Aruba doesn't have a lot of land to play with, so it's heartening that almost 20 percent of the island has been set aside as the Arikok National Park. It encompasses a significant chunk of the interior and a long stretch of the northern windward coast. The park contains traces of nearly all the significant forces that have impacted on Aruba's history, including Arawak petroglyphs in the Fontein Cave, the remains of Dutch peasant settlements at Masiduri, plantation houses in the Prins Valley and the ruins of an old gold mining operation at Miralamar. The park encompasses 620ft (188m) Mount Jamanota, Aruba's biggest hill. It's worth taking the short but stiff walk to the top if you didn't score a window seat on the flight in and want to get a tip-to-tip perspective.There's a road running through the park, but you'll appreciate the landscape more by exploring one of the hiking trails. Keep your eyes peeled for the rattle-less Aruban rattlesnake, a local resident and one of the island's indigenous subspecies.

Aruba's natural bridge has been formed over millennia by surf eating away at a portion of the rocky northern shore. At 100ft (30m) long and 23ft (7m) tall, it's no major miracle, but it's a pretty decent break from the beach and a good spot to snap photos of your gang when none of you has to be in swimming costume. You can also slurp on very fine fruit shakes at the 'thirst aid' station on the cliff top. Andicuri Beach, a short stroll over the bridge, is a decent boogie-boarding location for competent swimmers.

Aruba's bright and breezy pastel-colored capital is on the island's southern leeward coast, just southeast of the main resort area. It has a distinctly Dutch flavor, thanks largely to the modern vogue for fake colonial architecture. Most tourists visit to scour its boutiques and duty-free shops, but it has three small museums worth a peek if you're interested in the island's history. The small Archaeological Museum has worthy exhibits on Aruba's Arawak inhabitants. The Museo Arubano, located in the restored 18th-century Fort Zoutman, does a passable job explaining Aruba's pre-European and colonial eras. And, if you want to see what jingled in the pockets of the oldendays folk, the Numismatic Museum has a vast collection of coinage from over 400 countries, some of which was salvaged from shipwrecks in the region.Once you're out of the shopping zone, Oranjestad becomes a shabbier, livelier prospect. Local bars, sometimes just holes in the wall, are a good place to prop, watch some sport and drink beer with the locals.

Take an exquisite slice of nature, add a bunch of concrete monoliths, a forest of palm thatched beach umbrellas and a flotilla of watersport toys, and you'll get some idea of the adventure playground that the resort area stretching from Eagle to Palm Beach has become. There's no denying that the sand is as soft and fine and golden as you could wish, or that the water looks like it belongs in a Bacardi ad, but there's also no ignoring that this entire stretch of coast is single-mindedly devoted to the business of providing a well-oiled Caribbean beach experience for as many people as possible. There are far worse places to join the crowd, since Palm Beach has great swimming and snorkeling and Eagle Beach is too broad and dazzling to fit in a fisheye lens, but if you want to discover what Aruba has to offer, don't spend your whole time horizontal here.