Column: St George’s & St David’s Summer Guide

[Written by Kristen White]

Hub 1 – St. George’s and St. David’s Tours and Movies and Karaoke oh my!

Since becoming the Cultural Tourism Manager for Hub 1 in January, I’ve promoted a few initiatives, including Easter in the East and the Signature St. George’s Wedding and Event Expo.

But really, my primary focus has been the Summer 2016 season, when hordes of visitors arrive by cruise and air to our shores. My goal is to get them to the East End. And all of us in Hub 1 have been working feverishly to ensure that we have plenty to entice them. The national tourism plan highlighted the need for unique experiences. What will make the visitors really remember their trip?

Although the history of St. George’s is truly unique and quite special, experiencing it has not necessarily been that memorable. Yes, the historic sites – stately homes, forts, museums, and churches – are open, but how do we ensure that people walk in? When they come in, how engaging and interactive is the visit? Is it truly ‘an experience’? And then, they visit a few museums, maybe go to the beach. What else is there to do?

Hub 1 reflected on these questions and, this summer, I truly believe we are ready to ensure our visitors have an awesome experience. So *drumroll please* without further ado, allow me to present our Hub 1 Guide to the Summer Season.

This guide will provide concierges, taxi drivers, and others who work on the front line of Bermuda tourism with the information they need to be able to promote St. George’s and St. David’s. The guide is meant to be a complement to our new website, www.destinationstgeorges.com launching later this month.

As you can see from the guide, we’ve revamped our daily calendar, filling in the gaps to ensure that there are tours and activities every day of the week. Some New highlights include:

• Many of the historic sites are offering at least one special tour per week! Knowledgeable docents, some in costume, will tell stories and guide visitors through Bermuda’s history.
• St. David’s tours, foraging tours [go find wild plants and herbs, then cook a meal in an 18^th century kitchen!], bicycle tours [with me!] and more… tours galore! New evening tours include the:
  • African Diaspora Heritage Trail tour on Mondays, and
  • ‘Lantern Tours’ of Fort St. Catherine on Mondays and Thursdays.
  • The ever-popular Haunted History [shameless plug] will be running three evenings per week, adding on a day from last summer.
  • Just Add Water is doing a Wednesday evening drop in paddle-boarding and kayaking tour of the harbour, which will be as popular with residents as with visitors
  • Tobacco Bay has added daily live entertainment, every lunch hour!
  • And yes! We have nightlife.
    • White Horse Pub and Restaurant hosts happy hour every evening! Wednesdays is also quiz night and every other Friday, karaoke!
    • Beach House does an evening happy hour too, with one of the best sunset views on island.
    • Griffins Restaurant at St. George’s Club has LIVE music on weekends, now on Fridays, but switching over to Saturdays by the end of May.
    • Friday nights include pizza at Sweet Saak Bakery, bonfire at Tobacco Bay, drink specials at Wahoo’s, happy hour at Gombeys, and a festival hosted by the Corporation of St. George’s!

You can download our events calendar here.

We revamped our transportation. Moving people to and around the parish effectively has been one of Hub 1 greatest challenges. The ferry runs only during weekdays, and none from Hamilton. There is no direct east to west bus. The bus to St. David’s doesn’t stop at Clearwater Beach. It’s difficult to get taxis at night, even on the weekends. And so on… Last year, entrepreneurs with the help of the Bermuda Tourism Authority ran the ‘Hop On Hop Off Beach Bus’, a shuttle that ran a loop around St. George’s. It had its challenges, and the lessons learned are being used this summer.

Enter St. George’s Transportation Shuttle Services!

• This system will provide transport to Tobacco Bay [every 20 minutes], the Forts and other beaches [once an hour] and St. David’s [once an hour].
• On Monday and Thursday nights, the nights that we have several tours running, there will also be a West/East bus running, providing transport in and out of St. George’s for cruise ship passengers and hotel guests.
• Tuckers Point, Grotto Bay, and Pink Beach guests can hop on a shuttle that will run a loop between the towne and East End hotels on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

For the full transportation schedule click here.

The full guide follows below [PDF here]:

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