Bermuda is often written off as a staid cruise-ship destination, but traveling via moped transforms what might otherwise be a taxi-dependent generic beach vacation (the island has no car-rental agencies) into an off-the-beaten-path adventure. Book a cottage at the Salt Kettle House (from $85 per person; 441-236-0407), a family-run island institution overlooking tranquil Prudden Bay. From there, a call to Oleander Cycles prompts a minivan to retrieve and deposit drivers at the nearest of the rental agency’s five locations (two-person scooters from $55 a day; oleandercycles.bm). No license is required, though drivers must pass a test to ensure they can handle the island’s narrow and occasionally winding byways (no wobbling!). Keep to the 21-mph limit—there’s no rush getting from one end of the 21-square-mile island to the other; it only takes an hour—and above all else, keep left; Bermuda remains a British colony, after all. Start by cruising down the absurdly scenic south shore, stopping at Horseshoe Bay Beach (Horseshoe Rd. off South Rd., Southampton), where privacy seekers should walk east toward a series of coves where they might well have a stretch of silky sand to themselves. Back on the bike, Fort Scaur (107 Somerset Rd., 441-234-0908), built by the British Army in the 1870s to protect the island from a potential U.S. attack, offers views of the Great Sound (and a free telescope) and is a mere fifteen minutes away, while at the other end of the island is Clearwater Beach, where Gombeys Bar & Restaurant (193 Cooper’s Island Rd., 441-293-5092) rents snorkeling gear that reveals fish as colorful as jelly beans ($10 for the day). For dinner, head to Mickey’s Bistro (60 South Shore Rd., 441-236-3535), an elegant open-air seafood spot idyllically located just feet from lapping ocean waves.
The thrill-o-meter: Modestly madcap.