Blackbeard's Castle

[abb4k]

Having never been to St. Thomas before, what can you tell me about Blackbeard's Castle? Is it worth touring, and if so, how much time should we budget? Is it a guided tour, or self-guided?

 

Thanks for any and all insight.

[stones902]

Having never been to St. Thomas before, what can you tell me about Blackbeard's Castle? Is it worth touring, and if so, how much time should we budget? Is it a guided tour, or self-guided?

 

Thanks for any and all insight.

 

We had dinner there last year. It's a great restaurant.

 

I think a couple hours max would be plenty. I don't recall seeing any guides per se. This is a timeshare property among other things.

[Betsy's Mom]

This and Bluebeard's Castle are really defensive stone towers built as lookouts and to defend the Island in the early days of settlement. They are not anybody's castle, let alone a pirate castle. Save your money and your time and enjoy the beach:)

B.

[Ms411]

The poster who referenced a restaurant must have gone to BLUEbeard's. Blackbeard's doesnt serve food other than cookies.

 

The Blackbeard's tour includes several restored 19th century homes, a small rum factory, and I think, an amber museum in addition to the watchtower. The property also has the largest collection of pirate statues in the world. If you're interested in history/antiques, you should definitely take the tour to see how the merchant class lived during those times. There are also 3 pools on the property that you can use at your leisure, and you'll probably have them all to yourself. There are lounge chairs, too.

 

Many ships offer this property as a tour which, I think, includes transportation to Blackbeard's and back to the ship. If you decide to go into town on your own, the regular entry fee is $12 pp and includes rum punch. There's usually only one guided tour per day, and that's at a set time in the monring depending on which ship sells it as a guided tour. I prefer guided tours myself, because the narration brings everything to life. The different houses have docents, though, who can answer questions about that particular house.

 

The views from the "castle" are incredible, and they've got a nice gift shop. It all depends on your interests.