Most writing about the Virgin Islands describes the same few beaches in the same few adjectives. Less of it mentions that you'll be driving on the left in a car with the steering wheel on the left too, that the water coming out of the tap where you're staying may have come off the roof into a cistern rather than from a utility main, or that groceries cost what they cost because almost everything arrived on a barge.

That's what this section covers. The island pages elsewhere on this site handle specific places — which beach, which trail, which restaurant, which town. Travel Tips handles what's true across St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas: getting here and getting around, what things cost and why, and what daily life on a small island a long way from a distribution center actually asks of a visitor.

Where this comes from

This site has been publishing since 1995, and a lot of what's here began as questions asked and answered in our travel forum by people who had already planned the trip, packed for it, and taken it. That archive is a good source for the things that don't change: how the car barge works, why the roads are built the way they are, what catches first-timers off guard. It is not a source for anything current, and we don't treat it as one. Fares, fees, hours, and whether a business is still open get checked against a current source before they go on a page — and where we can't confirm something, we say so on the page instead of letting an old fact sit here looking authoritative.

What's in this section

• Getting Around — driving on the left, the passenger ferries between the islands, the car barge, and what renting a vehicle here really involves

More is being added here as it's written and checked — trip planning and timing, what things cost, and what to expect from water and power in a rental or villa.

Looking for a specific place rather than general advice? Start with the island pages — St. Croix, St. John, or St. Thomas — where beaches, trails, snorkeling spots, and restaurants are covered individually.