A trip to the Channel Islands offers all the benefits of a holiday ‘abroad’ with none of the travelling hassle, writes Andy Cooper
What’s the worst thing about air travel at present…the fear of the queues and hassle at the airport, or the actual queues and hassle at the airport? I only ask because from my smug vantage point it doesn’t seem that catching a plane to go on holiday these days is the joyful experience it once was.
And my vantage point is a rather smug one because I have just returned from a relaxing holiday where we enjoyed beautiful beaches, wonderful restaurants, historic sites and superb shopping…and we didn’t go anywhere near an airport queue at all. It would be disingenuous to say we didn’t queue at all for our holiday in Jersey because we did…for a totality of 25 minutes going there and back using the excellent Condor Ferries service from Poole to St Helier.
This is indeed the way to travel. Easy check-in, car packed up with all you need for your break (no baggage allowance imposed) and high-speed sailings within easy reach of the South West operating up to four times a week. Yes, there’s a four-hour sailing time to get to Jersey, but once you have relaxed on board and eaten, read a book, and maybe caught up on some shuteye, it isn’t long before you are disembarking and enjoying all the island has to offer.
And what it has to offer is a great deal. Jersey’s history is abundantly clear when you take a tour of the island, and it is very easy to divert off to one of the many castles or wartime installations and learn a little more about an island which has held such strategic importance for so many centuries.
There is a certain almost indefinable ‘feel’ about island life: perhaps it’s the sense that one is never far from the sea and your itinerary is therefore limited by the boundaries which contain you. But Jersey feels big enough to bring freedom, whilst small enough to remain utterly charming and we thoroughly enjoyed our two-night stay for a quick hop over there from Devon.
Staying at The Beausite Hotel, we were handily placed for the beautiful coastal town of Gorey, with its imposing Mont Orgueil Castle having loomed large over it for 800 years. The village is typical of so many you discover on the island – there is a wonderful mix of beautiful, clean beaches, fabulous beachside restaurants and bars and smatterings of history all around you.
And on most of the island there is space…and lots of it. We took a trip to the awesome Le Braye beach on the western side and even though there were plenty of cars parked up, once we made it down to the sands we hardly saw a soul. So invigorating as we walked along a section of its three-mile sands and enjoyed the peace and solitude in spectacular surroundings.
Further round the island, St Brelade’s Bay is hugely popular with families and it’s not hard to see why with its line-up of restaurants, bars and cafes lining the promenade. And if it’s shopping you are after then a trip into St Helier offers plenty of big names and some wonderful independents too.
I am never a big one on marketing messages as they sometimes feel like they have been dreamt up by people who want to do your thinking for you and as a wordsmith I often like to think I could do better, but when the Visit Jersey team state the island is ‘Curiously Brit…ish’ they have it spot on. A visit gives you the best of home with a continental twist just an easy hop from the mainland.
Andy travelled with Condor Ferries from Poole to Jersey and back. Prices for foot passengers start from £45 each way, whilst a standard size car and one passenger is from £146 each way.
