Christiansted has its fair share of historic public buildings and churches for you to sink your teeth into. There are also great options east and west of town and even Buck Island, off the northern coast.

 Perhaps the best place to start a tour of the town's sights is the Scale House at the top of King Street by the Wharf (daily 8.30am-4.45pm; tel 340/773-1460), which was built in 1856 as the weigh house for all the goods that passed through the harbour and nowadays houses the Christansted visitor's centre. Close by, the Customs House currently serves as the headquarters for the National Park Service (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm).

Fort Christianvaern, off Hospital Street (daily 8am-5pm; US$2), constructed in 1749, is St Croix's finest example of Danish military architecture: its cannons still point out to sea, and inside you can take a self-guided tour through the dungeon's torture chambers, visit the officers' kitchen and the barrack rooms, and take in the building's history by way of text and well-displayed weapons, documents and other artifacts.

The same ticket grants admission to the Steeple Building across the road (daily 8.30am-4.30pm), the island's first Danish Lutheran church, built in 1753 and now housing the national park museum, which offers exhibits on the history of the church, St Croix's indigenous tribes, sugar plantations, rum factories and slavery.

The West Indies Guinea Warehouse, on the same street, is currently the post office but used to house the trading company that basically built the town of Christiansted. A short walk north, Government House, on King Street, was originally the mansion of a Danish merchant, built in 1747, but today this long, bright-yellow building (one of the prettiest in town) houses the local government.

If it's open, slip into the courtyard, where you'll be met by a flowing fountain and lush greenery. Afterwards, take in the Lutheran Church of Lord God of Sabaoth, further down King Street, built by the original Danish settlers in 1734, but later renamed the Dutch Reformed Church. Nearby, Company Street is the home of a regular Wednesday and Saturday market at which local farmers, fishermen and local craftsmen sell their goods on the site of the original 1735 slave market.

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