2022 - September - Guernsey

With a size of 78 km² and over 62,000 inhabitants, Guernsey is the second largest Channel Island. But it's a bit sleepy here. The shops in the island capital St. Peter's Port close at 5:00 PM and the restaurant already closed at 5:30 PM. After that, the sidewalks are rolled up.

But we're not here for the parties, we're here for the nature. Specifically, we booked a one-week island hopping trip, but we're exploring Jersey, Guernsey, and Sark on our own. Of course, we know that we can only get an overview in one week.

For Guernsey, we actually only had one whole day for exploration. We spent it on a beautiful and extensive coastal hike. We started at La Rousse Tower, one of several towers that were used for defense against the French back in the day. Because France was America's ally in the War of Independence, they also opposed the British here. Today, they are a popular subject for photos. We encountered several of them on our way.

Otherwise, what stood out to us along the coastline were beautiful, mostly deserted beaches on one side and many large rocks on the other.

The military is still present on the island, as there are restricted areas where shooting takes place. We were lucky and were not hit by a stray bullet or a golf ball. The latter was also warned about, as we crossed paths with the Royal Guernsey Golf Club several times.