Flower bed at Bermuda Botanical Gardens. Credit: Wikimedia Creative Commons license

Bermuda Botanical Gardens is a 36-acre facility with gardens, greenhouses, walking paths and other activities. Better yet, admission is free.

It also is the site of the official residence of the Bermuda Premier as well as the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

Individual gardens include flowers, native palmetto trees, subtropical fruits and a sensory garden for the blind. The sensory garden has Braille signs in front of the herbs and fruits.

Greenhouse collections include orchids and succulents, according to the Bermuda Tourism Authority.

“Established in 1898, these 36 acres have been a popular spot to walk and relax among the lush foliage for more than a century,” the Bermuda Tourism Authority says.

Hours for the gardens are sunrise to sunset each day. The address for the gardens is 169 South Road in Devonshire. It is one mile east of the Hamilton docks and 14 miles or about 40 minutes south of Kings Wharf.

Camden House and Art Museum

The gardens also have Camden House, the official residence of Bermuda’s Premier, although he doesn’t live there.

Camden, built in the early 1700s, is one of the best known examples on the island of Georgian architecture, according to the tourism authority.

Various historic features include a Waterford crystal chandelier and intricate furniture carved from Bermuda cedar.

The house is open for public tours between noon and 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays. It closes to the public during important government functions. Admission is free.

Cruise ships offer excursions to nearby attractions such as Hamilton that only “drive by” the gardens. So visitors with an interest in seeing them usually must rent a car or hire a taxi.

Another attraction at the same site is the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

The museum contains artwork by Bermuda artists as well as artistic views of Bermuda by such painters as Winslow Homer, Charles Demuth and Georgia O’Keeffe. Many of the artworks were contributed by the artists and emphasize island landscapes.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. The cost is $5 for everyone except children under 12, who are free.