Bermuda Vacation Guide

Introduction

Think Bermuda and images of tidy pastel cottages, professional gents in ties and shorts, pink-sand beaches, and quintessential British traditions like cricket matches and afternoon tea spring to mind. For once the stereotype matches the reality. North Americans visiting the island consider it to be quaintly British; the Brits, on the other hand, tend to consider the island highly Americanised. It is, of course, uniquely Bermudian - a product of nearly four centuries of British colonial history and an equally long reliance on American trade.

You may be somewhat disoriented if you thought Bermuda was somewhere in the Caribbean. The island is, in fact, situated in the western Atlantic Ocean, nearly 600 nautical miles off the coast of North Carolina.

Full country name: Bermuda
Area: 21 sq km
Population: 62,997
Capital City: Hamilton
People: 61% African descent, 38% Caucasian descent, a small minority of American Indian descent
Language: English, Portuguese
Religion: Christian (28% Anglican, 15% Roman Catholic)
Government: parliamentary British overseas territory with internal self-government
Time Zone: GMT/UTC -4
Dialling Code: 441
Electricity: 120V ,60Hz
Currency: Bermudian Dollar (BD$)

We constantly update vacation deals and flights + hotel packages for Bermuda and the Caribbean. You can also check out some of the best hotels and resorts in Bermuda with exciting attractions like golf, casino, scuba diving and other water sports. Popular hotels & resorts in Bermuda are The Fairmont Hamilton Princess and Surf Side Beach Club.

No visas are required for citizens of the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Western European countries. Visas are required by citizens of the former Soviet Union, most countries in North Africa and the Middle East, China, Sri Lanka and some former Soviet Bloc countries in Eastern Europe.
More Information About Visa Requirements

There are regular scheduled flights to Bermuda from the USA, Canada and the UK. Travellers arriving from other destinations by air will need to connect through one of these countries. Between April and October, some 17,000 cruise ship passengers sail to Bermuda each year.

There are no car rentals in Bermuda. Visitors can ride public buses and ferries, rent a moped or motorscooter, use taxis - or even hire a horse and carriage. The island is so tiny and the public bus system so good that even the most independent road hoon will not miss having their own vehicle.

Ferries are a scenic way to get around and, in some cases, are much faster than the bus. Ferries connect Hamilton with Paget, Warwick and the Somerset/Dockyard area.

Bermuda can be visited year round, but the busiest tourist season is from April through to October when the weather is warmest and water temperatures comfortable for swimming and diving. It's also the liveliest time on the island, with plenty of events and entertainment options to keep visitors amused. The winter season (prices can be up to 40% lower) is a bit too cool for swimming, and many tourist-related agencies, like diving companies and boat tours, suspend operations for part of the season.

SOCA is a Caribbean music festival that has the Royal Naval Dockyards jumping in late July or early August, while the Bermuda Reggae Sunsplash continues the skanking in mid-August. Newport-Bermuda Race, one of the world's major ocean yacht races is held in late June during even-numbered years.

There are pleasant swimming beaches all around Bermuda, but the best area is South Shore Park, which has nearly a dozen coves linked by coastal trails. Other notable beaches are Elbow Beach near Hamilton and the exotically named John Smith Bay in Paget Parish.

Windsurfing tends to be good in the Great Sound but the best locations change with the wind. Sailing is popular in the protected waters of the Great Sound and Little Sound. You can rent sailboats, take lessons or charter a skippered yacht. Chartering a fishing boat will enable you to chance your rod and reel skills against game fish such as marlin, tuna and barracuda. In the interests of conservation, sports fishers are encouraged to release their catch. If you need more exercise, there are numerous tennis courts and a whopping eight golf courses, which must be some kind of record on only 21 sq miles of land.

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