Jersey Jersey

studoc

Would like to go to Jersey late Sept for a week.Does anyone know of good b/b or hotel reasonably priced.Also any information on public transport/car hire, eating places,what to see ect.Is it hilly,Need flat area for walks. (angina) Thanks in advance.

pin

For starters forget public transport, it sucks over here!!

As for other info, can provide it to you later on (hopefully tomorrow) as Its nearly my bedtime!

lisyloo

We stayed at the Ambassadeur which is in St Clement just outside St Helier.
It would be best with a car because it's not within walking distance of St Helier (although a taxi was only about £5) and there is a bus stop near by.
Their 4 course evening meal is £10 so I would say pretty good value for money. Swimming pool and large rooms. Mostly staffed by very helpful Polish and African staff. Don't know the prices as we were on a tour. Would have a lot of tour groups. Had some entertainment on some nights which was sometimes decent.

I am from the UK and I thought their public transport was pretty good but obviously you will have more freedom with a car. There are tours on offer if you would prefer not to drive but it's a bit quieter than the UK so not really any major driving issues. Make sure you acquaint yourselve with the laws as in some "green lanes" pedestrians, cyclists and animals (horses) have right of way oevr vehicles. Tantivy blue coaches are one of the main operators so check out their website if you want to see what's on offer.

My opinion on some activities.

The war tunnels - interesting and well done exhibition. You get an identity card when you go in and you find out about the person when you come out. Makes you feel like you have more of a "personal" connection.

Jersey pottery - expensive but nice and worth a visit.

The Jersey experience - decent film and exhibition and worth a visit.

Jersey pearl - Old fashioned "string of pearls" type jewelry. Not modern or designer. Depends on whether you like that I guess. They have a Princess Di dress there.

Gorey bay - picturesque.

Festivals - definitely check out what's on when you go.

South sea cruises 2.5 hour cruise on big boat - A bit boring. Wish we had gone on a smaller wildlife tour or hired a jet ski but had elderly parents with us. No dolphins about on the south at the moment as they are blasting a new harbour for cruise ships and have scared them off.

Lilly Langtree tour - waste of time (in my opinion) and she was only a tart anyway :-)

zoo - didn't go but heard they have very cute baby gorillas at the moment.

There are some quite steep bits round the coast but most of what we saw was pretty flat. In fact we remarked on it being good for cycling.

If you want to be near restaurants, shops etc. then I think St Helier is the only place to be because there aren't any other big towns so everywhere else is pretty quiet and you wouldn't have a massive choice of eating out etc.

the_mackem

reccomend porthole cottage st aubin,zoo is excellent, hire a car to see the differant bays, my own personnel fav is rozel bay, if going into st hellier dont venture in very busy,park on outskirts and walk in/ great shopping and the fish market is worth a visit the portugese resteraunt is a must inside the market ps rozel bay hungry mans cafe sarnies to die for

notakid

agree with the above poster!
Zoo really good fun esp if you have read the Books!
I too would reccomend to hire a car but be warned if you are thinking of staying in St Helier itself parking (and driving) is terrible so make sure you have somewhere to park it!
Exploring all the bays is really lovely and there is lots of nice places to eat. They have a lot of portugese and the food is lovely.
Nice shopping in St helier but I love St Brelade’s Bay theres a great pub which does brillant well priced food called the The Old Smugglers Inn I had a whole Lobster and it didn't break the Bank!
The pearl place was good fun but it made my laugh 'cos you could chose an oster to buy for a fixed price then the pearl was weighed and you were told it was worth twice what you paid but the expert who was telling people this told us "Yeah, I enjoy it more this year, last year I worked in the Kitchens"
P.S See if you can spot a proper BEAN.

the_mackem

agree with notakid about the smugglers arms really good food, the bay itself were the smugglers is very very scenic and it gets the last sun on the island as it goes down .can think of the bay though.

pin

Quick things.

St Brelades, lovely beach, nice restaurants. Great Sunday brunch at the Wayside. Also the museum in St Helier has nice brunch on Sundays.

St Aubins, nice place for drinks is the Boathouse. Food wise, Salty Dog.

Cheap and cheerful food in St Helier: Pizza Romana and the Italian Job.

Nice, but expensive food: Zumas or Bohemia.

Another nice restaurant for food is Green Olive in St Helier.

khana

Bouley Bay in St Brelade is where you will find the Smugglers Inn. If your looking for a good restaurant then I recommend Dorans Courtyard in Kensington Place, its certainly my favourite.

The Best western Highfield Hotel in Trinity is a nice cheap and cheerful hotel (w ith parking) and the staff there are very helpful and friendly.

joggyb

Recommend hiring a car - it's soooo much cheaper than over here! Me and OH hired a brand new, racy Mini Cooper when we were in Jersey a few weeks ago, and it was ridiculously cheap!

The 'zoo' is fab - much less a zoo, much more a conservation park for endangered species. Now is a brilliant time to go, as they have 3 or 4 baby orangutans (a rarity, since orangs only get pregnant about every 7 years), and a couple of young gorillas - not to mention all the other wonderful animals there.

There's a garden centre over on the east of the island, the name of which escapes me now (begins with R, I think), which is well known for its food. And deservedly so - huge portions of really fresh, good, wholesome cooking. The cakes are a must.

In St Helier - Bistro Centrale is worth a visit, for that authentic French bistro cooking. They do wonderful lobster, and the fish there (like just about everywhere else on the island) is delish.

Other things to do - just drive round the island, and take whichever turning you please. Before very long you'll come across something. The coastline, esp. with its 'lunar' landscape is certainly worth seeing.

Oh, and if you like flowers - the Orchid Foundation is a beautiful place to visit.

jamescredmond

car hire is a good recommendation. I took a Ka - nice and cheap (but then you won't be going very far). as for parking, I used pier road car park (multi storey) which wasn't too much hassle.
for lunch I used a small italian hot food takeaway in the covered market in town. high tables, no seating but the pollo/patate in italian style gravy was good and only slightly more than the price of a sandwich.

I like jersey. it's a little twee but relaxing and friendly. I won't be going back there soon so if you want my parking cards (still got a few) let me know.

a pleasant trip.

suekjw

Our favourite each is Greve De Lecq - nice little cafe there overlooking the bay. We go every year, the zoo is fantastic! Agree with everyone, a car is a must!