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Suggestions for 1st day in Bermuda


BigHouseFootball
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Hello all,

 

Looking for some suggestions on what to do on our 1st of 2 days in Bermuda. My wife and I will be there in August aboard Anthem of the Seas. On our second day we are going to do the Bermuda Hidden Gems tour since we have heard nothing but good things on here and from TripAdvisor.

 

 

But we really aren’t sure what to do during our first day. We get in at 9 am. Horseshoe Bay keeps calling my name but we are definitely not the stay at the beach for the entire day kind of couple. Maybe have that be part of the day. But what else to do? Suggestions? How do we get from point A to point B, C, and back to A?

 

 

Thanks for your help!

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Hello all,

 

Looking for some suggestions on what to do on our 1st of 2 days in Bermuda. My wife and I will be there in August aboard Anthem of the Seas. On our second day we are going to do the Bermuda Hidden Gems tour since we have heard nothing but good things on here and from TripAdvisor.

 

 

But we really aren’t sure what to do during our first day. We get in at 9 am. Horseshoe Bay keeps calling my name but we are definitely not the stay at the beach for the entire day kind of couple. Maybe have that be part of the day. But what else to do? Suggestions? How do we get from point A to point B, C, and back to A?

 

You could take a mini-bus to Horseshoe Bay ($7 one way, [2017]). Walk the beach path that connects 5 beaches. Start at Warwick Long Bay Beach, and end at Horseshoe Bay. Take a mini-bus back to the Dockyard and tour there. Visit the Bermuda Maritime Museum & Bermuda Craft Market.

Transportation options are: public buses, ferries, and taxis.

 

SBtS

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We are going in Jun, and decided to do a walking tour of St George on our first day. We (active adults in mid/ late 50s) plan on taking the Orange Ferry to St George (catch at cruise pier) then walking the sites, to include unfinished church, Fort Catherine, and Tobacco Beach. We are doing the Hidden Gems through cruise ship on last (3d) day. I ordered ( free) a brochure from Bermuda travel site which has a great map.

 

 

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We love Bermuda...and will be returning there in May....a typical 3 day stay in Bermuda goes something like this...

day 1....ferry over to Hamilton, walk, shop, eat, sightsee

day 2...ferry over to Hamilton, walk over to bus station, hop bus to the BAMZ (aquarium, museum, zoo) spend a few hours there, hop on bus and continue onto St George...shop, eat, head over to Tobacco Bay (fabulous)...you can walk there (about 20 min) or grab a cab for like $10....ferry back to ship late afternoon...

day 3...(departure day) we will stick to Kings Wharf...shopping, etc...you never want to be far away from the ship on departure day...

 

We purchase a 2 day transit pass that covers buses and ferries....(for day 1 & 2)

 

**I know everyone loves Horseshoe bay....but we find it overcrowded and the water can be rough...Tobacco Bay is a lagoon style beach with super clear warm water ...awesome place to just float around on a tube or raft...and I will bring my own, something I've picked up cheap and just leave it there...(give to someone, or trash it)

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We love Bermuda...and will be returning there in May....a typical 3 day stay in Bermuda goes something like this...

day 1....ferry over to Hamilton, walk, shop, eat, sightsee

day 2...ferry over to Hamilton, walk over to bus station, hop bus to the BAMZ (aquarium, museum, zoo) spend a few hours there, hop on bus and continue onto St George...shop, eat, head over to Tobacco Bay (fabulous)...you can walk there (about 20 min) or grab a cab for like $10....ferry back to ship late afternoon...

day 3...(departure day) we will stick to Kings Wharf...shopping, etc...you never want to be far away from the ship on departure day...

 

We purchase a 2 day transit pass that covers buses and ferries....(for day 1 & 2)

 

**I know everyone loves Horseshoe bay....but we find it overcrowded and the water can be rough...Tobacco Bay is a lagoon style beach with super clear warm water ...awesome place to just float around on a tube or raft...and I will bring my own, something I've picked up cheap and just leave it there...(give to someone, or trash it)

 

Anita,

Thanks for sharing your days in Bermuda!

How long does it take the ferry to Hamilton?

Where would we buy the passes for ferry and buses ?

Kathy

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Anita,

Thanks for sharing your days in Bermuda!

How long does it take the ferry to Hamilton?

Where would we buy the passes for ferry and buses ?

Kathy

 

The ferry to Hamilton is about 15 min and it's a nice ride...the ferry to St George is about 30/40 minutes...you can buy transit passes right at dock once you get off the ship...you can buy for 1, 2 or all 3 days ....a 2 day pass is about $31 each for unlimited use of the ferry and bus system ...you can download the schedules at the Bermuda tourism website....sometimes they have them at ticket counter (sometimes not)...I'm going to download it to my phone that I have it handy....

I've also heard that NCL has it's own ferry now?? I need to find out about that....

Also, fyi....the bus can get pretty crowded especially when the kids get out of school (the public bus is also the school bus)...

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The ferry to Hamilton is about 15 min and it's a nice ride...the ferry to St George is about 30/40 minutes...you can buy transit passes right at dock once you get off the ship...you can buy for 1, 2 or all 3 days ....a 2 day pass is about $31 each for unlimited use of the ferry and bus system ...you can download the schedules at the Bermuda tourism website....sometimes they have them at ticket counter (sometimes not)...I'm going to download it to my phone that I have it handy....

I've also heard that NCL has it's own ferry now?? I need to find out about that....

Also, fyi....the bus can get pretty crowded especially when the kids get out of school (the public bus is also the school bus)...

 

Currently the public bus system has a lot of buses out of service for maintenance. Bus runs are canceled every day. Bermuda is even renting minibuses for school kids. I recommend those who are only going to Horseshoe Bay to use the $7 per trip minibuses as public buses from Dockyard to and from Horseshoe are very crowded with all the cruise passengers at the Dockyard.

 

As for the transportation passes they have been selling the one and two day passes in addition to tokens at the Dockyard the last couple of years but not the three day pass.

 

NCL is running a complimentary ferry for NCL passengers to St. George's.

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In light of the complementary ferry for NCL passengers...I think we will be replanning our days...we are sailing on the Escape in May...we arrive at 8 am on Wednesday ..that should give us plenty of time to ferry over to Hamilton, bus over to the BAMZ, back to Hamilton for shopping and Harbour Nights and back to the ship...and only have to purchase a 1 day pass.....Thursday, take the complementary ferry to St George and Friday stay in Kings Wharf....brilliant!

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  • 2 weeks later...
We love Bermuda...and will be returning there in May....a typical 3 day stay in Bermuda goes something like this...

day 1....ferry over to Hamilton, walk, shop, eat, sightsee

day 2...ferry over to Hamilton, walk over to bus station, hop bus to the BAMZ (aquarium, museum, zoo) spend a few hours there, hop on bus and continue onto St George...shop, eat, head over to Tobacco Bay (fabulous)...you can walk there (about 20 min) or grab a cab for like $10....ferry back to ship late afternoon...

day 3...(departure day) we will stick to Kings Wharf...shopping, etc...you never want to be far away from the ship on departure day...

 

We purchase a 2 day transit pass that covers buses and ferries....(for day 1 & 2)

 

**I know everyone loves Horseshoe bay....but we find it overcrowded and the water can be rough...Tobacco Bay is a lagoon style beach with super clear warm water ...awesome place to just float around on a tube or raft...and I will bring my own, something I've picked up cheap and just leave it there...(give to someone, or trash it)

We are thinking of doing the Harbour night tour with Ricky’s tour starting at 4pm on the first day we dock in Bermuda. I want to do something in the morning as well but not sure what as we obviously need to be back by 3.30pm ready for our tour at 4pm. Is there anything you can suggest for us to do for half a day ?

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We are thinking of doing the Harbour night tour with Ricky’s tour starting at 4pm on the first day we dock in Bermuda. I want to do something in the morning as well but not sure what as we obviously need to be back by 3.30pm ready for our tour at 4pm. Is there anything you can suggest for us to do for half a day ?

 

 

 

You can do St. George’s. It appears you are on NCL so you can take the complementary NCL ferry to St. George’s and easily have time there and be back by 3:30 for Ricky’s.

 

Or you could go to Horseshoe Bay and be back by 3:30.

 

 

 

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Edited by Charles4515
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If I do St George’s , how easy is it to get to Tobacco bay? The kids would love to do some swimming but I am not sure if it will be better to spend the 2nd day doing this rather than be rushed back on the 1st day?

 

Tobacco Bay is about a 15-20 minute walk from King's Square. St George's, or a very quick taxi ride.

 

As for getting back to the Dockyard from SG, the NCL ferry departs SG at 3:15PM (2017 schedule). The travel time is about 45 minutes. The ferry before that departs at 12:45PM.

 

If SG is not doable, I would suggest going to Hamilton for some shopping and visiting Fort Hamilton.

 

SBtS

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If I do St George’s , how easy is it to get to Tobacco bay? The kids would love to do some swimming but I am not sure if it will be better to spend the 2nd day doing this rather than be rushed back on the 1st day?

 

Very easy. It is about a 17 minute walk or a 5 minute taxi or shuttle ride.

 

I don't know anything about Rickys Harbour Night tour but I notice it ends at 11:00 PM. I was wondering your thinking on it? When I do Harbour Nights I take the ferry. The street festival starts at 7:00 and the Gombey dancers dance down Front Street at 7:30 after that there are boring political speeches or once a month the Bermuda Regiment parades beating the drums. That is worth about five minutes. Also somewhat boring. At that time, 8:00 I head for Flanagans for a Guiness or a Dark and Stormy or two. Then leave on the 10 or 10:30 ferry back to the Dockyard. Sometimes I take an earlier ferry back than those two. What are your kids going to do all that time? They might get bored.

Edited by Charles4515
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Yes that’s the tour we were thinking of doing. I think this is a shorter version of the signature island tour which according to the description will involve seeing some of the main sights before heading to the festival and then back to ship. Is the Harbour night worth doing or shall I just do a whole day Island tour?

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Tobacco Bay is about a 15-20 minute walk from King's Square. St George's, or a very quick taxi ride.

 

As for getting back to the Dockyard from SG, the NCL ferry departs SG at 3:15PM (2017 schedule). The travel time is about 45 minutes. The ferry before that departs at 12:45PM.

 

If SG is not doable, I would suggest going to Hamilton for some shopping and visiting Fort Hamilton.

 

SBtS

Thank you for your suggestion. Is the easiest way to get to Hamilton by ferry or taxi? I have an elderly mum in tow so wants the easiest route as she cannot walk very far.

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Yes that’s the tour we were thinking of doing. I think this is a shorter version of the signature island tour which according to the description will involve seeing some of the main sights before heading to the festival and then back to ship. Is the Harbour night worth doing or shall I just do a whole day Island tour?

 

 

The day tour would be better than an evening tour or an evening tour that included Harbour Nights. Harbour Nights is not a must do. I would call it a could do. It is a street festival. Local artisans have tables. Depends if you like that kind of thing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited by Charles4515
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Thank you for your suggestion. Is the easiest way to get to Hamilton by ferry or taxi? I have an elderly mum in tow so wants the easiest route as she cannot walk very far.

 

 

The ferry ride is about 20 minutes. A taxi would take about 45 minutes. I prefer the ferry but some might prefer a taxi to a boat. I think it is a great boat ride during the day. Neither has to involve that much walking.

 

 

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The day tour would be better than an evening tour or an evening tour that included Harbour Nights. Harbour Nights is not a must do. I would call it a could do. It is a street festival. Local artisans have tables. Depends if you like that kind of thing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes I think we will op for the day tour and if the kids still have enough energy in the evening perhaps we could hop to Hamilton in the evening for the Habour Nights.

 

On the second day we would probably do the NCL ferry to SG’s and Tobacco bay and final day perhaps just stay local and explore the shops around the Dock Yard. Not sure at which point to squeeze in HSB too!??

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