gibbs hill lighthouse

The Gibbs Hill Lighthouse is Bermuda's famous most landmark. Built in 1844, it's the oldest iron cast lighthouse in the world. Climbing up its 185 steps will yield you spectacular views of most of the island. While the lighthouse stands tall at 117 feet, the hill it stands on is about 245 feet above sea level. For the past little while the steps leading to the top of the lighthouse was under construction but not anymore, giving you no excuse to make that trek up to the top. And when you're all tuckered out, the Lighthouse Tearoom makes for an excellent stopover be it breakfast or lunch.


The lighthouse also has a 1,000 watt bulb along with a trough of 1,200 pounds of mercury that the bulb sits & revolves in. So, when you're at the top, look out for it. This may mean climbing up the steps reserved for the maintenance personnel, but no one really pays attention to the signs anyway. However, I was too engrossed with the fabulous island view. So I missed it. Twice. Although, next time I will take a moment to pay particular attention to the mercury & the mega watt bulb. It's not often that you get to see the inner workings of a lighthouse.