Celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Bermuda started on Front Street in Hamilton, the capital, on Saturday, with music, street performances, food stalls and festivities, and will continue across the island throughout the year.

Visitors have an extra reason to celebrate because the island's tourism department has launched a “compliments of Bermuda” programme to cut the cost of packages lasting for a week or more until the end of March.

Although temperatures cannot match the 30C (85F) average of the Caribbean at this time of year, the island's semi-tropical climate guarantees highs of 18C that seem very appealing when compared with freezing Britain. The flight time of six and a half hours from London is also two hours' shorter than the most popular Caribbean destinations.

Conditions now are perfect for Bermuda's best winter pursuits of hiking peaceful trails, exploring the tax-free shops of Hamilton, visiting beautiful Flatts Village, one of the earliest settlements, or strolling the crooked streets of St George, Britain's oldest surviving town in the New World, which is so well preserved it has been made a World Heritage site.

Wherever they wander, visitors will be impressed by the tidiness of the island, the friendliness of the people and the colours of the landscape, houses and the sea. Bermuda is surrounded by a coral reef that harbours colourful fish and has ensnared scores of shipwrecks, all of which makes for memorable diving and snorkelling.

The Tourism Department chooses to highlight two other island attractions by describing this as the “golf and spa season” because of the many excellent courses and the enticing facilities in the leading hotels.

It is also promoting the anniversary events, which include a festival for the performing arts starting tomorrow and continuing until the end of February. The festival will feature Bermudians demonstrating their talent in dance, music and theatre, either individually or through collaborations with other world-class performers.

Trail of Tears, a play about the island before and after emancipation, will be staged on January 22, and The Tempest, directed by the Bermudian Joel Froomkin, will run from February 25 to 28. An exhibition exploring the island's links with England's first permanent colony in Jamestown, Virginia, opens at the start of March and towards the end of the month, the 12th international film festival will begin.

Tour operators participating in the Bermuda promotion include Kuoni, which has discounted deals until the end of March. Prices for a week from January 22 start from £669 at Grotto Bay, with a pool, restaurant, floodlit tennis, fitness centre, watersports and children's activities, and include BA flights from Gatwick.

A week at the Fairmont Southampton, perched on a promontory with the ocean on one side and a sandy horseshoe bay on the other, and with two 18-hole golf courses among its facilities, is from £899 with flights.

Prestige Holidays, a Bermuda specialist, has good deals later this winter, with a week at Grotto Bay from £769 in February and a week's B&B at Cambridge Beaches luxury cottage colony from £1,198 in March, both with BA flights.

Other operators taking part in the promotion include BA Holidays, ITC Classics and Elegant Resorts. Discounts are also available for the over-65s and groups.

www.bermudatourism.com - 0800 8830857

www.bermuda2009.bm

www.kuoni.co.uk - 01306 747008

www.prestigeholidays.co.uk - 01425 480400

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