Travelling to Jersey as somewhat uninvited guests, my sister and I decided to cycle down there from Yorkshire.
We took several overnight stops to get there including a Youth Hostel in the Peak District after being surprised by the hills in Sheffield and the long incline getting out to the Peak District. A stop in the Midlands then followed by a grueling cycle in the rain to get to Oxford. The rain was so bad we caught a train for 40 miles into Oxford. An overnight stay there with an old friend and a couple of beers and we were ready to cycle down to the South Coast for a ferry across to Jersey.
Into St Helier and around the coast to St Brelades Bay. The Bay was lovely but we didn’t get a warm welcome so decided to spend our time cycling around the island with our tents.
The island was beautiful and the beach along the west coast of the island St Owen’s Bay is long and spectacular with some easy surfing for beginners. We camped on the north coast of the island after visiting a cove with some caves at Plemont.
The island is fairly flat and the cycling was easy. We didn’t have huge loads and didn’t have too far to go so a couple of days cycling around the coast was plenty. It is less than 10 miles across and less from top to bottom, around 100 miles from the UK coast and 14 miles from Normandy.
Jersey is mostly English speaking although very close to France. Some of the other channel islands speak Norman which is close to French. There are different dialects on the different islands, but English is fine for Jersey.
It’s main industry is tourism and the island has many tourist activities to do. You can have a good holiday here with a chance of better weather than the UK mainland as it is further south. The beaches are beautiful and great to swim in with a variety of open sand beaches and smaller beaches in the north in hidden coves.
We ended our journey stopping at Mont Orgueil Castle which is impressive on a headland above the beautiful little town of Gorey.
We had been able to pick small quiet roads for our circuit of the island and in good weather we enjoyed camping and exploring the island. Just leaving our return leg to St Helier’s port and back to the UK mainland and home.
Main image (cc) Paul Stephenson, Flickr