Nassau Cruise Port Walking Routes: 8 Routes from the Ship

Nassau cruise ships dock at Prince George Wharf. You can walk off and be on Bay Street about five minutes after leaving Festival Place. The wharf is what eats the clock: 50 to 300 m from gangway to terminal, no city shuttle, and up to fifteen minutes each way from the outer berths.

Prince George Wharf: six berths, one terminal and 500 m to town

Festival Place is about 500 m from the centre of Nassau, and every berth funnels into it. You don’t need your berth number to get off the ship, only to work out how long the walk will take.

• Berths 1 and 2 are at the western end, closest to Bay Street, the British Colonial and Junkanoo Beach.
• Berths 3 and 4 sit right in front of Festival Place, so that’s the shortest walk off the ship.
• Berths 5 and 6 are at the eastern end, roughly five extra minutes to Festival Place, and they take the largest ships.

From a far berth, allow 10 to 15 minutes to reach the terminal. The longest outer-berth walk is three quarters of a mile.

The port authority assigns berths by ship size, arrival time and scheduling, and you usually won’t know yours until the ship comes in. Plan for an outer berth and be pleased if you’re not on one.

There’s no shuttle along the pier, but free electric trams sometimes run at the base of the gangway at the outer berths. Ask the gangway crew on the day whether one is running before you set off.

The pier is flat and paved, so it’s fine for wheelchairs and mobility scooters, though the outer berths are a longer push. There are no toilets on the piers; Festival Place and the town have them.

The terminal also holds the banks, ATMs, a post office and free Wi-Fi. The old phone booths along the pier have been out of service for years.

Two gates lead out of the terminal, and the east one is quieter. It opens almost onto Rawson Square and Parliament Square, which makes it the better start for anything heading east along Bay Street.

Festival Place is a small shopping and food hall, with tarts and souvenir stalls under one roof. Bay Street is no more than 50 yards from the gate, so the first sight of Nassau costs you almost nothing.

Nassau cruise port walking routes map

Each pin shows how far that place is from the nearest cruise pier. Tap a pin for directions.

• Prince George Wharf / Festival PlaceWhere ships dock
• Bay StreetAbout 2 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Rawson SquareAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Parliament SquareAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Straw MarketAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Pirates of NassauAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Pompey MuseumAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Gregory’s ArchAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Queen’s StaircaseAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Fort FincastleAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• National Art Gallery of The BahamasAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• John Watling’s DistilleryAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Junkanoo BeachAbout 1 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Saunders BeachAbout 3 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place
• Arawak CayAbout 2 km from Prince George Wharf / Festival Place

How far each sight is from the gangway

Every time here is measured from the terminal exit at Festival Place, because that’s the fixed point all eight routes pass through. Add five minutes from the gangway, or 8 to 10 minutes if you’re on the outer berths.

The same sight can be five minutes away in one plan and twenty in another, which is why one plan looks generous and another impossible. The Queen’s Staircase is about a kilometre from the terminal, so treat any figure under 10 minutes as measured from somewhere other than your gangway.

The wharf walk comes out of the day twice, once at the start and once at the end. It’s the stretch nobody puts in the plan.

Is it safe to walk around Nassau?

Downtown Nassau is safe to walk in daylight, in the way any busy tourist city is. The US and UK advice is about where you go rather than whether you go: stay in the tourist core north of Shirley Street, keep out of Over the Hill, and don’t walk the back streets after dusk.

The US State Department keeps The Bahamas at Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, because of crime. It names Over the Hill, south of Shirley Street in Nassau, as the area to stay alert in.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is firmer on foot: it advises against walking outside the main tourist areas and beaches, especially alone. It says to stay in downtown Nassau where police patrols are regular, and to travel in groups after dusk. Neither government advises against travelling to The Bahamas at all.

Gregory’s Arch, eight minutes up Market Street, marks the historic line between downtown and Over the Hill, which makes it the practical edge of any walking route. Turn round there.

Sexual assaults have happened on and near the downtown beaches, and the US Embassy in Nassau has warned about jet ski operators assaulting riders in the water between Junkanoo Beach and Saunders Beach. US government staff are barred from renting jet skis from independent operators on New Providence.

Two things that catch people out aren’t crime at all. Inside the gated terminal, taxi drivers and tour guides will press offers on you, and once you’re through the gate nobody bothers you. At the staircase, informal guides will offer to walk you up for a tip, so agree the price first or decline.

The Straw Market is a crush rather than a risk: keep bags in front of you and zips closed. There are Police Force and Defence Force outposts at the port, and downtown has regular patrols, so there’s usually someone in uniform a street or two away.

The hill: 66 steps, 65 of them visible, and the end you arrive at

The Queen’s Staircase is 66 steps by name and 65 visible, because the bottom step was buried when the path at its base was paved. It’s about 13 minutes on foot from the terminal, 0.6 mile, up pedestrianised Elizabeth Avenue off Shirley Street.

That approach matters more than the step count. Coming from the north puts you at the foot of the steps, so every route to the staircase climbs it.

Fort Fincastle sits right at the summit, which means the climb is the approach rather than an extra. The staircase was carved from solid limestone by about 600 formerly enslaved people, and its high stone walls, garden and flowing water make the climb a shaded one.

Fort Fincastle is built on Bennet’s Hill, ship-shaped, and open 8am to 4pm daily. The view from the top takes in the city, the harbour and your ship. Admission is free with a donation, or a few dollars at the gate, so carry small notes and treat either answer as good news.

The climb isn’t wheelchair accessible and involves significant steps. A taxi to the top with the walk down is what the paid historical tours do, and it’s worth copying if knees are the issue. Access around the water tower has been affected by renovation work at times, so check before you set out.

Pavements, shade and what to put on your feet

Bay Street is flat and paved, but the side streets are older, with uneven slabs, kerbs without ramps and the occasional step. Parliament Square and the waterfront are the accessible zone; anything off Bay Street is a gamble with a pushchair.

The first hour ashore is the one that works. Parliament Square is quiet enough to photograph around 08:30 and shoulder to shoulder by 11:00.

The staircase is in shade in the morning and a queue by mid-afternoon. The harbour view from the fort takes in the whole wharf and your ship, and there are more photo spots in Nassau along the same loop.

Wear trainers or walking shoes rather than flip-flops, because the limestone around the steps is shaded and water runs alongside it. Blister plasters that fit in a pocket are cheap insurance if you’re stacking the fort and Blackbeard’s Tower into one morning.

Carry water rather than buying it at every stop, and a collapsible water bottle that packs flat takes up no room in a day bag. A hat and a light layer do more for a walking day than a change of clothes, and these Nassau cruise outfits for a port day are built around the same mix.

The eight walking routes, and the call length each one needs

Each of the eight routes is built from the distances from Festival Place, with a minimum time in port being the shortest that makes it comfortable rather than rushed. The end point is given relative to the ship, because that’s what decides whether you make all-aboard.

Add the wharf walk on top of every one. None of these routes costs anything to walk, which is what makes them the backbone of free things to do in Nassau.

Route 1: Festival Place and Bay Street in under an hour

Minimum time in port: one hour. Distance: about half a mile there and back.

Flat, no steps. Ends: at the terminal gate, a few minutes from your gangway.

This is the route for a late arrival or a few hours in port. The coconut and pineapple tarts at the stands inside Festival Place are worth the stop on their own.

Then out onto Woodes Rodgers Walk and one block in to Bay Street, which is no more than 50 yards from the gate. The Straw Market is another 5 to 7 minutes east if the clock allows.

Route 2: Rawson Square, Parliament Square and the Straw Market

Minimum time in port: 90 minutes. Distance: about a mile.

Flat, pavements throughout. Ends: back at Festival Place via Bay Street.

The east gate opens almost onto Rawson Square, three minutes from the terminal, and Parliament Square is the postcard five minutes beyond it. Bay Street is the shopping street, with the Straw Market at the souvenir end.

Pompey Museum, the building where enslaved Africans were auctioned, is within five minutes of the ship. Bargaining is expected at the stalls.

Route 3: the Queen’s Staircase climb and Fort Fincastle at the top

Minimum time in port: two and a half hours. Distance: about 1.5 miles there and back.

Uphill: a steady climb on Elizabeth Avenue plus 66 steps. Ends: back downhill at Festival Place.

Elizabeth Avenue puts you at the foot of the staircase rather than the top, so the climb is the route. Fort Fincastle is open 8am to 4pm daily, and the payoff is the view rather than a half-day inside, so treat it as a stop on the walk and not the reason for it.

If knees or a pushchair are in the party, this is the route to drop, or take a taxi up and walk down.

Route 4: the historic downtown loop

Minimum time in port: two hours. Distance: about 1.2 miles.

Flat until the rise on Market Street. Ends: back at the gate.

Pompey Museum first while it’s quiet, then Bay Street east, Rawson Square, and up Market Street to Gregory’s Arch, eight minutes from the terminal, which marks the historic line between downtown and Over the Hill. That arch is the turn-round point; past it you’re in the area the US and UK governments advise against on foot.

For the buildings that carry the story, these historical sites in Nassau are all within the same loop.

Route 5: Junkanoo Beach and the western waterfront

Minimum time in port: two and a half hours. Distance: 1.4 miles there and back.

Flat. Ends: 12 to 15 minutes west of the ship, so add that walk and the wharf to your buffer.

Junkanoo Beach is free to enter, 0.7 mile west, with beach bars, casual restaurants and chair rentals. Berths 1 and 2 are the western end of the wharf, which puts you closest to it.

Leave the beach with 30 minutes in hand rather than 20, because the last stretch is the one people misjudge. If you want quieter sand, Nassau beaches away from the Atlantis crowds need a taxi rather than a walk.

Route 6: the National Art Gallery and John Watling’s Distillery

Minimum time in port: two and a half hours. Distance: about 1.5 miles there and back.

Uphill to the Buena Vista Estate. Ends: 15 minutes uphill at the distillery, so walk back down or take a taxi.

The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas is about 15 minutes on foot and closes on Mondays and all public holidays, with last entry at 4:30pm. John Watling’s Distillery is four minutes further on, open 10am to 6pm daily except Bahamian national holidays, with complimentary guided or self-guided tours and a tavern on site.

You pay only if you eat or drink. Both shut on public holidays, so on a public holiday, make it a beach day instead.

Route 7: the half-day, everything on foot

Minimum time in port: four hours. Distance: 2.5 to 3 miles.

Uphill on the staircase leg. Ends: wherever you plan, so make the last stop the one nearest the ship.

Staircase and fort first, before the shade moves and while the steps are empty, then down to the gallery and the distillery, with Bay Street and the Straw Market last because they’re five minutes from the gate. This is the route that finds every blister. Blister plasters that fit in a pocket are cheap insurance if you’re stacking the fort and Blackbeard’s Tower into one morning.

Route 8: the food route, Festival Place to Arawak Cay

Minimum time in port: three hours. Distance: about 2.5 miles, with a taxi back an option.

Flat. Ends: 25 minutes west at Arawak Cay, so take a taxi back or allow the walk plus the wharf.

Start with tarts at the stands inside Festival Place, work through the Straw Market, then head west along the waterfront. It’s 15 minutes to Junkanoo Beach and another 10 past it to the Fish Fry at Arawak Cay, where the town eats rather than Bay Street. A sit-down conch lunch costs an hour of the day, which this route has and the shorter ones don’t.

Getting back before all-aboard

Be at the ship at least 30 minutes before the posted all-aboard time, and work the arithmetic backwards from there rather than from sailing time. A route that ends 15 minutes west of the ship, plus a 15-minute wharf walk at an outer berth, eats the whole buffer before you’ve started.

Use ship time, not island time. Nassau keeps its own clock and ships often stay on the time they sailed with, so set your phone to the ship’s time at the start of the day. Check the clock by the gangway rather than your watch.

The pier is the stretch that catches people, because it comes at the end when everyone is tired and the gangway queue is at its worst. Carry your ship card and one photo ID, since you need both to get back through the gate. If a route ends at the distillery or at Arawak Cay, a taxi back removes the guesswork; agree the fare before you get in.

A map that works without data, and what to say if you get lost

Bay Street is the spine running east to west and Woodes Rodgers Walk is the waterfront handrail. All eight routes are loops off one or both, which is all the map most people need.

Free Wi-Fi covers the whole terminal, so load a map before you leave Festival Place. The tourist information desk inside the building hands out paper maps and guides, which is the more reliable option once you’re outside the gate.

If you do get turned around, the words that work are Prince George Wharf and Festival Place, because every berth funnels into that one building and any taxi or passer-by will know what you mean.

What you cannot walk to, and what to take instead

Atlantis and Paradise Island, Cable Beach, Saunders Beach, Blue Lagoon and Fort Charlotte are all outside a port-day walk. Each has its own fix: a water taxi, a land taxi, a jitney or a ferry.

Atlantis and Paradise Island

The water taxi loads at the dock on the east side of Prince George Wharf, a short walk from Festival Place along the waterfront. It takes about 15 minutes to cross, dropping near the bridge with about 10 minutes’ walk to Atlantis.

It’s cash only, takes no reservations, waits until the boat is full, the narrator works for tips and the last boat back is around 5pm. A land taxi over the Paradise Island bridge takes about 10 minutes, and jitneys don’t run there at all.

Whether the Atlantis day pass for cruise passengers is worth it is a separate decision from the transport.

Cable Beach, Saunders Beach and Blue Lagoon

The number 10 jitney reaches Cable Beach in 20 to 25 minutes and a taxi does it in 10 to 15. Saunders Beach is about 45 minutes on foot, so it’s a taxi or the same number 10 route, which also serves Goodman’s Bay.

Saunders has restrooms, showers and a small playground. Blue Lagoon is about a 20-minute ferry from Nassau, and if the plan is a water day rather than a beach, these water adventures in Nassau are worth booking before you sail.

Taxis, jitneys and the horse-drawn surreys

Taxis queue outside the terminal and quote a fixed rate before you get in, so agree the fare first. Official fares are set by zone and are per trip rather than per person, and drivers often go over them. Ask to see the rate card.

Jitneys run 18 numbered routes from two downtown terminals, cost a flat cash fare with exact change expected, and run roughly 6:30am to 7pm Monday to Saturday with limited Sunday service. They don’t enter the port complex, so walk three minutes to Bay Street and catch the number 10 at George Street rather than the 10A.

The routes worth knowing for a beach day are covered in getting around Nassau from the cruise ship. Horse-drawn surreys wait near the pier for a narrated tour of downtown of around 45 minutes at a fixed fee.

Where to eat near Nassau cruise port

The closest food to the ship is inside Festival Place and along Bay Street. The eating worth building a route around is west along the waterfront: conch salad and a cold Kalik at Arawak Cay, 25 minutes on foot, and beach bars at Junkanoo Beach, 12 to 15 minutes away.

• Conch salad is raw conch cured in lime juice, chilli and onion. The Fish Fry at Arawak Cay is where the town eats it rather than on Bay Street.
• Kalik is the Bahamian lager, and it comes cold at every stop on the waterfront route.
• Coconut and pineapple tarts are sold at the stands inside Festival Place, which makes them the first thing you can eat off the ship.
• Fresh coconut from the beach vendors on the western beaches, opened while you wait.

A sit-down conch or fish lunch near the beach takes about an hour out of the day, which is fine on a long day in port and impossible on a short one, so on three hours you eat standing. There’s more on what to order in these must-try Bahamian foods near the cruise port.

Money, opening hours and the days that close a route

US dollars are accepted everywhere in Nassau, so there’s no need to change money. Carry small notes: the jitney driver won’t have change and the water taxi is cash only.

• Straw Market opens at 07:30 or 08:00 and closes between 17:00 and 20:00, with hours that vary without notice, so mid-afternoon is the safe window.
• Festival Place runs roughly 09:00 to 18:30, with banks and ATMs inside and in town.
• The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas closes on Mondays and all public holidays, with last entry at 4:30pm. On Sundays it opens at 10am or noon and closes at 5pm.
• John Watling’s Distillery opens 10am to 6pm daily except Bahamian national holidays.
• Fort Fincastle opens 8am to 4pm daily.

A Sunday or a public holiday changes which route to pick, because the gallery, the fort and the distillery all close, so build the day on the squares, the market, the beach and the waterfront instead. If shopping is the point of the day rather than a stop on it, the Straw Market is the start, and these Nassau shopping experiences beyond the Straw Market cover the rest.

Walking with children or limited mobility

The gangway-to-Festival-Place walk is flat and paved and works for wheelchairs and mobility scooters. The town is the problem, with older pavements, kerbs without ramps and the occasional step.

Of the eight routes, the first, second, fourth and fifth are the ones to keep for a pushchair or a slow walker, because they stay on Bay Street, the squares and the waterfront. The staircase route, the gallery and distillery route and the half-day all involve hills or steps, so drop them before you start rather than halfway up.

Ask at the gangway whether the free electric trams are running at the outer berths, and remember that jitneys have no wheelchair access, so any beach beyond Junkanoo means a taxi. Junkanoo Beach is the low-effort win: free to enter, 10 to 15 minutes west, with beach bars and chair rentals.

Pirates of Nassau is indoor and 5 to 7 minutes from the terminal if the party needs a break from walking.

Saunders Beach has restrooms, showers and a small playground, but it’s a taxi rather than a walk. There are more ideas in these family activities within walking distance of the Nassau cruise port.

Walking it yourself, a paid walking tour or a shore excursion

There’s no official free guided walking tour of Nassau, so everything you walk on your own is self-guided. A paid tour buys a guide, the stories and, on the hill, a lift to the top of the staircase.

A paid historical half-day tour runs three to four hours and strings together the top of the Queen’s Staircase without the climb, then Fort Charlotte, Arawak Cay and the distilleries, which is a different day from the one you can walk. A paid food-and-culture walk of about three hours covers ground you could walk yourself, but it adds tasting stops in family-run kitchens and the people who run them.

Crowds decide as much as distance. Nassau has six berths, can take three Oasis-class ships at once and has a maximum daily capacity of 30,000 visitors, so check the port’s published schedule before you sail.

Go out in the first hour whichever route you pick. When the harbour is not the point, the choice between ship excursions and self-guided historical tours in Nassau is the one to make before you sail.

Nassau walking FAQs

Is Nassau a tender port?

No. Ships berth alongside at Prince George Wharf and you walk off down a gangway into Festival Place, so there’s no tender queue and no boat ride to the quay.

Is there an entrance fee for the Queen’s Staircase?

There’s no admission fee for the staircase itself. Informal guides work the site and will offer to walk you up for a tip, so agree a price first or decline.

How far is Margaritaville from the cruise port?

Margaritaville is on the Paradise Island side of the bridge rather than in downtown. The water taxi from beside Festival Place takes about 15 minutes and drops near the bridge. A land taxi over the bridge takes about 10.

Is Government House open to visitors?

Government House is free to walk into from the gate, and the Changing of the Guard takes place on the forecourt at 11am. It’s on the second Friday or second Saturday of the month, so confirm it at the terminal.