The capital city of Hamilton is a good place to begin your holiday in Bermuda. This is the island’s only city and within it are a number of interesting museums and notable buildings, forts and military structures which remind visitors of Bermuda’s long naval history, as well as parks and gardens, markets and restaurants.

Any visitor to Bermuda will want to head to the town of St George to further see and feel the history of the island. Founded in 1612, the oldest British town in the Americas offers wonderful heritage buildings that have been beautifully preserved.

The popular cruise port of Royal Naval Dockyard is also a good place to visit as it has Snorkel Park, a popular spot for snorkelling and other water-related activities. The dockyard is also a popular stop for scenic boat trips around Hamilton Harbour.

A great place to have a picnic and a swim is Fort Saur. Here, visitors can relax and enjoy the spectacular views of the blue waters of the Great Sound.

The parish of Paget is Bermuda’s veritable holiday destination. Here, visitors will find many resorts, beautiful Elbow Beach and Paget Marsh for wilderness activities.

The best beaches of Bermuda, however, can be found in Southampton Parish. One of the most famous ones, and perhaps the most photographed one, is Horseshoe Bay Beach with its beautiful pink sand.

Warwick Parish is a good place for holiday makers who are keen on exploring on horseback as well as for those set on playing a round of golf or two.

With a long colonial and naval history, Bermuda has a lot of historical landmarks to fill any visitor’s itinerary. A good place to visit to learn more about this history is the Bermuda Maritime Museum, a former British Navy base but now a popular tourist attraction on the island.

As far as living and breathing Bermuda’s history, however, it doesn’t get any better than a trip to the oldest, continually inhabited British settlement in the Americas, St George. The whole town, with its museums, old colonial buildings and churches, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The capital city of Hamilton is not bereft of its own colonial heritage. Here, the most notable attraction is the commanding Anglican Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, whose current Gothic Revival design was crafted in 1885.

Another famous attraction on the island is Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. Located in Southampton, this cast-iron structure is one of the oldest such in the world. Visitors who climb to the top of the lighthouse will be rewarded with scenic views of the Atlantic.

Close to St Catherine’s Beach is the largest fortification on the island, Fort St Catherine. This large structure dating back to 1614 stands at the northernmost point of Bermuda.

Horseshoe Bay Beach is a natural landmark that is popular with holidaymakers in Bermuda. This stunning beach, with its pink sand and rugged boulders, is the image of Bermuda that is most often depicted in postcards.

Finally, a favourite attraction on the island is the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo. It has 200 fish species as well as reptiles, birds and mammals.

Bermuda’s entertainment options, while limited, are easily able to satisfy any visitor’s holiday to this British territory. Much of the night-time entertainment takes place at hotels. After dinner, hotels like to treat their guests to live music, piano sing-along sessions and dancing. There are many island cruises in Bermuda, too, which are popular with visitors as well as locals seeking to get a nightlife fix.

Two areas which are particularly well-known for having some of the best pubs on the island are St George and St David’s Island. The oldest pub in Bermuda, which is now also a restaurant, is White Horse Tavern. It is a local favourite not just with visitors, but also with Bermudians. It has a particularly great setting-right at the edge of the water with views of the harbour.

Visitors to Bermuda during the months of January and February are in for a treat as around this time the island holds the yearly Bermuda Festival for the Performing Arts. Various venues around the island, such as City Hall Theatre and Church Street, see live music performances from jazz musicians, pop bands and classical groups. Theatre and dance are a major component of the festival, with performances by internationally renowned artists.

A dance performance that is worth seeing on the island is gombey dancing. This cultural heritage can be traced back to the islanders’ African roots and is a significant component of local Bermudian culture. Gombey dancing on the streets happens during important holidays. Outside of holidays, the Visitor Information Centre of Bermuda can direct tourists to venues for gombey dancing on any given night.

Being an island, Bermuda has seafood as a key ingredient in many of the local dishes. Fish chowder is a favourite here. This dish features the local catch cooked with dark rum, sherry and pepper. Tuna, rockfish, wahoo and lobster are the other types of seafood which visitors will regularly see on restaurant menus. For Brits in need of a taste of home, fish and chips is widely available.

Desserts are particularly popular on the island and some of the well-loved desserts here include those made from bay grape. When ripe, bay grapes can be eaten right off the tree, as most school children on the island do, or made into jelly or jam. Cassava pie is traditionally eaten by Bermudians during Christmas.

As far as dining options in Bermuda are concerned, visitors will find an array of restaurants lining the streets of Hamilton and St George. However, most hotels employ good chefs which can prepare both local and international fare. Pubs are popular places to dine, with Hamilton offering the best selection.

Because most of the ingredients are imported from the US and Canada, prices tend to be expensive, especially in restaurants close to cruise ship docks, but local fare at cheaper prices can be found away from the main tourist hubs.

Hamilton’s Bolero Brasserie is a good place to find a wide selection of local seafood in Bermuda. The historic Waterlot Inn and the award-winning Lido restaurant at Elbow Beach are other good places to dine out as well.