Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda: A Self Guided Walking Tour

 

 

Royal Naval Dockyard, also known simply as the Dockyard, is one of the busiest places in Bermuda during the cruise season. This is where most of the large passenger cruise ships dock in Bermuda. 

 

Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda 

 

Photo: James Willamor, flickr, cc by-sa 2.0 

 

There are two cruise ship berths or piers here - The Kings Wharf (the original one) and the Heritage Wharf (which was built later). Both the berths are adjacent to each other so that two ships can dock next to each other on a line. 

 

Over the years the dockyard has developed into a large commercial complex with many tourist attractions, land and boat tours, activities, as well as public facilities such as transports, restaurants, pubs and bars, a Visitor Service Center, internet services and more. 

 

A Short Video of Royal Naval Dockyard

 

 

Start The Walking Tour

 

Before we start, take a look at the concise map of Royal Naval Dockyard below. This will give you a gross orientation and layout of the dockyard with the major landmarks shown. 

 

 

 

Keep referring to the above map as I take you around the Royal Naval Dockyard. 

 

Now let's start from the cruise piers. As you walk out of the berths and along the common walkway (this section is called the North Arm), you will soon reach the point where North Arm ends and the road forks. This is only about 100 meters from the berths. 

 

On your right you will see a taxi stand where several taxis would be parked and waiting to take you out for a taxi tour or drop you wherever you like to go. 

 

On your left on the road itself you will see large signs 'Train Stop'. This is where the Train Trolley (also called the tram) waits and offers free rides around the dockyard. You can hop on and hop off at various points. It completes a circuit through the dockyard and returns, passing through important places. This free train trolley is available when there is cruise ship on port. 

 

The kiosk of Island Tour Center is also located here, just before the North Arm bifurcates. It offers all kinds of land and boat tours, watersports, etc, which you can book right on the spot. 

 

On the right where North Arm ends and at the corner is the floating pirate ship bar known as Calico Jack's. And right ahead at this junction is the well known restaurant Bonefish Bar and Grill which has an open patio with tables and umbrellas, a bar area right next to the road and inside dining. It serves nice seafood as well as Mediterranean fares. 

 

Walk The Maritime Lane

 

So, from the end of North Arm where the road bifurcates, let's take a right turn. This road is known as Maritime Lane. You can see in the map above that it's a circular route which circles around Victualling Yard, passes through several landmarks and returns. The entire circular route is about 500 meters (i.e. about 550 yards). 

 

The Victualling Yard is largely unused and comprises of two buildings and an open square surrounded by high walls. It was built in early 1800s and used until 1950s by the British navy to store essential supplies. One of the buildings is being used as a warehouse now. 

 

Victualling Yard 

 

Photo: James Willamor, flickr, cc by-sa 2.0 

 

As you take right (i.e. go anti-clock wise), you will see big signs on the road showing one-way signs on the opposite direction. This means that all vehicles on this circular route move only in clock-wise direction. 

 

Start walking along Maritime Lane. Shortly you will see scooter parking place on your right. If you rent a scooter, this is where you can park it. Of course you need to come around from the opposite side. Soon you will see the wall of a large fortress on your right. This is The Keep Fortress where the National Museum of Bermuda is housed. 

 

The museum has large collections of exhibits and artifacts reflecting the history of Bermuda and its culture and heritage. The Museum complex also houses several other attractions like the Dolphin Center - an amazing dolphin training and display center, and the first house in the world made of cast iron - The Commissioner's House which is also now part of the museum. 

 

On your left will be the Craft Market. If you plan to buy some Bermuda's original handcrafted items that serve as excellent decorative pieces or souvenirs, you can find plenty of them here. 

 

Right after the craft market and on your left is the entry to Cooperage building which houses the famous Frog and Onion Pub. They also have a brewery here where they make local beers. 

 

Outside there is a Telephone Booth (old red colored British style). This telephone booth still works, You need to drop coins and make calls. There is also an ATM inside the Cooperage building. Look right and you will see the entry to the National Museum. 

 

 

Photo: mldestefano/Pixabay 

 

Right after the entry to Cooperage on left is Bermuda Arts Center. Several local artists have their studios inside and will be happy to take time off and chat with you. There are lots of paintings, artwork, woodcraft etc. 

 

Few steps ahead at the corner you will see the arched entry to Snorkel Park. This is a small complex which has a beach (good for snorkeling), a restaurant and bar, beach rentals etc. There is an entry fee. 

 

Right next to it is the 18-hole mini golf course called Fun Golf which too has a bar of its own. Next to the entrance of Snorkel Park and at the corner is a kids playground. There is a washroom facility next to it. 

 

Turn around the corner towards left and walk ahead. There are two huge stone walls on both sides of the road. In about 150 meters you will reach a junction of three roads. 

 

Just before the junction and on your right is a two level building - this is where the famous Dockyard Glassworks used to be located. Here one could see demonstration of glass blowing technique and buy exquisite glass made items.... excellent as souvenirs. The Bermuda Rum Cake Company making excellent rum cakes was also co-located in this building.  

 

NOTE: Both Dockyard Glassworks and the physical bakery of Rum Cake Company in Dockyard have closed down. You can find a Glass Studio called Studio8 inside the Clocktower Mall which is described later in this tour. 

 

Once you reach the junction, if you turn left (this section of the road is known as Dockyard Terrace), you will go back to the start of North Arm. 

 

Walk The Dockyard Terrace

 

Now, let us re-start the tour from the North Arm bifurcation point (where Bonefish Bar and Grill is located), but this time let's take the Dockyard Terrace road on the left and reach up to the junction of three roads which is at a short distance of only about 110 meters. 

 

Start walking and you will see the Ferry Dock on your left. This is from where you can board the Blue Route ferry to Hamilton City (takes 20 minutes) or Orange Route ferry to St. George (takes 40 minutes). Most of these ferries are air-conditioned fast catamarans. 

 

There is a large paved open space with lovely water view on your left. You can see ferries, several boats waiting to pick up tourists for boat tours. From here, you can also see the cruise ships on the piers. There are benches and gazebos where you can sit and relax. On your right you can see the fenced open patio of Bonefish Bar and Grill. 

 

Cruise ships at Dockyard, Bermuda 

 

 

Walk along and shortly you will see the Visitor Service Center (VSC), a glass gazebo on the left. It's located only 450 meters away (about 5 minute walk) from the cruise berths and close to the ferry stop as shown in the earlier map. 

 

It's useful for gathering information about the island, knowing about and booking tours and activities operating from the dockyard and other places in the island. You can collect a free Handy Reference Map of the island from here and also the bus and ferry schedules. You can also buy bus and ferry passes and tokens at the VSC (bot not ticket booklets). 

 

Then comes The Rum Barrel - a glass gazebo located right after the Visitors Service Center. You can get duty free Gosling's liquor here and branded merchandize such as T-shirts, apparels and souvenirs from Goslings Brothers (Bermuda's famous rum maker). 

 

 

 

Look to your right and across the road, you will see a building with a prominent display Island Outfitters (6 Dockyard Terrace) The store offers accessories, souvenirs, and other items including flip flops, sun glasses, sun hats, T-shirts, local jams, salt and more. You will also find several old fashioned red telephone booths at the grounds here. 

 

The Crown and Anchor store is located right adjacent to Island Outfitters. It's an upscale clothing store themed on Bermuda's marine history. It has been housed in a building which once used to be the residence of a ship's captain. 

 

Island Outfitters and Crown and Anchor 

 

Photo: Charles Lewis, Shutterstock 

 

A few yards forward, you will see the arched entrance to the cafe The Dockyard Cafe with tables and umbrellas laid out on an open patio - a good place to have coffee and pastries. 

 

Move forward along Dockyard Terrace Road and soon you will reach the junction of three roads. Here at the junction is Oleander Cycles, an outfitter that rents scooters and bicycles. Also nearby, you will see the pink bus of Segway Tours that offers guided tours of Dockyard and nearby places on self-balancing 2-wheeled Segway machines. 

 

Walk the Camber Road

 

Let's now turn left from the junction into Camber Road. Right after Oleander Cycles you will see Jon Faulkner Gallery. Here you can get excellent collections of handmade pottery and ceramic items of various types. 

 

Next to this is Dockyard-Pharmacy where you can get medicines (against prescriptions), health and beauty products, sun-care products, cosmetics, souvenirs and gift items, books, newspapers and magazines, beverages and even ice creams. 

 

Few steps ahead and on the right is Makin Waves (5 Camber Road), a 2,000 sq. ft. store selling a range of action sport items such as swimwear, watersport gears, other than a range of T-shirts, hats, eye-wear, sun-care products, accessories including sunglasses.  

 

This is from where you can buy snorkel gears, flip slops, swimming trunks, skateboards etc. It's open daily (April through October, 9am to 6pm). Their main store is at 1 Church Street (Hamilton City). 

 

Makin Waves 

 

Photo: Makin Waves 

 

Move forward, you will get to a junction, turn left and continue along Camber Road and you will soon reach the Clocktower Mall. This is a fully air-conditioned shopping mall in Dockyard housing a number boutique stores across two floors. There are clothing, jewelry, accessories, gift and souvenir shops in the mall, as well as a few restaurants. 

 

Clocktower Mall 

 

Photo: P. Hughes, cc by-sa 4.0 

 

The mall building is marked by two 100-ft towers on two sides, one having a Clock and the other showing time of high tide. All buses come up to this point and return. So if you need to catch a bus to visit a place outside the dockyard, you need to walk up to the Clock Tower Mall. 

 

Camber Road here becomes Clocktower Parade and then Pender Road. You will reach the exit/entry gate of the dockyard soon. And just before the gate and on your right you can see the Anchor Restaurant, Bar and Lounge... a nice restaurant at the southern end of dockyard to relax and have beverages and food. 

 

Walk the Smithery Lane

 

From the Anchor Restaurant, as you turn back and walk a few steps, you will see Smithery Lane to your left. Enter Smithery Lane, walk for 120 meters, to your left you can see a long, low limestone building with shuttered windows called Casemate Barracks. 

 

Casemate is one of the oldest historical structures in the complex, built in the 1830s as the barracks for the Royal Marine Infantry who guarded the dockyard. From 1963 until 1994 it served as Bermuda's main prison for convicted criminals. It has been closed and largely empty since then, with ongoing restoration. You cannot go inside, but the outside is worth a slow walk-by for the scale of it. 

 

Shortly there after is the outlet of Current Vehicles where you can rent electric minicars. Next to it is a boatyard West End Yachts which is a full service yacht repairing and building facility.  

 

Ending Your Walking Tour and Some Tips

 

Smithery Lane shortly meets the Camber Road on the junction near Makin Waves, you walk back to the Cruise Berths from there. 

 

It takes about 30 minutes of continuous walk from one end of the dockyard to the other. For the purpose of this tour, allocate about one and half hours of leisure walk, and you can comfortably complete the loop I described above, along with cushion time to look around for the landmarks. Add to this any additional time that you may like to spend on shopping, relaxing with a cup of coffee or dining. 

 

During summer, it can be sunny and very hot during the day time. So, definitely wear a hat or carry an umbrella and enough drinking water. Finding shades along the way is not easy unless you enter a store, a restaurant or the Visitor Service Center (expect crowd on cruise days). Clocktower Mall is air-conditioned and has washrooms... so that's your go to place for a respite. 

 

If walking causes exhaustion, then avail the free shuttle tram to skip the walk whenever you want. It goes on a loop around the dockyard passing through all major points. 

 

Free Dockyard Shuttle Tram 

 

 

Here are some details about the shuttle tram (train trolley): 

The tram moves in a loop connecting cruise ship piers to major landmarks like the Snorkel Park, Fun Golf, Dockyard's Ferry Dock, Clocktower Mall, and the local bus terminal (which is in front of the Clocktower Mall) 

You can hop on and hop off at any point. 

The vehicles operate daily and continuously from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Depending on demand, the wait time can vary. Particularly on busy cruise days, the wait can be lengthy. It usually starts when it gets full or nearly full. 

The free dockyard shuttle is ADA accessible. 

 

Road Map of Royal Naval Dockyard

 

 

 

Related articles

 

 

1) Kings Wharf - Cruise ship Port 

 

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