Guernsey Holidays

How to reach Guernsey

• Flight time: Flights to Guernsey from London take between 1 hour 5 minutes and 1 hour 20 minutes.

• Transfer time: Transferring from Guernsey Airport to St Peter Port takes 10–15 minutes by taxi and 20–30 minutes by bus.

• Price: Taxiing from the airport to St Peter Port typically costs about £18 during daytime hours. A one-way bus ticket costs £1.50.

Best time to visit Guernsey

The best time for your Guernsey holidays depends on your holiday wish list: festivals and fairs, birdlife and boat trips, history tours or coastal rambles.

• April to June experiences average highs ranging from 12 to 18°C and steadily lengthening days. There is a degree of rain year-round, but you’re into the drier season by April. These are good months to get outdoors, see the island in bloom and check out the local birdlife.

• July to August sees temperatures climb to 19–20°C. With sea temps only a shade cooler, it is no wonder the island’s beaches are buzzing. The Guernsey Street Festival is another lure, offering two weeks of music, theatre and dance.

• September to November is cooler (temperatures dropping from 18 to 15 to 12°C) and damper (September marks the beginning of the wetter season). Scenery, history and culture are all in the spotlight, with the Autumn Walking Festival and Heritage Open Days returning in September and the French Festival in October.

• December to March is mild compared to mainland Britain, with temperatures hovering around 9–10°C, but wet and windy. These are the months for romantic windswept coastal walks and cosy pub snugs. If you’re planning a history hit, some museums and sites close over winter, only reopening towards the end of spring.

Practical information

• Spoken languages: Alongside English, you may hear some Guernésiais (Patois), a Norman French dialect, spoken among the older population.

• Currency: The Guernsey pound is the official currency, but you can use UK notes and coins. Channel Islands sterling is not legal tender elsewhere in the UK, so exchange any leftover currency before leaving the island.

• Getting around: Guernsey has a comprehensive bus network with 24 scheduled routes. Single fares cost £1.50 for daytime services and £5 for night services (pay on the bus with your debit or credit card). There are taxi ranks at the airport, St Sampson (The Bridge) and St Peter Port. Fares vary depending on the time of day and distance travelled, but as a guide, a 2-mile journey costs around £9 in daytime hours.

Best things to do in Guernsey

There’s loads to do on Guernsey holidays. The island may be small, but it’s big in history and natural beauty.

Viewpoints and panoramas

• Jerbourg Point: Quite possibly, the best coastal views on the island, taking in Alderney, Herm and Sark and, on clear days, the coast of France.

• Fort Grey: Guarding the western coast with sweeping views over Rocquaine Bay, this Martello tower is pretty eye-catching in its own right (you don’t get nicknamed the Cup and Saucer for nothing). Once you’ve had your fill of the scenery, pop inside for the low-down on the island’s shipwrecks.

Best districts

• St Peter Port: The capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and main port, St Peter Port, is the island’s hub, mixing historic sites with cafés, restaurants, bars and independent shops.

• St Martin: This parish is all about the scenery, coastal cliffs, secluded coves and sandy beaches.

Parks and gardens

• Candie Gardens: The perfect twofer – lawned pleasure garden with stunning views over St Peter Port to Herm and Sark up top, Victorian flower garden with 18th-century glasshouses below. If that’s not enough to tempt you, the gardens are also home to the Guernsey Museum, a smorgasbord of art, archeology and folklore.

• Saumarez Park: Expansive lawns, woodland walks, a rose garden, a duck pond with a Japanese-style pavilion, an adventure playground and a National Trust–run folk museum. And that’s before you get to the events calendar.

Museums

• German Occupation Museum: This fascinating and poignant museum offers a glimpse into Guernsey’s occupation during World War II. The exhibits include a wartime kitchen, military uniforms and even letters written by local children during the occupation.

• Le Vallette Underground Military Museum: Eerily sited in a German tunnel complex – an apt showcase for civilian and military memorabilia from the two World Wars – this is the perfect companion to the German Occupation Museum.

Historical monuments

• Castle Cornet: Stood sentinel over the entrance to St Peter Port, this centuries-old fortress packs in four museums – the Story of Castle Cornet, 201 Squadron (RAF) Museum, the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry Museum and the Royal Guernsey Militia Museum – and four period gardens. It’s also the setting for firing the Noon Day Gun.

• The Little Chapel: Tucked away in the countryside, beautifully adorned with shells and broken pottery, this tiny church has an irresistible quirky charm.

Day trips in the area

• Herm: Guernsey’s tiny neighbour, only 5km offshore, car- and bike-free with a go-slow pace, all white sand beaches, cliff paths, grassy common and woodland.

• Sark: A 50-minute ferry will take you to the dark sky island of Sark, with its precipitous cliffs, sea caves, vanishing beaches and horse-drawn carriages.

Activities for families in Guernsey

Adventurous, outdoorsy families will have a blast on holidays to Guernsey.

• Family-friendly beaches: Cobo Bay is a safe bet with a stretch of soft, white sand, crystal-clear sea, rock pools at low tide and a nature trail to Saumarez Park, while Petit Bôt is a favourite for swimming.

• Swimming pools: The outdoor saltwater La Vallette Bathing Pools offers a safe, contained area for swimming, changing rooms and hot showers.

• Playgrounds: Saumarez Park isn’t the only place where kids can get their play on. Delancey Park in St Sampson has loads of play equipment, an exercise area, ramps for BMXing and skateboarding and a grassy expanse to run around. For something old-school, just past Bordeaux Harbour in Vale, there are fab rope swings.

• Land trains: Tooting its way from Albert Pier, Le Petit Train is a kid-friendly way of exploring St Peter Port, especially the themed rides.

• Adventure sports: Older kids will love the thrill of coasteering and kayaking with Outdoor Guernsey, where they can explore the island’s rugged coastlines up close.

Free things to do in Guernsey

Whether digging into the island’s heritage or getting your fest on, holidays to Guernsey don’t have to break the bank.

• Beaches: Your only problem is narrowing down your choice. There are over 20 beaches, but the longest stretch of unbroken sand is the northernmost merging bays, Pembroke and L’Ancresse.

• Free heritage sites: From passage graves – Le Dehus, La Varde and Le Trépied – to loophole and Martello towers, there’s no shortage of free sites to explore.

• Free museums: Guernsey museums traditionally waive admission on the monarch’s birthday (the official one in June, not the real one in November).

• Annual festivals and free events: The island’s packed events calendar includes Liberation Day celebrations in May, sailing regattas in June, the Guernsey Street Festival in July and August and the Nerine Festival in October and November.

Nature and outdoor activities

• Hiking: Looping around the island, the Guernsey Coastal Path is one of the most scenic walks in the Channel Islands. If 63km is a step too far, the stretch from St Peter Port to Pleinmont Point is a highlight, providing breathtaking views and opportunities to spot local wildlife like seabirds and seals.

• Windsurfing and kitesurfing: Ladies Bay on the northwest tip (the Guernsey Sailing Trust runs summertime windsurfing courses here) and Vazon Bay on the west coast (home base of the Guernsey Surf School) are go-tos for extreme watersports enthusiasts.

• Cycling: Guernsey’s quiet country lanes, known as Ruettes Tranquilles, are perfect for pedallers. These roads are designated as slow lanes, prioritising cyclists and walkers over cars, making it a safe and peaceful way to discover the island.

• Bird-watching: Brackish Vale Pond supports a variety of waterbirds, including snipe, grey heron and little egrets, and Lihou Island (accessible by a causeway at low tides) is home to oystercatchers, ringed plovers and peregrine falcons.

Local dishes in Guernsey

With fresh seafood and indulgent dairy on the menu, there are plenty of great places to eat on Guernsey holidays.

Some typical dishes

• Ormers (abalones): A seasonal delicacy (they can only be harvested between January and April on days of the full moon, new moon and two days following) with an elusive taste, ormers are prepared in various ways, but sautéed in cider is a local favourite.

• Guernsey gâche: A traditional fruit loaf made with sultanas and raisins. Eat it like a local with a spread of Guernsey butter or as toast with tea.

Meat dishes

• Guernsey bean jar: This traditional casserole is typically made with pig’s trotters or ham hocks, onions, carrots, haricot and butter beans.

Fish and seafood dishes

• Guernsey oysters: Famous for their natural, clean flavour, there’s no right or wrong way to eat them, but chewing once or twice instead of shucking in one will release more of the taste.

• Guernsey baked crab: Cooked white crab meat mixed with breadcrumbs and seasoned with salt, cayenne, mace, garlic, a splash of dry sherry and a squeeze of lime, served in its shell with a baked brown top.

Street food

• Crab sandwiches: White or brown bread spread with meaty crab paste served with a pot of flavoured mayo.

• Fish and chips: Sea air, battered fried fish and salty chips are one of life’s simple pleasures.

Sweets and desserts

• Guernsey ice cream: Made from the island’s famously rich, high-fat milk, this ice cream may ruin you for all other ice creams.

• Gâche mêlaïe: This dense apple suet cake is a definite contender if you want something to go with your ice cream.

Local drinks

• Gin: Between Wheadon’s Gin and Three Fingers (Blue Bottle), you won’t have to look far for the perfect G and T, whatever your style preference.

• Cider: Rocquette Cider is the local tipple, but given the island’s proximity to cider powerhouses Brittany and Normandy, you’ll get some great French bottles, too.