Bermuda has a style and setting all its own welcome

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Bermuda has a style and setting all its own

It's just before 7 a.m. on a Sunday, and in the pale light of dawn about two dozen people have gathered in the parking lot next to the city hall for the Walking Club of Bermuda's weekly outing.

It's a mixed crew of men and women, who joke and banter as they wait to start an invigorating power walk through the city streets. Though it is quickly apparent that I am the only one who is not a local, I am immediately made to feel welcome. People introduce themselves and ask where I'm from.

In my experience, there are not too many places where a traveller can quickly connect with the locals, particularly when you arrive somewhere not knowing a soul.

Yet on several occasions during a recent visit to Bermuda, I found myself falling into conversations with Bermudians. It happened with the walking club, when I showed up at an art gallery event, and when I met a chef at one of the island's restaurants.

That ease of connection was a welcome and unexpected bonus.

I had gone to Bermuda for a short visit that was spurred by the fact Canadians can get there pretty cheaply right now, but it's not a place I knew much about before I went.

The first thing everyone tells you is that Bermuda is not in the Caribbean. It is a tiny group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean about 1,000 kilometres east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

That mid-Atlantic setting means Bermuda is a little of this and little of that.

For example, Bermuda still has ties to Great Britain, but its proximity to the U.S. and its relative wealth -- finance, not tourism, is the island's biggest industry -- make it feel more North American. Downtown Hamilton, with its grid of streets rising from the harbour, reminded me of Halifax. With its many head offices, shops and restaurants, it has the feel of a small but cosmopolitan North American city.

However, they drive on the left here, on roads so narrow you wonder how they manage. Tourists aren't even allowed to rent cars; it's easy, though, to travel by taxi, bus or ferry.

The people are a mix of African, British and Portuguese heritage. Some Bermudians sounded American, others seemed British, and others still sounded (no kidding!) like actor Cary Grant, speaking with a mid-Atlantic accent with a bit of Caribbean lilt thrown in.

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The island may not have a single accent, but it certainly has a unique look: the architecture is picture-postcard perfect, with plenty of charming stone houses in pastel colours and stepped roofs that catch the rainwater, a source of drinking water on the island.

It is also quite compact. The main islands are joined by bridges or causeways, and the total distance from stem to stern is about 35 kilometres; at no point is Bermuda more than 2.8 kilometres wide, so the sea is always near.

Because it's not the Caribbean, the climate is warm but not tropical. When I was there in late November, the daily highs hit the low 20s. But because of the moderating effect of the ocean, the temperature doesn't drop at night: it never dipped below 17 when I was there.

When I told friends I was going to Bermuda, many responded by saying, "But Bermuda's expensive!"

There's no denying the cost of living is higher here -- that was evident in the cost of restaurant meals and accommodations. The island grows very little of its own food, so food, consumer goods, building materials and so on come in by ship from the U.S.

David Dodwell Jr., whose family runs The Reefs, a hotel on the south shore of the island about a half-hour outside Hamilton, says the only thing to do about prices is acknowledge that they are generally higher here.

"I don't think we could ever claim to be a low-cost destination, but we do our best to provide value for money," he says.

Dodwell, a native Bermudian, says Bermuda has the advantage of being close the eastern U.S. and Canada (my flight from Toronto took less than three hours) and has a full working infrastructure. I didn't worry about drinking the water, for example.

The Bermudian currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar, and the two currencies are used interchangeably on the island. With the Canadian dollar near par with the U.S. dollar, at least Canadians need no longer worry about losing out on the exchange.

And because winter is the off-season in Bermuda, prices for accommodation are lower at this time of year.

Even if you're unlikely to go lie on the beach in winter, there are plenty of other things to do.

At this time of year golf is big and there are lots of interesting walking trails which will take you to sites of historic and natural interest.

If you go

Getting there: WestJet and Air Canada fly directly to Bermuda from Toronto.

Where to stay (and more): The Bermuda Tourism website, www.bermudatourism.com/index.aspx, is a particularly useful tool for finding out about the island, searching out accommodation and linking to activities.

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Bermuda beaches are actually kind of cool for swimming in the winter which is a reminder that it's not actually in the Caribbean, but in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The best time of year to visit is in the summer.