I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year - I'll catch up with all my reads and rates whe...
I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year - I'll catch up with all my reads and rates when my guests have all gone home!
Member since:21.10.2000
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Guernsey is slightly smaller the Jersey being only 24 square miles, but it still manages to pack in plenty to do for all ages.
There are beautiful, clean sandy beaches where the children can play safely, and rocky promontories for scrambling and exploring.
The capital of Guernsey is St. Peter Port The streets rise steeply from the harbour and afford views of sister islands Herm, Sark and Jethou. CastleCornet overlooks the harbour, a safe haven for working and pleasure craft alike. St Peter Port has a wide variety of shops and restaurants, so there’ll be something to suit everyone.
We stayed in self-cateringaccommodation on the opposite side of the island at Grandes Rocques. It was very quiet with a long sandy beach. Since the island is so small it was easy to get to all the attractions either by walking, public transport or taxi (which was very cheap!)
The German Underground Military Hospital is well worth a visit. The Germans occupied the Channel Islands in the Second World War and forced the inhabitants to build underground hospitals on both Guernsey and Jersey. I found this a spooky experience. We were given tickets and asked to make sure that we handed them in at the end of the tour so that they could check that everyone was out before they closed up for the day. We were then free to wander around in the gloomy half-light. As we walked along all we could hear were the muffled voices and footsteps of other visitors elsewhere in the hospital. Some of the wards still had the old fashioned, cast iron bed frames in them. The whole experience was made creepier by the fact that we had been told that, when the hospital was being built, any men who died during the building were not buried but just plastered into the walls! I have to admit we came out of the hospital and straight into the pub for a stiff drink!
On a pleasanter note the Little Chapel is another must for visiting. It is exactly what it says, a chapel and it is seriously little! I have seen bigger Wendy houses. The maximum number of people who could be in there at any one time would be about 5 and then you’d have to be very friendly. The chapel is covered in shells and pieces of brightly coloured pottery.
There are numerous museums around Guernsey – the Underground Military Museum, Fort Grey Shipwreck Museum, Dolls House Collection, Folk Museum, Farm Implement Museum, German Occupation Museum and Guernsey Museum. I didn’t actually visit any of the museums so I can’t comment on how good they are. Maybe next time….
There are also plenty of craft centres scattered around the island displaying the crafts of the island including clocks, toys, copper, candles, wood, pottery and jewellery.
From Guernsey you can visit the other Channel Islands. We took a hydrofoil trip to St Helier on Jersey, which seemed to be just a busier version of Guernsey. I would like to take a holiday on Jersey and explore that island too.
We took a small boat trip over to Herm, which took only 20 minutes. Herm is only one mile long with golden beaches, a pub, a restaurant, and a few shops and only 50 permanent inhabitants.
We took an hour-long ferry trip over to traffic free Sark. This island still has a semi feudal constitution. We took a pony and trap ride around the island to appreciate the beauty of the place. Unfortunately the weather closed in and the fog became to thick to even see across the road so there was nothing else for it we all had to adjourn to the pub!
The Channel Islands are notoriously expensive as a holiday destination often costing as much as a holiday abroad, but its well worth it.
It has been a few years now since my holiday on Guernsey but I still have vivid memories of it’s beauty and would like to return to the Channel Islands one day.
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considering this for a honeymoon, great advice, thank you
Modena 28.02.2001 13:25
Excellent opinion, sounds like a good place to go, it's also a tax-haven too, so nice place to live as well as to visit I guess!
flashpointz 28.02.2001 13:25
Good informative op, Susan. I must say we've never been to Guernsey or Jersey - both of us have said we'd like to - but I think the 'Bergerac' bug has worn off a little and sometimes it's cheaper to go much further afield than somewhere like this that is far closer to home
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Feb 28th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
