Walking tour of Hamilton

[Hstack99]

Looking for suggestions.

My family and I (ages 28-83) will be docking at Kings Wharf on Saturday May 2 at 2 pm and leaving at 6 pm Sunday. The only thing we *know* we want to do is take a mini bus to Horseshoe beach one of the days. Unfortunately i am realizing now that our time limit there is going to make things tricky for anything else.

 

After researching things to do, we were  considering taking a ferry from kings wharf to hamilton. However the ferry schedule is slower on weekends and I don't think we will catch the 2:30 ferry Saturday and the next one isn't until 4:00. After a 20 min ride over there, I read most shops close at 5 and the last ferry back is around 6:15. Do you think it is still worth doing for such a short time? We originally were going to do that on Sunday since we have most of the day but I read almost all the stores will be closed. 

 

What are things to do in Hamilton either Saturday between 4 and 6 or that will be open Sunday? Since we are going with older folks, I was trying to find neat things to walk around and see without having to walk miles and miles. 

 

It seems most of the stores on front street are higher end or specialty stores that we won't have much interest in anyway. We don't plan on going to any restaurants since we will be eating on the ship. 

 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!  If time doesn't allow for Hamilton, is there anything else we should definitely see/do? 

[Charles4515]

May 2 is not a Saturday, you probably mean May 5? I would suggest doing a private Blue Flag taxi tour that Saturday afternoon or another private tour. Then you would get a good taste of Bermuda and not require much walking. Or a Sunset cruise excursion. Your port time is less than optimal for the Bermuda part of your cruise. That is why I never book Grandeur of the Seas for Bermuda even though I live 40 minutes drive from the port. The port times are poor. Day 2 you will not be leaving at 6, it is earlier than that. Just enough time to get to Horseshoe and back.

 

 

[njhorseman]

I think It's Saturday May 4. Arrival listed as 2 pm on the port schedule. Grandeur is listed as departing Bermuda on Sunday May 5 at 3 pm so all aboard would be no later than 2:30 .

 

Totally agree with Charles on the Blue Flag or other private tour suggestion on Saturday.

[Hstack99]

Sorry we leave on May 2nd, you are correct that it is the 4th and 5th. 

I saw the Blue Flag taxis but there are 8 of us going, so 2 taxis for several hours would get pricey.

 

Also, all my cruise docs say we depart at 6 pm on Sunday. Where do you see 3?

[Hstack99]

[Charles4515]

I am going by the Bermuda Port Schedule put out by the government. Possibly the departure time has been modified since the schedule was last updated. Been known to happen.

 

http://www.marineandports.bm/Documents/Shipping_schedules/YR 2019 Cruise Ship Schedule pdf.pdf

[Hstack99]

Hmm well that would suck if it was 3 hours shorter. We plan on doing Horseshoe and walking around the dockyard Sunday. 

[Charles4515]

There are minibus tour operators who can take eight. It would be best to  prearranged that although it can probably be done without pre arranging as I have seen minibus operators soliciting off the dock to give tours. A couple of them are Bermuda Byways and Rickys Tours.

 

http://www.bermudabyways.com/tours/

 

https://www.rickysminibus.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hstack99]

Oh I will definitely check them out. Thank you!! 

[Hstack99]

On 3/28/2019 at 4:07 PM, Charles4515 said:

There are minibus tour operators who can take eight. It would be best to  prearranged that although it can probably be done without pre arranging as I have seen minibus operators soliciting off the dock to give tours. A couple of them are Bermuda Byways and Rickys Tours.

 

http://www.bermudabyways.com/tours/

 

https://www.rickysminibus.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We just booked with bermuda byways. Thank you for the suggestion!!! 

[zooma]

@Hstack99 -- would love a brief review of your experience with Bermuda Byways after you return. Looking for something similar when we are there in June. TIA

[Hstack99]

21 minutes ago, zooma said:

@Hstack99 -- would love a brief review of your experience with Bermuda Byways after you return. Looking for something similar when we are there in June. TIA

 

 

I will definitely let you know. They are HIGHLY rated on Tripadvisor so I am thinking its going to be a GREAT tour 

[Hstack99]

On 4/10/2019 at 7:27 AM, zooma said:

@Hstack99 -- would love a brief review of your experience with Bermuda Byways after you return. Looking for something similar when we are there in June. TIA

 

@zooma I highly highly recommend this tour! She offers longer  tours (approx 6 hours) but due to our time restrictions there and wanting to be back on before dinner, we booked just a 2 hour tour with her. She picked us up at 530 just outside the dockyard. She is the granddaughter of the last lighthouse keeper before it went electric so she was born and raised on the island and EXTREMELY knowledgeable. She is very passionate about Bermuda and knows extensive info about the history. She drove around as much of the island as possible and made several stops along the way for us to get out. We stopped at the smallest drawbridge and fed the fish (they act like piranhas!) , Gibbs lighthouse (my husband and I climbed to the top - the rest of the group walked around the grounds), a beach to walk along the pink sand and explore the coves (Warwick Long bay, Jobson's cove) and then she asked us if we were ok with her stopping at a fort to see the sunset which ultimately extended our tour by 30 min. The views were breathtaking! We had some older people in our group and she was very patient and helpful with getting them in/out of the van. Her 10 passenger van is very roomy and clean. If I ever make it back to Bermuda I will definitely book another tour with her for even longer so we can explore the island more. I also thought her prices were very competitive (cheaper than booking through the cruise line and a much more personable experience) 

 

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask! 

[zooma]

@Hstack99 -- thanks so much for following up with those details. Hope your whole cruise was terrific!

 

Did you end up going into Hamilton at all to walk around or shop? Still trying to figure out if we should build in time for that or St. George.

 

Your customized mini guided tour sounds like exactly what we wanted to do for one of our two days there, though now it seems that the younger half of our group might spend the day at the caves/snorkeling, etc. So, it will probably just be 4 of us (ranging on up to 80s, like your group). I suppose a Blue Flag taxi would be the way to go then. And I guess I don't need to prearrange anything for that.

[Hstack99]

@zooma Our original plan was to take a taxi to horseshoe bay on Sunday but that was before we realized our tour was going to stop at the beach on Saturday and the water was a little too chilly still to go all the way in. So the tour guide suggested we take the ferry so we did. The ferry was very nice, quick 20 min ride. We chose to go to Hamilton because the ferry doesnt run to St George's on Sundays and Hamilton was beautiful but everything was shut down since it was a Sunday (we did know that ahead of time but decided to go anyway) 

The shops there seem to be more "high end"/ boutique shops. We walked around front street, watched a bicycle race they were having, grabbed a cup of fish chowder at Hog Penny Pub (the original inspiration for Cheers in Boston) and a drink then headed back on the ferry to the naval dockyard. It was $5 a person to go over and $4.50 to come back. The water and the large homes built there are beautiful so we thought it was worth just the ferry ride over and back and I would love to go again during a week day when everything is open over there. 

 

Also, even if just a few of you are interested in booking with Heidi, you can email her and let her know how many people you have and what options she has available. If she has another small group she may pair you together to fill the van but then the costs would be low for everyone. Just a thought 🙂