Nassau Forts, Galleries and Colonial Squares

October 18, 2026

Travel advisory: The US State Department rates The Bahamas Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, for crime, and the UK Foreign Office advises against walking outside the main tourist areas and beaches, especially alone. Downtown Nassau is patrolled by police, but go in daylight and use licensed taxis after dark. Read the US advisory and the UK safety page for the latest wording.

Most of Nassau’s sights are colonial-era buildings, forts and a few small museums, spread between the cruise port and the western end of the island. Prices are in Bahamian dollars, which trade one to one with US dollars.

Fort Charlotte

Fort Charlotte, on West Bay Street about a mile west of downtown, is the largest fort on New Providence. It was built in the late 1780s under Lord Dunmore and named for the wife of George III. The site has a moat, dungeons and underground passages, and its 42 cannons were never fired in aggression. Entry is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and $2 for children under 12. It opens daily from 8am to 4pm. On Wednesdays and Fridays a living-history scene begins at 11:30am and finishes with a noon cannon firing. Guides work for tips. Jitney Route 10 passes the fort, and the Bahamas tourism listing has the current details.

Fort Montagu

Fort Montagu on Eastern Road dates from 1741 and is the oldest surviving fort on the island. The tourism board lists free tours daily from 8am to 3pm.

Fort Fincastle, the Water Tower and the Queen’s Staircase

A government-funded renovation of Fort Fincastle and its Water Tower began in March 2025 and has run past its planned finish. One tourism board page lists the fort and staircase as temporarily closed, while another shows the fort open from 8am to 4pm, so check before you walk up. The fort sits on Bennett’s Hill, about 15 minutes on foot from the cruise port.

The Queen’s Staircase has about 65 limestone steps, and sources count 64, 65 or 66 because paving buried the bottom step. Roughly 600 enslaved Bahamians cut it from the rock in 1793 and 1794 as a route between the fort and the town, and it is named for Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837. A restoration finished in 2024 added lighting, landscaping and signage. Treat it as a memorial to forced labour, not a photo stop. Updates on the works are reported by the Nassau Paradise Island board .

Pompey Museum of Slavery and Emancipation

The museum fills the Vendue House at Bay and George Streets, about a six minute walk from the cruise port. The building was a marketplace where enslaved Africans were sold until the late 1800s. The museum opened in 1992, closed after a fire in 2011 and reopened in 2014. It takes its name from Pompey, who led an 1830 revolt on Exuma. Reported hours are 9:30am to 4:30pm most days, shorter on Thursday and closed Sunday, and admission is reported at a few dollars, so confirm both before you go.

Squares, library and gallery

Parliament Square and Rawson Square hold the pink colonial government buildings and a statue of Queen Victoria. The Nassau Public Library nearby is an octagonal building that began as a jail and was finished around 1800. Entry is free, but a tourism listing shows it closed on Sunday, so check hours.

The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas is in Villa Doyle on West Hill Street, opposite St Francis Xavier Cathedral. General admission is $10, seniors and students pay $5 and under 12s are free. It is closed on Mondays and public holidays and open 10am to 5pm on Sunday. See nagb.org.bs .

Planning

Many sights close early, so start with the forts in the morning. To compare guided city tours, browse Nassau sightseeing tours .