dennisrobert

We recently returned from a trip to Bermuda and the buses were the bane of our existence, despite a lot of information we had read stating that they are reliable. Some info states they come every 15 minutes. Only a few buses run every 15 minutes or if you are in a location where you have the option of a 7 or 8 bus, it is theoretically possible one will come every 15 minutes. We stayed in Somerset and mostly used 7 and 8 buses traveling towards Dockyards or Hamilton. The schedule posted inside the bus kiosks indicates that the buses run on the half hour during prime time and in fact we often waited more than half an hour. On one particular day we waited in front of Church Bay Beach for 45 minutes for a bus heading toward Somerset, before a bus stopped. The driver opened the door, said “I’m only going to Barnes Corner, the next bus will get you” and took off. About 10 minutes later another bus, completely empty, went by and didn’t even stop. After another 10 minutes, a third bus, completely full drove by and of course didn’t stop either. Now it was well over an hour and finally a guy in a white bus rescued us for $10.00 which we were more than happy to pay. On another occasion we came across an elderly couple sitting outside the Botanic Garden. They claimed they had been waiting there for a bus for over 2 hours. Finally, it was not our unfamiliarity as tourists, as we were standing around Dockyard one night waiting for a bus and we heard a native Bermudian call her family to tell them she would be late for dinner because she had been waiting over an hour for a bus. Take a taxi, rent a moped, but don’t rely on buses, especially if a cruise ship comes in as the buses fill up quickly and if you don’t get on then you wait half an hour for the next one.

Bette

Were you there on 4/26? They did post about some cancellations. This has been happening during the winter season as they are making repairs before the busy summer season starts. We visit the island annually and always get a scooter. In addition, we stay on the Pink Ferry route we gives us easy access to downtown Hamilton and the bus & ferry system.
Somerset is nice, but a bit remote.

More than 90 buses cancelled yesterday | The Royal Gazetteermuda News

suze

Welcome to Fodor's forums. Maybe you could post what you did like about Bermuda? If anything.

Sassafrass

Thank you.

dennisrobert

we were there 4/21-4/27. thanks for tip, we will definitely rent the scooters next time.

dennisrobert

Everything else was pretty fine. The bus drivers were friendly, the various blue shades of water were gorgeous, the shops gladly rented us snorkel gear even though they were not fully open for the season and the weather was fantastic. The only other thing I would advise avoiding is the Botanic Garden. It is a shadow of its former self, obviously in financial distress, with many buildings closed, plants missing, no name tags, the Japanese section had a broken bridge and the lantern was in pieces. Or maybe we were too early and they are not quite ready for the season, but I've seen other posts describing this same situation.. Basically I would make this same trip again, just avoiding buses.

Bette

The Masterworks Museum located at the Botanical Gardens is delightful.
https://www.bermudamasterworks.org/c...nt-collection/

Two new buses for the island we added into service this week according to the local paper - this should help with cancellations.