What's a good 3-day itinerary for Aruba?

Day 1 stays close to Oranjestad and Eagle Beach, about 4 km apart. Start at Fort Zoutman, built in 1798, the oldest standing structure on the island. The Willem III Tower beside it opens at 9am. Walk south along Caya G.F. Betico Croes, the pedestrian shopping street, where the trade wind at 25 km/h keeps the 30°C air from feeling heavy. Lunch at The West Deck on L.G. Smith Boulevard. The grilled wahoo runs about 28 AWG, roughly 16 USD at the current exchange rate. By 3pm, grab a bus (5 AWG one-way) or a short taxi to Eagle Beach. The sand here is finer and cooler underfoot than at Palm Beach, and the crowds thin past the second set of fofoti trees. Sunset hits around 6:45pm in August. Those wind-bent divi-divi trees frame the orange sky in a way that needs no filter. Dinner at Passions on the Beach, where the tables sit directly on the sand and a main course runs 35 to 50 USD.

Day 2 needs a rental car. Arikok National Park covers about 34 square kilometres, roughly 20% of Aruba's land area. Enter through the main gate at 8am, when the rocky interior still feels cool. Admission is 11 USD. Fontein Cave holds Arawak petroglyphs that likely date back 1,000 years, the limestone chalky and warm under your fingers. Boca Prins is a wild windward beach where waves hit cliff walls hard enough to feel the spray from 10 metres back. Do not swim there. Leave the park by noon and drive south to San Nicolas. The Aruba Art Fair launched the street art movement in 2016. About 40 facades along Bernhardstraat carry large-scale murals now. Charlie's Bar, open since 1941, has a ceiling layered thick with decades of license plates and business cards. Lunch at Zeerovers on Savaneta Road. Pick your fish at the counter, they fry it, and you eat on a wooden deck over the shallows. Red snapper runs about 18 AWG per 100 grams. After lunch, drive 15 minutes to Baby Beach at the island's southeast tip, where a reef barrier keeps the lagoon calm and knee-deep for 50 metres out.

Day 3 covers the north coast and Palm Beach. Start at Alto Vista Chapel by 8am. The small yellow structure was rebuilt in 1952 on the site of Aruba's first Catholic chapel from 1750. It sits alone on a rocky hill with nothing around it but cactus and dry wind. By 10am, drive to the California Lighthouse at the northwest tip, named after the SS California that wrecked offshore in 1891. Admission to the top is 5 USD, and the view reaches down the entire west coast. Lunch at Faro Blanco at the lighthouse base. The tuna tartare runs 24 USD, and the constant breeze off the cliffs makes the terrace feel 4 or 5 degrees cooler than Oranjestad. Spend the afternoon at Palm Beach. The water is calm, the sand firm enough to walk on without sinking. Bugaloe Beach Bar, on a pier at the north end of the beach, does a decent frozen cocktail for about 14 USD. Worth noting that Palm Beach is where the high-rise hotels line up, so it gets crowded after 11am. The quieter strip at Eagle Beach sits 10 minutes south by car.

Aruba is 30 km long and 9 km at its widest. You could drive end to end in 40 minutes. Day 1 works on foot and the Arubus system at 5 AWG per ride. Days 2 and 3 need a car. Rates begin at about 45 USD per day from agencies near the cruise terminal on L.G. Smith Boulevard. A 4x4 is not necessary unless you want the Natural Pool inside Arikok, which requires rough unpaved track that most rental agreements prohibit in sedans. That side trip adds about 2 hours. Papiamento is the first language for most locals, but every restaurant and attraction on this route operates in English.