Hello,
I am from Norway and we are going to Aruba in August.
I have been several times in Houston and Miami. And it is a shopping eldorado for me
How is it at Aruba ? Are there any typical american shops ?
or would it be more european shops?

Thank you in advance for any responses

Yup, you can shop until you drop. And as you, we are from Europe, so everything is cheap!!

For photo's of our trips we took in 2007 & 2008 to Aruba, visit our site at: http://www.kingpin-angel.eu/

I am Danish but live in Sweden, and just recently bought a house in Aruba. I too go shopping in the US several times a year, so I can compare from a Scandinavian viewpoint .

Aruba is really Paradise on Earth, but not when it comes to shopping.

Don't expect anything like a US shopping experience.

There are some nice shops, including LV, Gucci and other designer brands, including US brands like Ralph Lauren, Hilfinger etc.
But don't expect the US bargains. I would say that most prices are in between US and Scandinavian prices, so still good, but not great.

Electronics stores are few, with poor selection and relative expensive.

Jewelery are very good priced, if you avoid the ones in the malls and go on the streets instead and pay around a third of the listed price.

Booze is cheap, food are around Swedish prices if you go to the better quality stores like Ling & Sons.

So to sum it up, ANYWHERE is cheaper than Norway where a small pizza is $30 , but come here for the beaches, the weather, the people, (better than anywhere else) and make a stopover in Miami for the shopping, then you have the perfect plan.

Have fun in Aruba, but be warned.....The 20 hour journey and the $2.500 plane ticket will not be enough to keep you from wanting to come back year after year after year.

Carsten

I have two Aruban friends who specifically shop other than Aruba for their "yearly" shopping sprees. Both come to the US to stock up on electronics and clothing especially.

We struck up a conversation with a taxi driver just the other day who stated that she purchased a timeshare in Kissimmee, Fl (the home of Disney World) not to visit "the mouse" BUT to have a place to stay while she did her annunal clothes shopping.

Aruba Bound! ~ Hoosier Kitties ~ Our-Cruises ~ Blogging to Aruba
Back to paradise Trip #18

i have heard similar from aruban friends they head over to miami and some to san juan for annual clothing purchases.

we have brought stuff to aruba for aruba friends per their request:

a friend needed a texas instruments scientific calculator for his son too expensive or not available on island so we handed delivered it

another time
a friend needed 20 skeins of red heart baby yarn and we brought that down with us

now, if these friends asked we bring a PC or a large item, we'd have to say no.

apparently the shipping costs to aruba are highly prohibitive

a few years ago we brought CRest "SPIN" toothbrushes for one of the maitre' d' at one of aruba's best restaurants. we had made a dinner reservation online, we got the confirmation back by email and the request to bring as many of these battery operated toothbrushes as we could. we brought 20, were reimbursed and were given complimentary drinks and dessert by the waiter.

liz-aaruba lover does the same. i think just this past april she hand delivered an external hard drive or some computer part to a friend.

Hello,

Thank you all for the responses
I am sure Aruba is a vacation place for relaxing and not shopping
I might take a day shopping to Miami or Houston. (if it is possible to go there from Aruba)
Thank you again all

American Airlines, has direct flights to Miami (approx. 2½ hour). Still listed as twice a day, but not sure if they changed that.
Cheap and convenient, and if you go for special items, you can even fly out and back in the same day.

Continental fly directly to Houston, but only twice a week, so not so practically.

Carsten

a day trip for shopping to miami would be a feat in itself.
imo, it would be too much hassle for 1 day

if you took the morning flight on american out of aruba to miami it would take 4.5 hrs of your time. (2 hrs at aruba airport and then 2.5 hrs flight time) you'd be then in miami by 11 am or so. spend a few hrs downtown and at malls in miami, be back at the miami airport by 4:30 pm for the flight back to aruba that leaves at around 6 or 7 pm.

if you have tons of shopping to do, add miami onto your itinerary at the end of the aruba trip and be prepared that if you have larger items, the luggage weight will of course increase as will what you owe.

it might be well worth the detour going home to sweden.......aruba to miami to sweden

continental, as schnauzer said, is definately not practical.

andrea