Jersey in the Channel Islands is the warmest, sunniest and most southern place in the British Isles. This small but beautiful island welcomes around 1 million visitors per year (source: Visit Jersey - figures dipped during the global pandemic but are slowly increasing again). Having been born here and living here for most of my life, I may be a little biased, but the island is a great place to visit particularly during the summer season (April to October).
In this blog, I will show you how you can spend a long weekend in Jersey. This is the itinerary I created for when my friend Chloe came it visit at the end of May 2024 and all the photos featured within this blog were taking at that time.
Chloe arrived on Thursday afternoon and we had dinner with my family before going to check into our hotel and then going for a drive to a few different viewpoints and to see the sunset.
Where we stayed
Obviously, we could have stayed at my family home but decided it would be fun to stay at a hotel. We stayed at Westhill Country Hotel. It cost us £418 for a twin room for 3 nights including breakfast. The hotel regularly holds BBQ events at weekends throughout the summer and they have a pool so make sure to pack your swimmers!
Other recommendations for accommodation while staying in Jersey would be The Ambassador or the Golden Sands.
Our weekend itinerary
Friday Morning
Breakfast at our hotel was served until 10am, we ate around 9am before getting in the car and driving to Jersey Zoo. Opened in 1959 by Gerald Durrell, Jersey Zoo is home to many endangered species. The charity that runs the zoo, The Durrell Conservation Trust, works locally and worldwide (in places such as Madagascar, India, Mauritius, the Caribbean and more). At the zoo, you can expect to see sleepy sloths, cheeky capybaras, mischievous meerkats, great apes and so much more! Throughout the day, there are keeper talks at various enclosures – information on these is available at admissions. You’ll probably spend a couple of hours here at least. There are also two cafes at Jersey Zoo – Café Firefly and Café Dodo. Both cafes do a range or hot and cold food, cakes, snacks and drinks. We opted to have lunch at Café Dodo which is inside the zoo.
Admission to Jersey Zoo currently costs £19 for adults, £15 for children, £17 for concessions (65+, disabled, students), and under 3’s are free. The site is fully accessible to those with disabilities and mobility issues, there are mobility scooters and wheelchairs available to hire if you need one.
Friday Afternoon
A trip to Jersey wouldn’t be complete without a trip out with the fantastic Jersey Seafaris crew. Whether you head out to explore Jersey’s offshore islands and reefs, visit our neighbouring Channel Islands or something fancier with a meal in France – I promise you will have an amazing trip!
Chloe and I opted for a 2-hour Ecrehous trip on a beautiful sunny day (don’t worry, it’s still beautiful if it’s dull or rainy though). It’s roughly a 15-minute journey out to the offshore reef and islets, stopping briefly at a sandbank which only uncovers a few times a year on the lowest spring tides and looking for seals and dolphins as the crew expertly manoeuvre through the surrounding reef to the islets. The crew then drop you off onto the main islet where we had some time (around an hour on the 2-hour trip, time on the islet varies depending on length of trip) to explore the fisherman’s huts and swim if we wanted to. Afterwards, hop back onboard for the journey back to Jersey, all while looking for more wildlife on the way.
Prices for Jersey Seafaris trips vary dependent on the location and duration of the trip. For example, a 2-hour Ecrehous trip (one of the most popular trips and my personal favourite) is currently £49.99 per adult.
For dinner, as it had been a beautiful and sunny day, we opted to go out west for dinner so we could watch the sunset again. We opted to go to Staks at La Pulente on the five mile road. Delicious food and a great view! Other options along the five mile road are Le Braye Restaurant, El Tico and Sands.
Saturday Morning
After breakfast, we head out to the east of the island to Mont Orgueil Castle, known locally as Gorey Castle. Be King or Queen of the Castle and first, head up to the roof for incredible views of the surrounding area and on a clear day, you may even see the wind farms and beaches in France (yes, we really are that close to France).
There’s a lot of steps to the top so the advantage of going to the roof first is that everything is downward from there. As you wander through the maze of rooms within the castle walls, learn about how the castle was used to defend the island against French invasion, walk in the footsteps of Sir Walter Raleigh who was Governor of Jersey from 1600 to 1603, and learn about life at the castle through the centuries. There is a café and toilets at Mont Orgueil Castle – we sat admiring the views of the harbour below while snacking on freshly baked cakes after exploring the castle for a couple of hours.
Admission to the castle costs £19 for adults, £11 for children, £18 for seniors, and under 6 years old go free. Unfortunately, the castle is not particularly accessible for those with disabilities or mobility issues.
Saturday Afternoon
Jersey has a unique history. From July 1940 to May 1945, German forces occupied the Channel Islands. Head down to Jersey War Tunnels, formally known as the German Underground Hospital (probably not a hospital, hence the name change), and learn about what life was like for during the German Occupation. The tunnels were built by prisoners of war and slaves and were unfinished when war ended.
Over the years, this thought-provoking museum has been developed to preserve the memory of wartime Jersey with genuine artefacts and stories from those that lived through it. On entry to the tunnels, you’ll be given an identification card with the profile of an islander on it and as you move through the tunnels, you will find your islander’s story written within.
Please note that there are many islanders still alive and present on the island, and in the Channel Islands, that lived through or are descended from those that lived through the occupation. This is a very sensitive and unique part of Channel Island history and therefore should be treated with respect.
Admission to Jersey War Tunnels costs £19 for adults, £11 for children, £18 for seniors and students. Generally, the tunnels tend to busier during the morning and around lunchtime, but quieter in the afternoons. The site is fully accessible to those with disabilities and mobility issues.
For dinner, we went to The Trinity Arms for some classic pub grub! This pub is located on the east of the island, around a 10-15 minute drive from Mont Orgueil Castle. The menu has a good variety of food, and everything is delicious. Other options for classic pub food on the east of the island would be the Seymour Inn and Le Hocq Inn.
Sunday Morning
After breakfast and checking out of our hotel, the sun was shining so we decided to go on a little round-island sightseeing tour. We went along the north coast of the island, stopping at Plemont to view the giant wicker puffin statues and coastline. We were then hoping to head to Gronez point to see the castle ruins and look for dolphins but the area was closed for an event. We then head down L’Etacq hill and onto the north end of the five mile road. We stopped off at Jersey Pearl – if you have more time, you can do a jewellery making workshop here. Then we drove south and eventually ended up at Corbiere to see the lighthouse before driving to St Aubin for lunch.
We went to The Boathouse for Sunday Lunch. The restaurant is right next to St Aubin’s harbour so whether the tide is in or out, you have a great view. They serve the most amazing food and I think I would go as far as saying it is one of my favourite restaurants on the island. Both their Sunday menu and their A La Carte menu have a good variety of food, and it’s reasonably priced for a relatively high-end restaurant. Portions are also pretty big so it’s well worth the money.
Special mentions
Throughout the year, there are several events unique to Jersey (and some of the other Channel Islands). When booking your trip to Jersey, you may want to take the following into consideration;
Liberation Day is celebrated on May 9th each year and is a bank holiday in the Channel Islands. Liberation Day commemorates the arrival of British Troops to the Channel Islands on May 9th, 1945, and the end of German Occupation in the islands. In Jersey, Islanders gather in Liberation Square for the re-enactment and hoisting of the Union Jack and Jersey Flags. There is music and a parade of bands, military, and old cars. For special years, we sometimes even have a Royal visit.
Battle of Flowers is an annual carnival held on the second Friday and Saturday of August. The Battle of Flowers first ran in 1902 to mark the coronation of King Edward VII. It was called Battle of Flowers because floats would be dismantled after the parade to provide floral ammunition for battle between participants and spectators, but this aspect of the carnival no longer occurs. Today, two parades (Day Parade and Moonlight Parade) see magnificent floats designed and decorated with real and/or paper flowers with a team of dancers alongside. Bands and entertainers march between floats keeping the buzz of the crowds going. As well as the Battle of Flowers carnival, there is also an annual fair with a variety of rides. The fair is on for the two weeks before the Battle and finishes the weekend of the carnival.
Weekender Festival (formally known as Jersey Live) is held annually at end of August or beginning September. Organisers collect artists old and new for a weekend of musical fun. We’ve see the likes of Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, Years and Years, Dizzee Rascal, Texas and Snow Patrol (just to name a few) grace the festival stage. As well as lots of music, there are other activities such as fairground rides and face-painting and more!
Jersey Air Display is held on the second Thursday of September each year. Acrobatic displays of some of the fastest and loudest planes zoom around St Aubin’s Bay. The most famous of all these are the incredible RAF Red Arrows. At West Park (nearer the main town), there are often stalls and military vehicles for you to look at.
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