Felicity Long
Until fairly recently, the word "Guernsey" probably didn't conjure up much in the minds of most Americans other than cows.
But last year's film "The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society," based on the 2008 novel of the same name, shone a light on the charm and beauty of the second-largest of the Channel Islands after Jersey.
For the record, Guernsey is located some 75 miles south of mainland Britain and is part of an archipelago that also comprises sister islands Herm, Sark and Alderney.
Although the film focuses on the WWII German occupation of the island and its aftermath, VisitGuernsey is looking to offer visitors another side of the destination, with new attractions, packages and enhanced accessibility.
This summer, for example, the historic Hauteville House, former home of Victor Hugo, will reopen, following a yearlong, $3 million restoration. The French author lived in exile and wrote in Guernsey during the reign of Napoleon III in France, a mere 27 miles away. You don't need to be a history buff to enjoy the architectural beauty of the five-story mansion and its gardens, which overlook the island's capital of Saint Peter Port.
Hauteville House is open for guided tours daily except Wednesdays from April 7 to Sept. 30. Reservation are required for groups of 10 or more, and admission is about $13 for adults; kids under 18 are admitted free.
This summer, VisitGuernsey is also launching a number of island-hopping packages, including the weeklong Islands at War: Guernsey, Jersey and Sark, timed to commemorate next year's 75th anniversary of the WWII liberation.
The package, priced from about $1,750 per person, includes three nights' accommodations with daily breakfast each on Guernsey and Jersey and one night on Sark; full-day tours of Guernsey and Jersey; visits to the Channel Islands Military Museum, the Jersey War Tunnels, the German Occupation Museum and La Villette Underground Military Museum; a walking tour of Saint Peter Port; ferry crossings between islands; a carriage ride on Sark; transfers; and local taxes and charges.
Travelers visiting the U.K. who want to add trips to several islands can opt for a five-night Guernsey, Sark and Herm Island Hopping package that includes the roundtrip ferry to Guernsey from Poole in Dorset, five nights' accommodations on the island, roundtrip ferries to Herm and Sark, bike rental on Sark, lunch at Stocks Hotel on Sark and entrance to Sark's La Seigneurie Gardens. The package is priced from about $506, including breakfast.
Highlights on Herm, which is only a mile-and-a-half long, include a winding seaside walking path; Shell Beach, named for its carpet of tiny shell fragments; scenic Belvoir Bay; and the 11th-century St. Tugual's Chapel.
In early summer, Outdoor Guernsey organizes naturalist-led, two-hour Puffin Patrol kayak excursions to Puffin Bay to see breeding colonies in their natural habitat.
On Sark, the car-free island of the archipelago, horse-drawn carriages and tractors take visitors on tours. Or outdoor enthusiasts can cycle along La Coupee, a 260-plus-foot-high strip of land joining Big Sark and Little Sark, stopping for an exploration of the Boutique Caves, a long tunnel-like cave network that was once used by smugglers, according to local lore.
Adventure Sark offers excursions to the Gouliot Caves, which feature massive chambers and pools teeming with sponges and anemones, as well as swimming outings in gullies and caves along Sark's rocky shoreline.
For stargazers, Sark is a designated a Dark Sky island, and on clear nights, you can see thousands of stars with the naked eye. A five-night Greatdays' Dark Sky Sark package offers three nights with daily breakfast on Guernsey and two nights with daily breakfast and dinner on Sark as well as a guided full-day tour on Guernsey, a carriage ride on Sark, the ferry crossing between the islands, transfers and all local taxes and charges.
On Alderney, accessible via a new seasonal ferry or a 20-minute flight from Guernsey, a 50- mile walk wends past scenic cliffs and bays, Victorian fortresses and WWII gun batteries.
Alderney also boasts the Channel Islands' only railway, which runs from Braye Bay up to Mannez Lighthouse.
As to air access, the U.K. domestic carrier Flybe has launched a daily, nonstop flight to and from London Heathrow aboard a 78-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft. Service is timed to coincide with transatlantic arrivals and departures, and flights are priced from about $27 each way.
The new service is in addition to six daily flights from London Gatwick operated by Aurigny, Guernsey's flag carrier.