Bermuda Day Celebration

[Sailing Grandma]

I have searched this forum, but can not find an answer to my question:

 

Has anyone ever been in Bermuda on Bermuda Day, which in 2015 will be celebrated on May 25th? Is public transportation still running, are shops open? I did find on line that there is a big parade in Hamilton. Wondering if there will also be festivities at the Dock Yard and in St. George.

 

Thanks for any info you can give me.

[iheartbda]

Bermuda Day is a public holiday so many shops and restaurants will be closed. Buses and ferries will run on a reduced holiday schedule. This info is from this year but you can expect similar activities.

http://www.bermuda4u.com/listings/bermuda-day/

[islegroove]

There is also a major running/cycling race, which in 2015 is scheduled to start in St George's and end in Hamilton (normally it runs from Somerset to Hamilton.

 

There are no celebrations in St George's or Somerset to speak of. The parade and the races all end up in Hamilton.

[Sailing Grandma]

Thanks for your replies. We will probably avoid Hamilton on that day. My main concern was whether the ferries and busses would be running to get us to other places around the island. We would like to go to St. George's to see the dinghy races and perhaps go to some of the south shore beaches.

[PTAngel]

I too was thinking of going to St. George for the day on Monday by ferry, then taking a leisurely ride back to Dockyard by bus. Someone mentioned they had a guided walk through town for $5 but I've been unable to find anything about that. We'll be there for 3 days so I figured we would stay in Dockyard on Sunday, St. George on Monday, then Hamilton on Tuesday. I saw a train around Dockyard & another around Hamilton. Those looked interesting. Then take the ferry back in the afternoon to Dockyard. Do these plans look do-able? I've never been to Bermuda before nor has my son.

[misfit72ford]

We were in Bermuda on a land based trip this past year for Bermuda Day. You will want to be aware that the busses are on a reduced schedule and very, very full on that day. We were staying in the St. George area and took the ferry to Dockyard for our helmet dive that afternoon.

 

Since the schedule was reduced we couldn't get the ferry back to St. George and took the ferry to Hamilton and walked to the the bus terminal from there. We waited for over an hour to get on a bus at the terminal and experienced the only rude people we have ever

encountered there. They were loudly shouting that the busses should only be for those who lived there and not for tourists. If we are ever in Bermuda for that holiday again we will stay close and avoid public transportation on that day.

 

I would plan much more than usual time to get places that day due to the reduced schedule and high usage on Bermuda Day.

[Sailing Grandma]

As I mentioned before, our plan is to avoid Hamilton on Celebration Day. We will either take the ferry to St. George or the bus to the South Shore area that day, depending on the reduced transportation schedule.

 

There is also talk in Bermuda about a bill to change Celebration Day to the Friday before rather than Monday the 25th which would be nice for those of us on this cruise.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Sailing Grandma