Bermuda Unveiled: Historic Forts, Secret Gardens & More!

Activity note: Hotel check-in from 3:00 p.m. The hotel’s bellman will provide a shuttle by minibus and golf cart to and from the front entrance of the resort to take you to the grill if you cannot manage the steps.

Afternoon: We will assemble in the hotel lobby at 4:45 p.m. when our Group Leader will accompany us to the meeting room. Orientation: 5:00 p.m. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. We’ll learn information during presentations and on field trips from local experts as well as our knowledgeable Group Leader. Periods in the schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Dinner: In the hotel restaurant, we’ll have a plated meal with a welcome glass of wine, water, and a choice of coffee or tea at the end of the meal; other beverages are available for purchase.

Evening: At leisure. Continue getting to know your fellow Road Scholars, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the day ahead.

Activity note: Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 10 miles, approximately 1/2 hour. Walking up to 1.5 miles, approximately 1.5 hours, and standing; mostly flat terrain, some steps. Fort St. Catherine and St. Peter’s Church both have several stairs to get inside. Walsingham Nature Preserve is unpaved and has an uneven dirt/ gravel trail.

Breakfast: The resort's breakfast buffet offers choices such as eggs, an omelet station, cereals, fresh fruit, yogurt, breads, and beverages.

Morning: At the hotel, we’ll have a presentation by our Group Leader on Bermuda’s oldest inhabitants, from indigenous peoples to native animals. Next, we’ll board a motor coach and head to St. David's Island. Here, we will visit Carter House and Settler's Cottage. Carter House is believed to be one of the oldest farm houses in the country. Constructed in 1640, the house holds exhibits and artifacts of 17th century island life. The Settler's "Cabben" is a recreation of what an original cottage looked like when the island was first getting settled. Following this field trip, we will visit Walsingham Nature Reserve — known locally as Tom Moore’s Jungle — with commentary by our Group Leader. This is one of the oldest geological areas on the island, with a bedrock of limestone more than a million years old. We’ll learn about Bermuda’s natural history before the island was colonized, as well as its indigenous plants, ecology, and geography as we walk back to the hotel.

Lunch: Hotel buffet.

Afternoon: We’ll board a private motorcoach and travel back to St. George’s Island. There, we’ll set out on a walking field trip through the historic town of St. George, Bermuda’s original capital, and a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site. From the UNESCO inscription: “The Town of St George, founded in 1612, is an outstanding example of the earliest English urban settlement in the New World. Its associated fortifications graphically illustrate the development of English military engineering from the 17th to the 20th century, being adapted to take account of the development of artillery over this period.” Among its highlights are Saint Peter’s Church, established in 1612, the oldest Anglican church outside the British Isles and oldest Protestant church in continuous use in the New World, given a royal designation by Queen Elizabeth II. We’ll also see the pleasant green space of Somers Garden as well as the Tucker House Museum. Built in the mid-18th century, the Tucker House is a typical example of early Bermudian house construction. It was the home of merchant Henry Tucker and is furnished as it was in his time with many family artifacts including furniture, portraits, and silver. After some time for independent exploration, we’ll return to the hotel via motorcoach.

Dinner: Hotel buffet.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Getting on/off a motorcoach; riding about 8 miles (13 km), approximately 1/2 hour. Walking up to 3 miles, approximately 1.5 to 2 hours; standing indoors and out; some moderate grade hills. Hamilton has a slight elevation gain with hills. The Bermuda Botanical Gardens are flat, but has unpaved, grass trails.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: We’ll board a private motorcoach and travel into Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, for a walking field trip with our Group Leader. We’ll learn more about Bermuda’s history as we walk down Front Street, the hustling and bustling commercial street, and visit some of the capital’s most iconic buildings, including government institutions and the Anglican Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity. The impressive structure, begun in 1886 and completed in 1905, was designed by a prominent Scottish architect in his Victorian rendering of neo-Gothic. We’ll also have a private visit to the Bermuda Historical Society Museum, founded in 1895. Its exhibits and artifacts provide an understanding and appreciation of this island in earlier eras. The collection includes 18th century furniture, silver fashioned by local smiths, portraits, and many pieces brought by traveling sea captains. The building from the early 1800s was the home of the William Perot family. The adjoining park was once their private garden.

Lunch: At a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Board a private motorcoach, we’ll ride to the 35-acre Bermuda Botanical Gardens for an expert-led exploration. The largest and most extensive on the island, it features a park, woodland, greenhouses, and horticultural collections including orchids, subtropical fruit trees, hibiscus, and Banyan trees, as well as an aviary. We will then return to the hotel by private motorcoach.

Dinner: This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on your own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 15 miles, approximately 3/4 hour. Getting on/off an excursion boat. Walking a mile or less, approximately 1.5 hours, and standing; uneven surfaces. Some of the gardens may have several steps or grassy ramps that one needs to navigate to get up to the veranda. BIOS: Need to be able to get on and off boats for the plankton trawl, there will be a gap to step onto the boat from the dock.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: We’ll set out via private motorcoach on a Road Scholar exclusive field trip to visit two private gardens of Bermudian residents, something tourists would never get to do on their own! In these private settings, the owners will show us their beautiful plants before returning to the hotel.

Lunch: On your own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

Afternoon: Free Time. Take this opportunity for personal independent exploration to see and do what interests you most. Please refer to the list of Free Time Opportunities. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

Dinner: Hotel plated meal.

Evening: We will gather for an introduction to BIOS — the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences — by a member of the staff. Founded in 1903 as the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, it is today a world-class ocean science research and education facility. We will board a BIOS bus, take a short ride to their boat, and go out on the water with BIOS field experts. We’ll collect plankton from the ocean via towing special nets that collect the samples. They will later be analyzed at BIOS to learn more about the microscopic life and ecosystem of these waters. We’ll then go into the BIOS lab to look at plankton under the microscope. We’ll return to the hotel via private motorcoach.

Activity note: Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 25 miles, approximately 1.5 hours. Getting on/off a ferry. Walking up to 1.5 miles, approximately 2.5 hours, and standing; mostly flat, one hill.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: We’ll be joined by a local mason who will participate with our Group Leader in a presentation on Bermudian architecture. While out on field trips, feel free to look for examples of the styles discussed in the lecture. We will then make our way to West End via motorcoach. Along the way, we will visit Horseshoe Bay and have a brief discussion about the sand, geology, and local flora. Next, we will head to Heydon Nature Preserve where our Group Leader will give a rock quarry demonstration.

Lunch: At a popular pub in a historic building.

Afternoon: With our Group Leader, we’ll explore the Royal Naval Dockyard, built in the 1800s as Britain’s most important naval base in the New World and active through World War II. We’ll continue our exploration as we visit some of the artists and artisans of paintings and ceramics who have studios in the Dockyard. We’ll also visit the Bermuda National Museum. It serves as a custodian of Bermuda’s underwater and land-based cultural heritage through collecting exhibitions, restoration, conservation, research, publication, education, public outreach, and archaeology. After an introduction by our Group Leader, we will have some time for independent exploration of the museum. Next, we’ll board the local ferry for a half-hour trip back to Hamilton, then return to the hotel by private motorcoach.

Dinner: On your own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 15 miles, 3/4 hour. Walking up to 2.5 miles, approximately 3 hours; variable terrain. Verdmont has two flights of stairs, the facility does not allow wheelchairs inside.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: At the hotel, we’ll have an interactive discussion with a local member of the national government. Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom. King Charles III is the head of state, represented locally by a crown-appointed governor. In all internal matters, Bermuda is self-governing. We’ll discuss a broad range of issues including contemporary challenges. In spite of its small size, Bermuda faces the same kinds of economic and social issues as elsewhere. Late morning, we’ll board a private motorcoach for a field trip to Verdmont, a historic home (circa 1712) that is one of the Bermuda National Trust’s foremost properties. During an expert-led exploration, we’ll learn how this classic example of colonial Georgian architecture remained in the same family, virtually unchanged, until coming to the Trust. It features an extensive collection of antiques including Bermuda-made cedar furniture, portraits, English and Chinese porcelain, a child’s nursery, and the finest cedar staircase on the island. The gardens, also dating from the 18th century, contain an assortment of old roses, fruit trees and palmettos with a sweeping view of the South Shore. From Verdmont, we’ll ride to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI.)

Lunch: At the BUEI restaurant, we’ll have a plated meal with beverage choices of lemonade, iced tea, water included; other beverages available for purchase.

Afternoon: A member of the BUEI staff will give us an introduction to the institute. We’ll learn about the organization’s mission of advancing the understanding, appreciation, and knowledge of the ocean and encouraging the protection and preservation of the marine environment. We’ll also explore BUEI to see and learn more. Returning to the hotel, the remainder of the afternoon is free.

Dinner: On your own to enjoy what you like.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Getting on/off a motorcoach; driving about 10 miles, approximately 1/2 hour. Walking up to 2.5 miles, approximately 3 hours; mostly flat, dirt paths. Coopers Island has lots of elevation gain. There is a linear walking trail that is 1.5 miles round trip.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: We’ll gather with our Group Leader for a presentation on the people and flora of Bermuda and how they came to the island. We’ll then take a motor coach over to Great Head Park where we will see a memorial dedicated to sailors lost at sea. Great Head Park is known for its battery which functioned as gun platform and fort that defended the Narrows Channel during WW2. We will then make our way over to Cooper’s Island where we’ll learn about the flora and fauna and walk across beautiful beaches. The sub-tropical climate supports flowers, fruits, grasses, herbs, trees, and vegetables that grow year-round. We’ll also learn about non-native species brought to Bermuda by the winds and Gulf Stream from North America and the Caribbean. Since 1609, Cooper’s island has been used for agriculture, a military outpost, and a NASA tracking station until 2008, when 77 acres were protected as a nature reserve. Since then, it has been undergoing active restoration or “un-development” with the demolition of obsolete buildings, culling of invasive plants, and replanting of native and endemic plants. Eventually, Cooper’s Island Nature Reserve will look much as it did before the first settlers arrived. One element that has been retained is the former base of a radar tower now used for wildlife observation. We’ll then return to the hotel.

Lunch: Hotel buffet.

Afternoon: Free time. Take this opportunity to see and do what interests you most.

Dinner: Regrouping at the hotel, we’ll enjoy a farewell dinner with a glass of wine included and share favorite experiences with new Road Scholar friends.

Evening: At leisure. Prepare for check-out and departure in the morning.

Activity note: Hotel check out 11:00 a.m. See your program’s Transportation Information regarding transfers.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet. This concludes our program.

Morning: If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!