Boutique Bliss
The place to start your retail therapy is the city of Hamilton. On the western end of Front Street, boutique Cécile’s features designers including Emilio Pucci, Anne Fontaine, Basler, Luisa Spagnoli, Lilly Pulitzer, Tibi, and Trina Turk. For a designer bathing suit to wear at Elbow Beach, Bermuda, Calypso is the best place to go. And for that little bit of Britain, there’s always the English Sports Shop. Strolling a bit further to the east, you’ll find Lusso, the ultimate hub for designer shoes, handbags and accessories. The collections include Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Prada, Miu Miu and Jimmy Choo, to name a few. Carry on and you’ll find MaxMara, jewellers Crisson (the home of Rolex in Bermuda) and Louis Vuitton for the best accessories known to hands. Duck into Butterfield Place for Crisson & Hind Fine Art Gallery. On Reid Street, there’s more shopping to be had in boutiques such as Perry Footwear, Sasch, Stefanel, Brown & Co, AS Cooper, and Gibbons Company. A gander through Washington Mall will reveal The Edge for men’s designer wear, Pulp & Circumstance and Lovit Boutique.
High Points
Take a stroll, a taxi, or, if you dare, a moped up to Fort Hamilton along the ever-winding Harbour Road for a breathtaking panorama of Hamilton Harbour, with its picturesque islands, and across to Two Rock Passage. Or climb the steeple of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity on Church Street for magnificent views. In Southampton, Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, the oldest cast-iron lighthouse in the world, will offer a bird’s-eye view of the Great Sound and the South Shore. Head out west to the Royal Naval Dockyard for a Segway Tour to Commissioner’s House and you’ll see how the island twists like a fish hook.
Cool Culture
The island is dotted with art galleries, so, while you’re out west, take in the Bermuda Arts Centre at Dockyard. The resort of Elbow Beach, Bermuda is home to the gallery of world-famous sculptor Desmond Fountain. At the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, you can see some of the greats who painted in Bermuda, such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Winslow Homer, and 2012 marks the museum’s unveiling of a sculpture as a tribute to John Lennon who wrote some of his last songs on the island. The Fairmont Hamilton Princess houses the Windjammer II Gallery, which features the works of local and international artists, while City Hall houses the Bermuda Society of Arts and the Bermuda National Gallery. Philatelic buffs should head for the historic Perot Post Office set in Par-la-Ville Park, where eye-catching sculptures reside among the lilies. And, if you wish, have your portrait painted at the April Branco Gallery in the Washington Mall. Enjoy local entertainment at The Lido Complex at Elbow Beach, Bermuda during the balmy summer nights. Sip a Bermudian essential – a Dark ’n’ Stormy (ginger beer and Gosling’s black rum). See what’s on at Chewstick for open jam sessions and emerging artists and, for a dance, go to Café Cairo, Moon Nightclub or Fresco’s on Chancery Lane.