Trip readiness checklist for Bermuda

What to pack

Bermuda is not the Caribbean: it is 650 miles off North Carolina, subtropical, and a little bit formal. Pack a sweater for the evenings, something with a collar, and shoes that can handle a scooter.

• A light sweater or jacket

  Even in July, the evening sea breeze cools quickly; from November to March daytime highs sit in the 60s and the water is too cold for most.

• Smart-casual clothes

  Bermuda dresses up: collared shirts at dinner, no swimwear off the beach, and locals in the famous shorts with knee socks and a blazer. Pack a notch smarter than for an island.

• A rain shell

  Showers blow in off the Atlantic year-round and pass in twenty minutes. A packable layer beats a wet afternoon.

• Water shoes

  The pink-sand beaches are soft, but the coves along the south shore have rock and the snorkelling reefs are shallow.

When to go

Bermuda's season is the opposite of the Caribbean's: May to October is peak, with Bermuda Day in late May and Cup Match in late July or early August the big local holidays. Hurricane season runs June to November, with September the likeliest month for a storm. April, May, September and October are the sweet spot; winter is quiet, cool and cheap, and the water is for looking at.

Money & getting around

The Bermudian dollar is pegged one to one with the US dollar, and US dollars are accepted everywhere; change may come back in either. Cards work almost everywhere. Tipping is 15 to 17 percent, and most restaurants add it as a service charge, so read the bill. Visitors cannot rent cars: the options are the excellent buses and ferries (buy a multi-day Transportation Pass), taxis, scooters and two-seat electric Twizy minicars. Bermuda is expensive; budget as for London or New York.

Local quirks worth knowing

Bermuda is British, tidy and polite to a fault, with pink sand and pastel houses to match. The customs are few and the islanders notice when you keep them.

• Good morning, then the question

  Bermudians greet before anything: the bus driver, the shop assistant, the stranger on the ferry. Skipping it is the one thing that reads as rude.

• No rental cars, by law

  One car per household and none for visitors. Buses and ferries are clean and punctual; the Twizy electric minicars are the fun compromise.

• Exact change or a pass on the bus

  Drivers take coins only, no notes, and no change. Buy a Transportation Pass or tokens at the Hamilton bus terminal and save the fumbling.

• Bermuda shorts are formal wear

  Worn with knee socks, a blazer and a tie, by bankers. Yours are for the beach, where they belong.

• Swimwear stays on the sand

  Shirts and shoes in shops, restaurants and on the bus. The islands are conservative about it and so are the fines.

A week in Bermuda, the list starts here

Quantities scale with your dates, the weather groups arrive once we have your travel days, and your own plans add their gear on Trip Pass.

• Passport & travel documents1
• Phone charger & adapter1
• Wallet, cards & some local cash1
• Toiletries bag1
• Any daily medicationsenough for the trip
• Underwear7
• Socks7
• T-shirts / tops5

• Everything in my carry-on, and why each thing earns its spot
• The packing trick that got me through 3 countries with one carry-on