GMT - 5 (GMT - 4 from first Sunday in April to Saturday before last Sunday in October).

Bermuda Dollar (Bda$) = 100 cents.

Language

English.

Bermuda consists of a chain of some 180 coral islands and islets lying 1046km (650 miles) off the coast of North Carolina, in the Atlantic Ocean. Its coastlines are characterised by small bays with beaches of fine pale pink coral sand. The surrounding waters are a vivid blue-green. Inland there is an abundance of subtropical plants and flowers. Hamilton is the colony's capital city, situated at the end of Bermuda's Great Sound on the inner curve of the 'fish hook'. Ferry trips are available round the harbour here. In Hamilton parish, the Bermuda Aquarium and Natural History Museum and Zoo, based at Flatts Village, are worth a visit. At the far eastern end of the chain of islands is the 17th-century town of St George. The town's narrow lanes and historic landmarks appear much as they did more than three centuries ago. St George has many excellent pubs, restaurants and shops.

Imported merchandise such as French perfumes, English bone china, Swiss watches, Danish silver, American costume jewellery, German cameras, Scottish tweeds, and various spirits and liqueurs are the best buys. Bermuda-made articles include handicrafts, pottery, cedar ware, fashions, records and paintings by local artists.

Bermudian specialities include Bermuda lobster, mussel pie, conch stew, fish chowder laced with sherry peppers and rum, and shark. Other seafoods include rockfish, red snapper and yellowtail. Peculiar to Bermuda is the Bermuda onion; other fine home-grown products include pawpaw and strawberries in January and February, and a variety of local citrus fruit. Traditional Sunday breakfast is codfish and bananas while desserts include sweet potato pudding, bay grape jelly and a syllabub of guava jelly, cream and sherry. Local drinks and cocktails have Caribbean rum as a base, and have colourful names such as Dark and Stormy and the famous Rum Swizzle.

The CaribbeanBermuda

Bermuda