Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey)

[braumeister]

Starting to think about our next visit to the UK, which will be in 22 or possibly 23. One of the places I want to go is the Channel Islands, especially Jersey.

Would greatly appreciate any information and suggestions from those who have been there.

I've found a good deal of info on the usual travel sites, but not that much in the form of personal stories and recommendations.

[jim584672]

Visit Sark, with its massive 492 population.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim584672 Visit Sark, with its massive 492 population.

Why?

[jim584672]

Get away from civilization. No cars, only tractors and horse drawn vehicles.

https://www.visitguernsey.com/see-an...-hopping/sark/

[audreyh1]

Those islands are so close to the Normandy coast why not visit from there?

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Those islands are so close to the Normandy coast why not visit from there?

Because we'll be spending time in London first and it's only a fairly short flight from there.

[anethum]

A friend & I bicycled on Guernsey & Jersey a few years ago. We spent 1 1/2 days on Guernsey and just 1/2 day on Jersey. We arrived by ferry from Normandy, and returned to France by ferry to St. Malo (Brittany). We enjoyed our brief stay. My impression is that there's more to see and do on Guernsey. FWIW, our actual cycling was better on Jersey (less traffic and less road construction). The roads were quite narrow, esp. the backroads outside of the towns on both islands.

Places we visited on Guernsey and enjoyed include: the German underground hospital (there's also one on Jersey), the German Occupation Museum, the Guernsey Tapestry (a well-done modern tapestry showing the history of the island), Candie Gardens, & Castle Cornet. All were worthwhile.

Because we had just half a day on Jersey before taking an evening ferry back to France, we just biked on Jersey. We biked around much of the eastern half of the island, which was quite pretty. Overall, we could have used at least a couple of more days to see more of both islands.

There was quite a contrast between our time in France and our brief time on the Channel Islands. There was a sudden change in language, side of the road we biked on, a 1 hour time change, and the quality of the food.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by anethum My impression is that there's more to see and do on Guernsey.

Thank you! That may well be true, despite Jersey being a larger island. My interest is primarily Jersey for very personal reasons, but I'm definitely planning to spend time in Guernsey as well (and maybe more).