The Lay of the Land

Most of the hotels in Nassau are city hotels and are not on the water. If you want to stay right on the sands, choose a hotel in Cable Beach (later in this chapter) or on Paradise Island.

Rawson Square is the heart of Nassau, positioned just a short walk from Prince George Wharf, where the big cruise ships, many of them originating in Florida, berth. Here you'll see the Churchill Building, which contains the offices of the Bahamian prime minister along with other government ministries.

Busy Bay Street, the main shopping artery, begins on the south side of Rawson Square. This was the turf of the infamous "Bay Street Boys," a group of rich white Bahamians who once controlled political and economic activity on New Providence.

On the opposite side of Rawson Square is Parliament Square, with a statue of a youthful Queen Victoria. Here are more government houses and the House of Assembly. These are Georgian and neo-Georgian buildings, some dating from the late 1700s.

The courthouse is separated by a little square from the Nassau Public Library and Museum, which opens onto Bank Lane. It was the former Nassau Gaol (jail). South of the library, across Shirley Street, are the remains of the Royal Victoria Hotel, which opened the same year the American Civil War began (1861) and once hosted blockade runners and Confederate spies.

A walk down Parliament Street leads to the post office. Philatelists may want to stop in because some Bahamian stamps are collectors' items.

Going south, moving farther away from the water, Elizabeth Avenue takes you to the Queen's Staircase. One of the major landmarks of Nassau, it leads to Bennet's Hill and Fort Fincastle.

If you return to Bay Street, you'll discover the oversized tent which contains the Straw Market, a handicrafts emporium where you can buy all sorts of souvenirs.

In Nassau, and especially in the rest of The Bahamas, you will seldom, if ever, find street numbers on hotels or other businesses. In the more remote places, you sometimes won't even find street names. Get directions before heading somewhere in particular. Of course, you can always ask along the way, as most Bahamians are very helpful.