Hamilton

Bermuda had no people when Europeans arrived. In 1609 the English ship Sea Venture, carrying settlers to Virginia, was driven onto the reefs in a storm; the passengers and crew survived, built two small ships from cedar and left for Jamestown the following year. Three men stayed behind, and in 1612 the Virginia Company sent the first proper group of settlers. They founded St George's at the east end, which became the first capital and is now a UNESCO World Heritage town.

The colony's early economy was tobacco, then shipbuilding and salt-trading from Turks Island. Bermuda's cedar sloops were fast and famous, and its sailors traded across the Atlantic. Slavery shaped the island's labour and society: enslaved Africans and Native Americans, and later indentured workers, did much of the farming, building and sailing. The Emancipation Act took effect in 1834, and the two-day Cup Match cricket holiday in summer descends from Emancipation Day celebrations.

By the late 18th century St George's was too far from the centre of the island and its harbour was awkward for larger ships. The colonial government bought land around the deep, sheltered Great Sound harbour in the middle of the island and laid out a new town in 1790, named after the governor, Henry Hamilton. It became the capital in 1815 and gained city status in 1897, with Front Street facing the water and the streets running back in a grid.

In the 19th and 20th centuries the island shifted from farming and shipping to tourism and, later, insurance and international business. Wealthy visitors arrived by steamship in winter, hotels went up along Pitts Bay Road, and the first flights came in the 1930s. Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory with its own elected parliament, and Hamilton holds it and the government offices. The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, on Church Street, was finished in 1911 after an earlier building burned down; check the date locally.

Hamilton is small enough that its neighbourhoods are streets. Front Street is the waterfront: it once held warehouses and quays for the cedar and shipping trade and now holds shops, restaurants, bars and the ferry terminal. It is the part of Hamilton that cruise passengers see first, and it is at its best in the first hour after the shops open, when the harbour is quiet and the boats are moving.

One block back, Reid Street and Church Street are the working city. Reid Street is the main shopping and office street; Church Street holds City Hall and the Bermuda National Gallery, the cathedral and, a short walk west, Par-la-Ville Park with its 19th-century post office. This is the calm heart of the city, and after about 20:00 it empties out. Visitors who stay here get a quiet bed and a short walk to anything they need.

West along the harbour, Pitts Bay Road is the hotel and sunset edge. It has old harbour-side hotels and villas, small waterside parks such as Barr's Bay, and a narrow pavement that is best walked facing the traffic. Locals treat it as an evening walk, and it is where most first-time visitors sleep because it is close to both Front Street and the ferry terminal.

North of the centre the streets climb. Victoria Park, a Victorian public park, sits at the foot of the slope, and Happy Valley Road leads up to Fort Hamilton, a 19th-century fort with a dry moat garden and the best free view of the city. The north side is quieter and more residential, and it is worth a short taxi ride rather than a long walk in the heat.

The neighbourhoods that visitors want most are not in Hamilton at all. The pink-sand beaches are on the south shore, the Royal Naval Dockyard is at the west end and St George's is at the east. That makes Hamilton a base and a transport hub more than a destination, and it is why the bus and ferry terminals sit in the middle of the city.

Bermuda has no rivers and almost no natural fresh water, so its houses are designed to catch rain. The signature white stepped roofs are made of limestone slabs coated in whitewash, with ridges that channel every drop into gutters and a tank below the house. By tradition each house was expected to hold its own water, and the roofs are cleaned and repainted regularly. Once you notice them you see them everywhere, even on the hotels along Pitts Bay Road.

The buildings themselves are made of a soft local limestone that was cut in blocks and then hardened by weather. Walls are thick and painted in pastel colours: pinks, yellows, blues and greens. Shutters, deep porches and shaded verandas reflect a climate that is warm and humid for half the year. Colonial Georgian and Victorian details show up in the civic buildings, especially City Hall, the Sessions House and the cathedral.

City Hall is a good example of the island's practical modernism: a civic building of the 1960s in local white stone with a central tower, holding the council chamber, a theatre and the national gallery. The cathedral, in contrast, is Gothic Revival in local limestone and imported stone, and its tower dominates the city grid. Fort Hamilton belongs to another layer, the military architecture of the 19th century, with a dry moat that has been turned into a garden.

The city is still low-rise. Bermuda's planning rules limit height, and most office buildings on Front Street and Pitts Bay Road are only a few storeys high. The result is a skyline of roofs, palm trees and church towers rather than glass towers. It also means that the harbour remains the visual centre of the city, seen from almost every street. A good way to read the city is to walk Front Street in the morning, climb Fort Hamilton for the view over the roofs, and then look at how each house, however small, keeps its own tank and its own white roof.

Bermudian food mixes English, Portuguese, West Indian and American habits, using what the sea and a small island supply. The best-known dish is fish chowder, a thick, peppery soup often made with local fish and vegetables. It is served with two extras that belong to Bermuda in this combination: a dash of Gosling's Black Seal rum and a few drops of sherry peppers, a sauce made by steeping hot peppers in sherry. Ask for both, and add them a little at a time.

The fish sandwich is the working person's lunch: a piece of fried fish, often wahoo or a similar catch, on raisin bread with tartar sauce and slaw. The raisin bread sounds odd, and for many visitors it becomes the taste they remember. Codfish and potatoes, served with banana, avocado and an egg sauce, is the traditional Sunday breakfast and shows the island's link to Atlantic salt-fish trade. Hoppin' John, rice with black-eyed peas, comes from the Caribbean and American South.

Bermuda's two signature cocktails both use rum. The rum swizzle is a sweet, fruity mix that is stronger than it tastes, and the Dark 'n' Stormy combines dark rum with ginger beer and lime. Both are on every bar menu on Front Street, and they cost about BD$12–16 each. Because you cannot hire a car, the usual advice is simple: enjoy one or two at sunset and take a taxi or the ferry home.

Prices are high because almost everything is imported. A pub meal is BD$25–50 and a good dinner BD$60 or more. The cheapest way to eat well is a fish sandwich, a supermarket picnic and one proper meal a day. Many restaurants add a service charge of around 15–17 percent, so check the bill before you tip. Kitchens tend to close between lunch and dinner, and many restaurants and nearly all shops are closed on Sundays, so plan the day before.

Hamilton runs on office hours. On a weekday it fills with workers from the insurance and reinsurance firms that make up much of the island's economy, and lunchtime brings a queue at every sandwich counter. By 18:00 the streets thin, and by 21:00 the centre is quiet apart from a few bars on Front Street. On Sundays most shops are closed and the city feels like a town in a holiday.

Manners matter. Bermudians expect a greeting: say good morning or good afternoon to a shopkeeper, a bus driver or a passer-by before you ask a question. Dress is neat, and beachwear stays on the beach. The traditional business uniform of Bermuda shorts, knee socks, a jacket and a tie still appears in offices and on formal days. These habits are part of the island's reserved, friendly public style.

The calendar is built around a few big days. Bermuda Day, on 24 May, brings a parade and a half-marathon along Front Street. Cup Match, the two-day cricket contest in late July or early August between the east and west ends of the island, is the biggest social event of the year and closes most of Hamilton. Gombey dancers, in bright costumes with drums and whistles, appear on Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Bermuda Day. Their tradition mixes West African, Caribbean and Native American influences.

Getting around is a public act. Buses and ferries link the whole island from Hamilton, and locals and visitors ride them together. Visitors cannot hire a standard car, so the roads carry buses, taxis and scooters. Scooters are the main cause of visitor injuries. The best plan is to use the buses and ferries for the island, taxis at night, and your own feet in Hamilton. In hurricane season, from June to November, keep a spare night and check the forecasts before you travel.