One Day in Bermuda
Whether you’re going to Bermuda on a cruise or planning a long weekend - here’s your guide
My mom and I recently went on a cruise to Bermuda together! It was so much fun and I highly recommend taking a mother-daughter trip. We both love to plan so we organized our day in Bermuda down to the final detail so we could maximize our short time on the beautiful island.
We got off the ship early in the morning at the Royal Navy Dockyard and started our adventure. We stopped at a booth on the pier that sells ferry tokens and bus passes. Since we knew we would be using the bus pass quite a bit, we bought the day pass for $19/pp. They use both USD and Bermudian Dollars as their currency so you don’t have to worry about exchanging money. The next ferry to the city center, Hamilton, wasn’t until 9:45 so we had some time to spend in the dockyard. I highly recommend walking around and visiting all the cute shops! The visitor center is also right in the area and they have a ton of information and maps on Bermuda in addition to some cute souvenirs and free WiFi. The Craft Market is another must-see. They have handmade crafts from various Bermudian vendors. The proceeds go directly to the person who made it and everything is high quality.
After shopping around, it was time to catch the ferry into Hamilton. Since Bermuda is only 22 miles long, hopping on a ferry or bus can get you nearly anywhere. The ferry ride was beautiful and only took about 15 minutes. If you have some extra time, definitely spend awhile around Hamilton! It’s cute, colorful and full of restaurants, bars and a variety of shops. From here, we found the bus station a few blocks away from the ferry terminal and took the 7 bus to Elbow Beach.
A bit more about the buses - pink posts at the bus stop means it’s going toward Hamilton, blue means it’s going away. It was very easy to understand, unlike most public transits I’ve encountered. After we got off the bus at Elbow Beach, we took the Tribe Road entrance down to the gorgeous waterfront and walked the beach! Then we hopped the bus again down to Warwick Long Bay. This is the start of a beautiful beach walk through 5 beaches and it’s a must do while you’re in Bermuda. This is also where you will find the notorious pink sand that Bermuda is so well known for. The beach walk consisted of hiking through some coves and outlooks and it was one of the highlights of our time on the island.
From here we decided to head to Daniel’s Head for some snorkeling. However, we could not find the beach entrance for the life of us, so we went to another beach nearby and hung out in the water until it was time to head back. We got some yummy Bermuda Fudge at the kiosk and some Rum Swizzle in a bottle to take back with us as a souvenir (so good!)
Of course there were some things we didn’t get to do but had originally planned. The first skipped stop was at Swizzle Pub and Restaurant to get a rum swizzle. Bermuda is known for this fun beverage and it’s unique to the island. I was bummed we didn’t get to stop for one, hence why we got a bottle to try at home. Another stop we would have liked to make was Gibb’s Lighthouse. You can climb 185 steps to the top and see some nice views of Bermuda. The snorkeling spot we wish we could have seen was Church Bay, apparently there are some really colorful fish to see there! And some food options that were recommended to us were Frog and Onion Pub and Art Mel’s Spicy Dicy for their famous fish sandwich.
Obviously I wish we had more time on the island and if I go back I will fly there and stay for a long weekend instead so I can explore more! The people who live in Bermuda are all so nice, everyone who lives there is so happy and very willing to share their amazing island with travelers. This type of attitude is not very common in other places of the world. Everything is colorful (mostly pink) and there is so much to see and do, I know I didn’t even brush the surface!