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Bermuda Vacations
Your Guide & Planner
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So how do you actually design a perfect Bermuda vacation and what can you expect in the island? Many viewers of this website have come back and asked me for a simple guide, something that will help to create a step by step plan for a great vacation in Bermuda.
There are too many vacation packages and deals in the web. And they can be often quite confusing. They do meet some of your expectations, but not all. They all seem to fall short a perfect vacation design when it comes to balancing the best with the cost.
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So how about a guide that helps you plan and create a perfect Bermuda vacation on your own? The guide below is based mainly on our own family vacation experiences in Bermuda over the past many years. You may like to bookmark this page as you will need to come back here to go through the entire Bermuda vacation planning steps that I'll be suggesting below.
Decided on a vacation to Bermuda?
So let me start by asking you, have you yet taken a final decision for a vacation in Bermuda? Why not a Caribbean island? That may be a cheaper option. Well, if you are still unsure, check out Why Visit Bermuda to know what this island can offer.
And, if you want to know what is so unique and special about Bermuda that you can't get anywhere else, then check this out as well: Bermuda specials
So, ready to design one of the dream Bermuda vacation packages?
How should you reach Bermuda?
The first step is to decide, whether you want to travel to Bermuda by cruise or air. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. If you are coming from US, the most common travel to Bermuda is by cruise. Over 300,000 tourists visit Bermuda by cruise every year. But that doesn't mean that you got to do the same thing. While there are advantage like saving cost as you take a cruise, there are disadvantages as well like losing precious time on the sea.
So you may like to check out Why take a cruise to Bermuda to understand the Pros and Cons very clearly before you finalize on your mode of travel to Bermuda.
Your next step is now to select and book with the Airline or a Cruise line to Bermuda. This is a big step and will involve a lot of money. So it needs some research at your end. Depending on the mode (Air or Cruise) of your Bermuda travel, go through one of the following links to find out all my reviews and recommendations on air travel or cruises to Bermuda.
You will know about all the airlines operating to Bermuda and schedule. Here I have also talked about Bermuda airport facilities, how to best plan your arrival or departure at Bermuda, required travel documents and so on.
I have extensively reviewed all the cruises that are presently operating to Bermuda from the US. You will also know about the schedules and itinerary, and about the ports in Bermuda where the cruise ships dock.
Where to stay in Bermuda?
If you decide to take a cruise vacation to Bermuda, you will be staying in the cruise ship itself and won't generally need a hotel. But for the air travelers, there is one more important step - finding the right hotels in Bermuda.
Where to eat?
Whether you take a cruise or travel by air, you would probably not like to miss out on the opportunity of eating out at least once and experience what kind of great food and cuisine this island can offer. There are well over 150 restaurants in Bermuda that have been running to cater to the diverse culinary tastes of the visitors like yourself.
And there are great English style pubs that serve unique island drinks that you won't find anywhere like the Rum Swizzle and Dark n' Stormy.
Booking your trip to Bermuda
So by now you have done all your research and figured out how to travel to Bermuda and which hotel to stay. Now the tricky part is how do you book your trip - the flight or the cruise and even the hotel? Check out Bermuda Packages for my recommendations.
How should you plan your days in Bermuda?
Now starts the tough part of planning - how to make best of the vacation days in Bermuda. It's tough for me because I don't know the duration of your Bermuda trip, or what you like to do during an island vacation - snorkel, do sightseeing, be on the beaches, do boating, walk the best parts of the island, shop? And what do you like to eat - Bermudian cuisine, Italian, French, Continental, Indian or all?
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Hmm, I got to make some assumptions here. I am going to create several vacation itineraries from our experience.
Some of them may be for the full day, while some may be for few hours. So you should have a good selections of itineraries to choose from.
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Pickup the ones that you like the most. You may also like to tweak those a little, or mix and match to make it just the perfect recipe for yourself. But, do it in a way so that you don't spend a lot of time in transit. Let me take an example:
Let's say you have just one day time in Bermuda and you are docked at Kings Wharf at the western end. Then it's better to plan your day with the attractions around dockyard and in Sandys parish, and may be in adjacent Southampton or Warwick parishes.
You can of course choose to spend some time in Hamilton City or St. George instead, and use the ferry for quick transportation from the dockyard.
If you are by now confused with location of all the places that I mentioned above, check out this simple Map of Bermuda Parishes.
How to commute in Bermuda?
One more thing, we always make use of Bermuda public transportation for getting around the island - bus, ferry, and sometime taxis. It's very easy. You can also rent scooters if you are comfortable. That will give you all the freedom you need. There is no car rental service in Bermuda.
Here are some rough estimates of the time it takes to travel between important places in Bermuda. So you need to consider this additional island travel time while planning your day.
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Between Hamilton city (centrally located) and Kings Wharf dockyard (west end), the ferry can be a lot faster than the bus.
A direct ferry from Hamilton to the dockyard will take about 20 minutes compared to an hour by a bus.
There is a ferry route from Hamilton to St. George (east end) via the Dockyard and the whole journey takes over one hour including stoppage time. Whereas the bus from Hamilton to St George takes little less than one hour.
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However from dockyard a direct ferry to St. George takes 35 minutes and is quite convenient.
Bermuda Vacation Itineraries
Following are my recommended itineraries to get the best of your Bermuda days. Pick up the ones of your choice as per your time plan. Tweak them, mix & match the ones that complement each other, and make your days in Bermuda just the way you wanted.
This is one of our favorite full day itineraries in Bermuda. You will spend some great time in two of the top Bermuda beaches, see Gibbs Hill lighthouse, Kings Wharf Dockyard and dine in some nice restaurants in the island.
This itinerary in Sandys Bermuda and Somerset village includes visits to Somerset bridge, the beautiful village, Fort Scaur, Heydon Trust, and Mangrove Bay Beach.
The western Bermuda is just fabulous. Starting from the Dockyard in Sandys Ireland Island to great beaches and parks, you can make a great itinerary.
It's a scenic walk through greenery's, beautiful golf courses, beaches, forts and so many other wonderful places. You can also plan for a short snorkel.
South Shore park in Bermuda is part of the nature reserve and has some of the spectacular beaches and coves. It connects Southampton and Warwick.
This is a half day walk through the heritage town of St George and visiting the historic sites of Bermuda. You can imagine yourself back into the 17th century. If you want, you can always complete the tour using a transport or even a horse carriage.
Hamilton is the capital of Bermuda and has some of the main attractions around the city. If you like to walk, take this self guided tour to explore sites like Bermuda National Library, Perot's post Office, City Hall and Arts Center, Victoria Park, Bermuda Cathedral, Cabinet House, Cenotaph, Hamilton fort and Spanish point. You can complete the tour using a transport or even a horse carriage if you so want.
Ferry Reach Park located at St. George's Parish is the second largest parkland in Bermuda. It's a great place for family and kids. You can explore the wonderful flora and fauna, three historic forts, a lake, a bay with a lovely little snorkeling beach, and a walking trail that goes through the leafy tunnels and then along the coastline. At the western tip of the park, there is Ferry Island which you can access by Bermuda's one of the oldest wooden footbridge. Once there used to be a ferry dock here between 1612 and 1871 when ferry was the only transport that connected St. George to the main island of Bermuda.
You can have a great half day itinerary in Bermuda by combining nature walks at Spittal pond and Paget Marsh, followed by BUEI. You have an option to combine the Hamilton City Tour in the 2nd half and make it a full day compact program.
This full day itinerary in Bermuda gives you a perfect mix of everything - top beaches, forts, caves, aquarium and great food & drinks.
If you plan to eat out, check out Bermuda Restaurants where I have described the best dining options in Bermuda by location. Find the one closest to your route and plan it with your itinerary.
Have a Bermuda vacation idea?
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