Bermuda Parish by Parish: What Each End of the Island Offers

How the parishes work

Bermuda is 21 square miles, split into nine parishes. The Bermuda Tourism Authority says they were first known as tribes, named after figures from the early colonial days, and laid out to be equal in size, with St. George's the exception. The names mostly honour backers of the early colony, several of them from the Virginia Company.

For a visitor, the parishes are a map of what is where. Here they are in order, west to east, with what each one holds and how a tour reaches it.

The west end

1. Sandys

Named after Sir Edwin Sandys, a founder of the Virginia Company.

Sandys is the westernmost parish, and if you come by ship it is where you step ashore, because the Royal Naval Dockyard sits at its tip. The Dockyard was begun in the 1790s and served the Royal Navy until 1951. Today it holds the National Museum of Bermuda, which the BTA notes has shipwreck artifacts, and the Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard.

Beyond the Dockyard is Somerset Village and Somerset Bridge, which the BTA calls the world's smallest drawbridge. Mangrove Bay and Daniel's Head lie on this stretch too, and the cliff-jumping charter spends an hour at each. The pink-bus drive crosses the bridge on its way out, and the private car stops there for five minutes.

2. Southampton

Named after Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton.

Southampton holds two of the most photographed places on the island. Horseshoe Bay is a crescent of pink sand on the South Shore, and the stop the island drives make most often. Up the hill, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, lit in 1846, is one of the few cast-iron lighthouses anywhere, and 185 steps take you to the top for US$2.50.

Smaller, quieter coves sit between the rocks along the same shore, and the parish has the Port Royal Golf Course. On a ship day, Southampton is often the first stop of an island drive.

3. Warwick

Named after Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick.

Warwick is beach country. Warwick Long Bay is a half-mile stretch of pink sand backed by cliffs and dunes, and Jobson's Cove is a tiny sheltered cove nearby, good for a swim. The Southlands estate has gardens and walking trails, and the Pink ferry from Hamilton calls here.

Few tours stop in Warwick for long. The private car pauses at Warwick Long Bay for a photograph, and the rest is yours to reach by ferry or bus.

The middle of the island

4. Paget

Named after William Paget, 4th Baron Paget of Beaudesert.

Paget is where the Bermuda Botanical Gardens are, with the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art inside them. Paget Marsh has a boardwalk through an old peat marsh, and the BTA puts you about 10 minutes from the City of Hamilton there. Elbow Beach is here as well, where you will find a generous public section of pink sand.

5. Pembroke

Named after Henry Pembroke, 3rd Earl of Pembroke.

Pembroke holds the capital, the City of Hamilton, with its shops and restaurants along Front Street and the ferry terminal at Albouy's Point. The Bermuda National Gallery, Victoria Park and Fort Hamilton are all here. So is Admiralty House Park, where the private charters take groups cliff jumping.

Most island drives give Hamilton 30 minutes to an hour. The food walk starts on Front Street, and the private catamaran boards at the ferry terminal.

6. Devonshire

Named after William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire.

Devonshire is mostly homes, and the BTA suggests it as the place to see how Bermudians live. The Arboretum is a 22-acre park for a walk or a picnic. No tour stops here; you pass through it on the road east.

The east end

7. Smith's

Named after Sir Thomas Smith, treasurer of the Virginia Company.

Smith's is quiet and green, with Flatt's Village on Harrington Sound. John Smith's Bay, named after Captain John Smith, is a pink-sand beach the BTA describes as calm and clear, with a lifeguard and public restrooms and changing rooms. Spittal Pond Nature Reserve and the Verdmont Museum are close by.

John Smith's Bay is the beach stop on several drives, for 10 to 15 minutes. If you want a proper swim, the beach hop gives you two hours there.

8. Hamilton Parish

Named after James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton.

Do not confuse this with the city: Hamilton Parish is on the north shore, a drive east of Hamilton. Here you find Crystal Caves and Fantasy Cave, found in 1907 by two boys, Carl Gibbon and Edgar Hollis, when a cricket ball fell into a hole. You pay US$24 a cave, and the underground lake below you is 55 feet deep.

Tom Moore's Jungle, inside the Walsingham Nature Reserve, is woodland, karst and caves cared for by the Bermuda National Trust, free from dawn to dusk. Blue Hole Park, the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, and Shelly Bay, a shallow and calm beach, complete the parish.

9. St. George's

Named after Saint George, the patron saint of England.

The east end is where the island's story starts. The Town of St. George, founded in 1612, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. St. Peter's Church is the oldest Anglican church in continuous use outside the British Isles, and the Unfinished Church is a short walk away.

Tobacco Bay is the beach at this end, with rocks you can snorkel around. If you fly in, you land on St. David's Island, which also has the Carter House Museum. Most island drives give St. George's 35 minutes to an hour.

Which tours reach which end

You rarely need a tour to see one parish. You need one to see several in a day, because the island is long and the sights sit at both ends. Here is how the kinds of tour spread across the map:

• An island drive: Sandys, Southampton, Pembroke, Smith's and St. George's in five hours.
• A cave day: Hamilton Parish, plus a beach and Hamilton or St. George's.
• A snorkel or glass-bottom boat: the reefs and wrecks off Sandys, from the Dockyard.
• A private charter: Pembroke's cliffs and Sandys's bays, from Hamilton or the Dockyard.
• A walk: one town, Hamilton or St. George's, on foot.

The pink-bus drive is the quickest way to see the line of parishes end to end, with four stops. The drives are compared on Bermuda island tours, and the longer days with a beach or the jungle on Bermuda day tours. The sights parish by parish, with fees and hours, are on things to do in Bermuda, and the whole island on the Bermuda map.

Planning around the parishes

If you have one day, pick an end. The west end is easy from the ship: the Dockyard, the bridge, the lighthouse and Horseshoe Bay are all close. The east end needs a longer ride, so let a tour or the Orange ferry take you there. With two days, do one end each. Why the east end matters so much is set out in Bermuda facts, and how to move between parishes is in how to get around.

Days that cross the parishes

5 Hour Guided Private Tour of Bermuda

Your own air-conditioned car and driver-guide for five hours from the cruise pier, with short stops at seven sights from Scaur Hill Fort Park to Horseshoe Bay. Priced per person, for seven or more; the lighthouse climb is extra.

From $100 per person (minimum 7)

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Crystal Cave, St. George and Tobacco Bay Beach

An hour in Crystal Cave with the entrance fee in the fare, an hour in St. George's and two hours on a beach at the east end, from the cruise pier. Snorkel gear, chairs and umbrellas cost extra there.

From $150 per person

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Bermuda Shops, Sights and Shores Tour

Six hours by coach from the pier: Somerset Village, the lighthouse, two stops at Horseshoe Bay and over an hour in Hamilton, with a drive past St. George's. The lighthouse climb, US$2.50, is extra.

From $79 per person

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