10 Best Museums in Bermuda

If you’ve spent the day exploring Hamilton’s shops and boutiques, it’ll be hard to miss the Hamilton City Hall and Arts Centre, the gleaming white building on the north end of town. First opened in 1960, the structure is the seat of the municipal government; it's also home to the Earl Cameron Theatre, Bermuda’s main stage for prominent musical and theatrical productions. But the real draw is the Bermuda National Gallery on the second floor, where you’ll find the Watlington Collection with masterpieces from Gainsborough, Reynolds, and Murillo; the Bermuda Collection with paintings and decorative arts dating back to the 1600s; and the African Collection with masks, figurines, and sculpture.

No Bermuda museum is as glitzy, modern, and innovative as this 41,000-square-foot discovery center on the outskirts of the City of Hamilton. Dedicated to exploring Bermuda’s vast underwater world, the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) features three floors of exhibits, many playfully interactive, making it perfect for families with young kids or anyone interested in learning more about the island’s diverse marine environment. BUEI has an enormous collection of gold doubloons, intact artifacts, and priceless treasures from the sea floor, in addition to one of the largest shell collections in the world. Make sure to test out Blue Echo, a small theater-like dive simulator that recreates a plunge to 12,000 feet.

There’s no better example of a traditional Bermuda home than this well-preserved Georgian mansion in Smith’s Parish. Originally built in 1710 and virtually unchanged for more than 300 years, Verdmont is now a living history museum where upper-class island life and all of its fineries and antiques are on unique display. You’ll find golden-framed family portraits, wooden furnishings brought in by early sea captains, and porcelain galore, much of it originally made in England and China. Verdmont is lovingly staffed by volunteers from the Bermuda National Trust, and they'll happily guide you through the collection.

Originally the home of William Benet Perot, the City of Hamilton’s first postmaster, the Bermuda Historical Society Museum is a quirky little museum chock-a-block with artifacts and antiques. Among its treasures are one of the most eclectic collections of artifacts on the island: tools carved by Boer War prisoners (thousands of South Africans were held captive in Bermuda during the conflict in 1901); a typewritten letter from George Washington asking Bermuda to steal gunpowder from the British in 1775; and a large collection of early Bermudian coins (called hogge money) dating back to the early 1600s.

Heavily fortified and well-defended against potential invaders, Bermuda has some of the world’s most well-preserved stone fortresses—and the one that houses the National Museum of Bermuda is the largest. This massive west end fort is within the confines of the Royal Naval Dockyard, also home to Bermuda’s main cruise ship piers and a plethora of shops and restaurants. Today, it's most notably where you’ll find this unrivaled collection of nautical heritage, all housed in structures once built for the British Navy. Don't miss the Hall of History, a 1,000-square-foot mural by Bermudian painter Graham Foster, which depicts 500 years of Bermuda history.

The Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, a trio of attractions in Flatts Village, couldn’t possibly be a better place to bring the kids for a half-day of island-inspired exploration. The sprawling waterside facility has three distinct permanent components: the aquarium, where you’ll peruse tanks filled with fish and other marine life (like the 140,000-gallon North Rock tank, which mimics a local reef system and houses sharks, tuna, and barracuda); the zoo, which features animals found in island ecosystems around the world; and the natural history museum.

Named for Henry Tucker—a merchant who served as president of the Governor’s Council from 1775 to 1807 and whose ancestry can be traced back to Bermuda’s first settlers—Tucker House, a living history museum, was once the Tucker family home. Virtually unchanged since it was built in 1750, the well-preserved cottage oozes old-school Bermuda, and stepping inside its stone walls will give you a good sense of how the island’s earliest residents lived. A word of caution: This old stone cottage is much as it was in the 1750s, so those with mobility concerns may find it difficult to navigate the stairs.

Originally founded in 1612 by a group of shipwrecked English settlers, the Town of St. George’s was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved Colonial architecture and centuries-old sites. The St. George's Historical Society Museum, a small living history museum housed in a traditional Bermuda cottage from the 1730s, serves as a testament to the hearty nature of the town’s first residents. Get ready to be transported back in time, since much of this cozy east end cottage remains just as it was more than 300 years ago. Head to the basement, and you'll also find a working replica of a printing press; after all, this home is where some of Bermuda’s first newspapers were printed, and much of that rich journalistic history is also on display.

Bermuda may be known for its pink sand beaches, but it’s is also synonymous with the scooter, a two-wheeled wonder that still propels much of the island to this day—residents are allowed just one car per household. At the Transport Museum, there are dozens of these vintage motorized bikes on display, including an impressive collection of Mobylettes, the first mass-market motorcycles to hit Bermuda in the 1950s. Now prized by collectors, these machines are the centerpiece of this museum, which also boasts classic cars (like a 1966 Morris Minor woody wagon), wooden buggies (like a 1902 Brewster Carriage largely made with Bermuda cedar), and exhibits devoted to the now-defunct Bermuda Railway, which ran from 1931 to 1948.

Before the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art was unveiled in 2008, Bermuda had no permanent home for its collection of island-inspired artwork from 19th-century masters such as Winslow Homer and Georgia O'Keeffe. That all changed when founder Tom Butterfield acquired a building that once functioned as an arrowroot processing plant, then kitted it out with Brazilian hardwood floors, state-of-the-art lighting, and a high-tech air-conditioning system. Today this stately art gallery, which is housed within the grassy confines of the Bermuda Botanical Gardens, is one of the island’s finest.