Alley
,
Drake's Passage
,
Royal Dane Mall
and
Palm Passage
are a few of the alleys and passageways that connect the
two. Closed to traffic and crammed with boutiques and
small eateries, they are fun to explore.
Vendors Plaza
, adjacent to Fort Christiansted, is an
open-air shopping area filled with tarp-covered tables where
local artisans sell their wares. Other items are imported
from nearby islands.
