Pastel facades, pink-sand beaches, and the Atlantic's most elegant island capital
Hamilton is the tiny capital of Bermuda — a British Overseas Territory that somehow punches above its weight with pink-sand beaches, turquoise harbours, and a per-capita GDP higher than most of Europe. The city itself is walkable in an afternoon: Front Street's candy-coloured colonial buildings, the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Hamilton Princess hotel (opened 1884, still hosting royalty) set the tone. But Bermuda is really about the water — the Glass-Bottom Boat tour of the 300+ shipwrecks in the harbour is unmissable.
Bermuda was accidentally settled in 1609 when the Sea Venture, en route to Virginia, wrecked on its reefs — a shipwreck that directly inspired Shakespeare's The Tempest. Hamilton was founded as capital in 1815, replacing St. George's after merchants decided the harbour was more convenient. The island's strategic position in the North Atlantic made it a key British naval base; during both World Wars, American and British forces operated from Bermuda, and the island hosted the 1953 Churchill–Eisenhower–Laniel summit. Today it's one of the world's leading reinsurance and offshore finance centres.