Nassau - Downtown & Bay Street

The heart of downtown Nassau is best described as the six blocks of Bay Street plus the parallel Shirley and King streets to the south between the British Colonial Hilton on the west and the Parliament Buildings on the east. This section of Bay contains a series of upscale duty-free shops aimed at the thousands of cruise ship passengers arriving each week. While the straw market located here sell arts and crafts, the department stores sell collectibles, fine arts, perfumes, jewelry, clothing and other items some ranging into the thousands of dollars.

Cross streets run up into the hills where other fine examples of colonial Georgian and Adams-style architecture are found.