The 10-Day Best of Bermuda

The 10-Day Best of Bermuda
Sure, you can laze on a beach for weeks on end, and shop till you drop—or run out of money. But with its short distances and efficient public transport, Bermuda can reveal so much more of itself to energetic travelers during a 10-day stay (a typical vacation for those seeking more than just a weekend getaway). Look below the surface of this reef-fringed paradox and you’ll discover a fascinating melting pot of culture, history, and outdoor adventure encompassing all nine parishes. Split your stay between a couple of hotels or guesthouses to experience the island’s very different areas. (read more)

Unbeatable Beaches
Bermuda’s beaches are world-renowned for their pristine, coral-tinged beauty, and there are hundreds of them around the island. Whether you’re staying at a dedicated beach resort, or at an inland guesthouse, you are never far away from the shoreline (Bermuda is less than a couple of miles wide at its widest point). Although some are officially private, belonging to resorts or restricted neighborhoods, all of Bermuda’s beaches are open to the public sunrise to sunset from the water’s edge to the high-tide mark. (read more)

Haunting History

Haunting History
An impressive 500 years of colonial history abounds throughout the parishes, and the island’s museums and monuments are a fascinating passage back in time. Some are free and outdoors, such as Spanish Rock—the carving believed left by Portuguese castaways when they scrambled to safety along the Spittal Pond shoreline in the 1500s. Others, like the town of St. George, where modern-day Bermudians live and work amid the cobblestoned milieu of early settlers, provide a “living history” for visitors to experience. The East End town, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, oozes a sense of the past from its cedar-clad churches and old limestone buildings that sit on a street grid mapped out in the 1600s. A brand new World Heritage Centre opened in 2006 at historic Penno’s Wharf. The West End Dockyard casts a similar spell: 26 acres of fortified coastline that’s home to a slew of restored military buildings, including the Bermuda Maritime Museum and spectacular Commissioner’s House—a showcase of the island’s nautical and Royal Navy past, including rooms of rare maps, and exhibits on trans-Atlantic slavery, Portuguese and West Indian immigrants, and Bermudian war vets. (read more)

Kid-Friendly Bermuda
Being a kid in Bermuda is like stepping into Fantasia or Alice in Wonderland. There are plenty of weird animals—lizards, trilling treefrogs, yellow-bellied kiskadees. Manta rays gliding like planes under Flatts Bridge and turtles popping up behind your kayak. Roadsides are polka-dotted with trails of Technicolor blossoms, perfect for pretend princesses. And sunshine-packed days spill over with sandcastles, real-life forts, bubblegum buses, and hovercraft ferries. As for snacks, the outdoor variety are always there for the taking: sweet wild loquats, bottom-of-the-garden bananas, and fish pulled up by a handline. (read more)

On the Wild Side
Bermuda may seem like one big manicured garden, but its limited open spaces nevertheless give a fascinating glimpse of the island’s wildlife. Well-managed government national parks in many parishes, as well as nature reserves owned by the Bermuda National Trust and Bermuda Audubon Society throughout the island, offer spectacular ocean scenery, woodland, farm tracts, birdlife, insects, and geology. Contact either of these groups for seasonal information on birding tours and other eco-tour schedules. Don’t forget that much of Bermuda’s biodiversity is marine, not terrestrial; half-day and full-day snorkeling and scuba tours over Bermuda’s renowned reefs can be arranged through several respected outfitters. The beauty of exploring by land or sea is the compact size of the island, meaning that you could be floating over seafans or inspecting mangrove dragonflies in the morning, and still have plenty of time later in the day to cool out at the beach or enjoy a shopping jaunt to Hamilton. (read more)