Bermuda 5 Day Itinerary

There’s no rental car waiting for you in Bermuda, no matter your budget, visitors are legally barred from renting standard cars on the island. Your options off the ferries and buses are a scooter, at roughly 40 to 60 dollars a day, or taxis that run metered and add a dollar per bag, expect 40 to 55 dollars and 20 to 40 minutes from L.F. Wade International into Hamilton.

Day 1: Arrival and Hamilton Clear customs, grab a taxi rather than waiting on the infrequent airport bus, and check in. Front Street’s pastel facades photograph well but the real reason to walk it is the ferry terminal at the end, which becomes your main transport hub for the rest of the trip. Skip a formal sit-down the first night; go to a casual spot near the harbor and order a proper Dark and Stormy, Bermuda’s national drink and the one thing on this island you should not substitute with a mainland imitation. The Bermuda National Gallery is a fine hour if you’re jetlagged and want something low-key, but don’t build your evening around it.

Day 2: Royal Naval Dockyard and Somerset The ferry to Dockyard from Hamilton takes about 20 to 25 minutes and is genuinely one of the better rides on the island, use it instead of a taxi even though it takes marginally longer. Dolphin Quest is expensive and heavily marketed to cruise passengers, so go in with realistic expectations rather than treating it as the day’s centerpiece. The National Museum of Bermuda, housed in the old fort at Dockyard, is the stronger historical stop and free with a Dockyard ferry pass at some times of year, worth checking before you buy separately. Somerset Long Bay’s shallow, calm water makes it one of the better beaches for anyone travelling with kids, quieter than the south shore crowds by a wide margin.

Day 3: St. George’s and the eastern parishes St. George’s is Bermuda’s oldest continuously inhabited English town and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it earns that status, the narrow lanes and St. Peter’s Church, one of the oldest Anglican churches in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere, feel genuinely old rather than reconstructed for tourists. King’s Square is compact, so don’t plan more than an hour there before pushing out toward the beaches. Skip trying to cram in three separate beaches in one afternoon; pick one, Clearwater Beach handles snorkeling reasonably well and has a calmer bay than Elbow Beach on a windy day.

Day 4: South shore beaches and Crystal Caves This is the day to have the scooter, the south shore road strings together some of the best beaches in the North Atlantic. Horseshoe Bay’s pink sand lives up to its reputation, get there before 10am in high season or the parking and the crowds both become a problem. Crystal Caves runs a combination ticket with neighboring Fantasy Caves for about 35 dollars, covering roughly 75 minutes underground looking at stalactite formations over a pool so clear it looks shallower than it is, worth the extra few dollars over the single-cave ticket. Warwick Long Bay and Jobson’s Cove nearby are less crowded than Horseshoe and, in my opinion, prettier for an actual swim rather than a photo stop.

Day 5: Snorkeling and departure Church Bay, not Elbow Beach, is the better snorkeling spot on the south shore, the reef sits close enough to shore that you don’t need a boat to reach decent visibility. BAMZ, the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, costs just 10 dollars for adults and is a strong last stop if you want a couple of hours indoors before your flight, the local marine life tanks are better curated than the price suggests. Head back to Hamilton with time to spare for the airport, and remember the departure tax is already built into your ticket price, not something you’ll be asked for at the gate.