A cultural guide to Bermuda
This rose-tinted Atlantic archipelago seems to exist in its own time and space, both romantically quaint and at the same time pulsing with its own singular culture.
The best view in Bermuda isn’t on a beach, but 185 steps up Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse. From there it starts to become clear that Bermuda is not one island at all (as many think) but seven main islands and 170 islets cast in a fishhook-shaped archipelago, just 21 miles from end to end. Another common misconception is that Bermuda is in the Caribbean—it’s in fact deep in the North Atlantic, about 700 nautical miles from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and closer to the U.S. than it is to any Caribbean island. There’s a charming mix of British and American influence: helmeted bobbies on the beat and watching baseball at a bar. With a population of less than 65,000, it’s incredibly safe and friendly - the toot-toot of drivers greeting people they know is the constant soundtrack along roads.
Bermuda’s natural beauty is just as enthralling as its easy-going island charm. Magical underground caves are filled with stalactites and ‘frozen’ waterfalls (see Crystal and Fantasy Caves). Nature reserves, such as Spittal Pond’s wetlands, team with birds. And as for those famous pink sand beaches? They are the product of erosion of tiny organisms called foraminifera. Best seen at South Shore beaches along the shoreline at sunset.
Expert tips
The essentials
Direct flights from the U.S. and further afield land at LF Wade International Airport in the East End - it’s only 90 minutes from JFK. The official language is English. The Bermuda Dollar is legal tender, but as it trades at the same rate as the U.S. Dollar, the two are used interchangeably.
Best time to go
With a sub-tropical climate there are blue skies year round, but high season -and the warmest temperatures - runs from May through September, with Bermuda Day (the fourth Friday in May) marking the start of summer. March and April are also popular with whale-watchers and golfers.
Getting Around
It’s easy to pick up a taxi from the airport, or download the ridesharing app Hitch. Car use is limited in Bermuda but visitors can rent an electric microcar, or scooters and bikes. Pastel pink and blue buses trundle across the island and are affordable, safe and reliable, or hop on the public ferry service along the coast.
Accessibility
Book ahead for wheelchair-accessible taxis and minibuses, while public ferries are accessible from Hamilton Ferry Terminal, Royal Naval Dockyard and the Rockaway ferry point in Southampton. Horseshoe Bay has a limited number of beach wheelchairs available.
Art & Architecture
Bermuda is as famed for its candy-colored houses, with distinctive white stepped roofs to collect rainwater, as it is its pink sand beaches. Walking the streets of the capital Hamilton is a treat of Neapolitan-ice-cream shades. Look out too for the colorful street art and pick a self-guided tour map from City Hall. This British Overseas Territory (complete with red postboxes and phoneboxes) was once a strategic foothold in the North Atlantic, which explains the 90-odd forts that dot the island. Royal Naval Dockyard was home to the British Navy for more than 150 years, but other impressive historic defenses to visit include Scaur Hill Fort, Fort Hamilton and Fort St. Catherine. Art lovers should check out the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art and the Bermuda National Gallery, and plan a trip for October Art Month, which includes Sip and Paint events in the amazing surrounds of Prospero Cave at Grotto Bay Resort.
Food & Drink
Those warm trade winds have blown in plenty of culinary influences over the centuries, giving Bermudan food its individual blend of West African, Portuguese, British and West Indian flavors. A fish sandwich is the classic bite, served everywhere from roadside cafes to family-run restaurants. No ordinary fish sandwich, here the deep-fried white fish is topped with coleslaw and doused in tartar and hot sauce between slices of raisin bread. Try it at Art Mel’s Spicy Dicy.
Another must-taste is rich Bermudian fish chowder made with Black Seal Rum and spicy sherry peppers. Foodies will want to time their visit with the Taste of Bermuda festival in October. Wash it all down with the island’s signature drinks: a Dark and Stormy (made with Goslings rum, ginger beer, lime) or a rum swizzle (a punch made of three types Goslings and fruit juice)—preferably drunk at the Swizzle Inn.
Plan your personal Amazing Race Pit Stop in Bermuda
Music & Dance
From Carnival to Gombey, Bermuda is an island that moves to its own rhythm. Gombey parades are distinctly Bermudian, born of a mix of African, Native American, Caribbean and British influences, dating back to the early 1800s. At this time, enslaved people were given a few days off at Christmas when they gathered and danced. Because their songs and dances mocked their enslavers, they wore masks to protect their identity. Today, these colorful parades are filled with peacock-feather headdresses, painted masks, bells and tassels as expressive dancers move to the rapid rat-a-tat-tat of drums—see Gombey troupes in action at the family-friendly Bermuda Gombey Festival in October. Bermuda’s Carnival is a more recent addition, launched in 2015 and filling the island with color and music each June.
Sport
There’s strokes for all folks in Bermuda, home to a cricket-mad nation and the highest concentration of golf courses in the world. Cricket season runs from July to September, with the highlight being the Cup Match (see The Ticket), when the whole island shuts down in celebration.
The PGA Tour lands on the island in November with the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course, but there are seven world-class, ocean-backed courses to choose from year-round. Offshore, reef-ringed Bermuda has the best wreck-diving in the world with over 300 ships on the ocean floor in the water around the island (just no one say “Bermuda Triangle”—it’s entirely a myth). Indeed, it was the sinking of the Sea Venture in 1609 that led to the first settlers on previously uninhabited Bermuda, and was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s play The Tempest.
The Ticket
Cup Match is the most-sought after fixture on Bermuda’s sport-packed calendar, an annual east versus west—St George’s versus Somerset—cricket showdown which combines wickets with a two-day celebration of emancipation. It takes place the last Thursday and Friday before the first Monday in August, and the festive action off the pitch (rum tents, barbecues, boat parties) is as much an event as what happens at the crease. Visitors can join the fun at Camp Bermuda and buy tickets to the game on the gate.
Bermuda’s capital, and international business hub, Hamilton is a lively centre of restaurants, shopping and culture, especially along harborside Front Street. Pick up a pair of colorful Bermuda shorts at TABS in the Walker Arcade, or follow the sweet scent of frangipani and flowering hibiscus out of town to Bermuda’s Botanical Garden.
With its 18th-century cottages and cobblestone lanes, the historic settlement of St George’s was Bermuda’s first capital. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the oldest continuously inhabited English settlements in the New World. The East End is also home to the mesmerizing natural wonders of Crystal and Fantasy Caves.
The island’s maritime hub for centuries, the Royal Naval Dockyard today sees more cruise liners docking than warships. Don’t miss the National Museum of Bermuda, which runs through the island’s 500 years of action-packed history, or leave without climbing Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse. The West End’s south shore is home to its most famous beaches, including Horseshoe Bay.
Fiona Kerr is a food-loving travel journalist and former features director at Condé Nast Traveller. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Telegraph, Elle Decoration and the The New York Times. When she gets to a new country, her first stop is usually the local supermarket.
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