Ten Days in Bermuda: The Ultimate Travel Itinerary for an Unforgettable Island Getaway

Ten Days in Bermuda: The Ultimate Travel Itinerary for an Unforgettable Island Getaway

Discover the Best of Bermuda: Your Ultimate Travel Guide to the Island’s Hidden Gems, Stunning Beaches, and Unforgettable Experiences!

Bermuda Travel Guide

Bermuda Travel Guide

Which of you readers know where Bermuda is on the map, where exactly in the Atlantic Ocean? Answer: 600 miles east of North Carolina and 900 miles north of the Caribbean.

This Mid-Atlantic chain of around 138 islands is completely surrounded by the most stumming of turquoise water. It’s connected by causeways and bridges, stands utterly alone with its nine parishes and population of 65,000.

There are 300 days of sun a year in this mild sub-tropical climate. The Gulf Steam gives Bermuda two seasons: Spring (Dec to Mar) reaching 20°C, wasp-warm and mosquito-free, and 30°C in the Summer (Apr to Oct). It's under 7 hours out and under 6 hours return flying from London. Bermuda admittedly has an expensive economy. Fodors and Frommers are the best guidebooks.

How great to be in motion for round every corner, by car, bus or boat something inspiring, colourful or scenic would catch my eye. I hired an electric car from Rugged Rentals (www.ruggedrentalsbda.com) with the charming TJ and his fleet of 30 cars alongside his taxi service. His cabin is based near the airport with one soon in Hamilton. It proved the best way to see the island. It’s under an hour from top to toe (from the airport to the Dockyard). Just 21 square miles along and two miles across it proved small enough to explore it all. All was very manageable, driving on the left with the slow 20 mph speed limit. Such a relaxing and fun way to get about.

Tucked into an inlet Newstead Belmont Hills (www.newsteadbelmonthills.com) overlooks the frontage of the island’s capital Hamilton with boats bobbing by as well as the Dockyard that curls round in the distance from where the sun sets. Beyond the chic, light and airy glass lobby and scattered over the premises are the green, yellow and ochre waterfront residences. There’s a 5-minute shuttle away to both the famous beaches and the 18-hole golf course as well as the hourly exclusive complimentary 5-minute water taxi to Hamilton. This hotel is a luxurious destination with an elegant setting.

Hamilton, resembling a toy town and the cabinet building a dolls house, is empty at weekends from its mercifully low-rise offices. Downtown by the Anglican cathedral distinct by its height and age, is Devil's Isle (www.devilsislecoffee.bm), an all-day bistro adjoining its own shop. Its illuminated bar is the centrepiece and its vision statement is “building healthier communities with nutritional choices”. From my olive-green banquette I loved the freshest of tuna tartare that followed my grilled shrimp salad. It’s the sister restaurant of Village Pantry in Flatts Village (www.villagepantry.bm) where I went for the all-day Sunday brunch. Such a colourful, expansive menu full of healthy options within a neutral décor comprising plain flooring and a panoply of wicker lanterns. So casual and trendy. So fresh and offering something for all.

Indeed the capital comes with other great restaurants like The Cloud at the Waterfront (www.waterfrontcloud.bm). On the 3rd floor of a super-smart office block opposite the Fairmont Princess hotel with its impressive art collection of works by Hockney, Warhol and Hirst. It has neutral earthy tones to highlight the décor on the plate. I loved the super-food smoothies accompanying my clean and lean health-conscious brunch. Indeed food items can be adjusted to be Nutrifit-approved. Its proud mantra is “eat meet gather” and, open from 8am to 8pm, its eco-vision is understandably popular.

Hamilton also has Harbourfront (www.harbourfront.bm), beside the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. It had everything I wanted with an extensive menu (part sushi, part local, part Continental). The service was personal and attentive, and the seating (including cordoning curtains) was set out with abundant space. All felt light and breezy in keeping with its bay of bobbing boats in full view opposite. What a divine salad of lobster, avocado, mango and onion was the appetiser.

Bermuda caused me deeply to reflect as the water forever changed colour and the palm trees blew in the breeze. And at night I loved how my imagination played with the dimly-lit buildings shimmering in the light to assume so many possibilities. All is abundant, bountiful and beautiful. Sunsets, rainbows and clear galaxies. Bungalows, beaches and boats. Coral, cays, caves and coves. And the beaches of Horseshoe Bay and Elbow Beach are sublime and divine.

There’s something wonderfully authentic about family-owned hotels where they live ‘in situ’ as the Lamb family has since 1956 at Pompano Beach Club (www.pompanobeachclub.com). General manager Larry Lamb sports his Bermuda shorts and long socks and, in tribute to its former days as a fishing club, each building of rooms is named after local game fish from angel fish to wahoo. And here it's all about the view over the broadest and light bluest stretch of water. If you saw an aquamarine photo you’d think it had been filtered. How lovely it was to step out afterwards onto the neighbouring links golf course to walk it off with a healthy stroll.

Hotels come with some great restaurants like Huckleberry at the Rosedon Hotel (www.rosedon.bm) on two floors within and an outside terrace. This wonderfully solid white traditional home has a sweet, intimate pale blue décor. Its highly inventive menu declares itself as “sea and farm to table”. Here birthdays were being celebrated clearly suggesting somewhere for a real treat. I loved my pan-seared tuna steak with its caramelised pineapple purée.

Ideally situated by stunning pink sand on the breath-taking and inspiring Elbow Beach is Coco Reef (www.cocoreefbermuda.com/dining). Beyond its vast octagonally-domed forum is Sol i Mar, the hotel’s classy and spacious restaurant decked in an ingenious combination of chandeliers and wicker lanterns and with Mediterranean ceramic tiles and deep-ocean blue banquettes. Here I loved my signature seafood bruschetta comprising swordfish, rock fish, mahi mahi and Atlantic salmon with a herb dressing which I walked off along the gorgeous   sands below.

The Bermudian vernacular style, comprises pastel-painted houses with white-washed tiered roofs, resembling Puglia’s trulli, to collect the rainwater. Street names like Sunny Lane, Sea Swept Farm and Ocean Spray Drive emphasise Bermuda’s natural surroundings. Everywhere pink pervades: in the sand, the houses, the ephemera. It’s Bermuda’s signature (along with the shorts). Such is this play on sunset colours with its variants of peach, terracotta, salmon and blush pink.

Remotely tucked away in western Somerset Village is Willowbank Resort (www.willowbankresort.com) which declares itself a “home away from home oasis offering colour, picturesque views and seaside charm” as well as “Bermuda’s best-kept secret” and certainly it’s super-secluded. It’s a cottage colony with 50 bungalow-like rooms in yellow, pink and blue pastels. They are spaciously arranged, scattered across eight of the spongiest and greenest acres of lawns. They come with either an ocean or garden view named after local flowers such as Tamarisk, Hibiscus and Frangipani. The staff are super-friendly, characterful and attentive. A cosy seaside hotel offering me all I needed at the end of my day.

For the active there’s so much to do in Bermuda: horse riding along the beach, kitesurfing, snorkelling the crystal-clear waters teeming with fish and walking ‘from rail to trail’ along the former railway track or past Clearwater Beach around Cooper’s Island. It’s a golfer’s paradise with eight different courses. Boats take one out to see turtles, dolphins and, from March to April, whales. For extra adventure there are crystal caves to explore, cliffs from which to leap and great diving with over 300 sunken vessels. Or else there are the Botanical Gardens, Royal Naval Dockyard and many an historic fort.

In easy walking distance of Hamilton’s Front Street’s shops and restaurants Royal Palms (www.royalpalms.bm) proudly declares itself “a boutique 4* hotel”. It’s set in a mature sub-tropical garden with a pond and stream, palm trees, lots of benches, a swing and even a Bermudian flagpole. The chalet-like rooms are painted Bermuda’s signature pink with white shutters and have high-quality finishing, crown moulding and mahogany furniture. They are traditional and quaint, cosy and comfy. Certainly it has Old World Bermudian charm and is peaceful and ideal for adults.

On my last day I took a boat trip with Traveler Charters Bermuda (www.travelerbermuda.com). Charismatic Captain KJ and his brother KeAngelo picked me up with a glass of champagne for a glorious, luxuriant round trip through the Great and Little Sounds. His luxury 50ft custom classic trawler-style-yacht can hold 20 guests and KJ offers bespoke catered outings: be they sunset cruises, whale watching high up from the boat’s flybridge. Or house spotting: for it’s only from the water that you fully see these mansions and their dock houses. With the north winds blowing by winter and south winds by summer KJ took me past Soncy Bay and the Paradise Lakes, home to turtles. A fitting finale to my ten-day trip. Highly to be recommended and it left me wanting more.

Mark Twain said “You can go to heaven if you want. I’d rather stay in Bermuda”. He has my backing.

Fact Box
Adam had support from the Bermuda Tourism Authority www.gotobermuda.com. He had further support from Holiday Extras www.holidayextras.co.uk (0800 316 5678) who offer airport lounges at all major UK airports and many international destinations). He used Heathrow Express www.heathrowexpress.com where people automatically get 10% off a range of tickets when they book direct. He was covered by online travel insurance specialist, CoverForYou www.coverforyou.com, 0207 183 0885