Jersey advice 5 August 2022 at 5:23PM in UK holidays, days out & entertainments 10 replies 353 views

Fen1

Hi. I'm thinking of going to Jersey for a fortnight by car/ferry in the autumn.

Any advice on where to stay etc. With a car we can stay inland, but are we then penalised if we want to come to the port towns re parking and accessibility?

 I can't find any recent advice on MSE.  Are the ferries ok at the moment, or are they caught up with all the travel chaos?

I've looked at the official Jersey website but personal advice is always much better.

Alan_Bowen

Condor from Poole has had none of the issues seen in Dover, Poole has an average of 2 ferry departures a day!) but it is not the greatest in bad weather so depending on how late in autumn you plan to travel, it might be better to fly and hire a car there. I like Jersey but I wouldn't want to spend 2 weeks there, you can drive from St Helier the whole way around the island with a few stops in an afternoon so unless you have lots of ideas about shopping, very limited even in St Helier, or just sitting watching the world go by day after day, I might cut the holiday in half. 

Parking in St Helier is relatively easy and not expensive but obviously, if you are staying in the capital you wouldn't need to use the car for the town. There is a decent bus service if you want to avoid the car altogether. Most of my visits have been for work, so I have always stayed in town and if the weather isn't great ( I was once there on October 1st when it was 30 degrees C) then there is more to do. 

Fen1

Thank you for all the advice 👍

TELLIT01

It might be worth investigating the comparative cost of travelling without the car, generally using the bus service, and hiring a car for a few days.  From a quick look on the Condor site, there is a big saving by not taking the car (no surprise).

daveyjp

Two weeks offers an opportunity for a multi island Channel Island break.

Fen1

Thank you all.

[Deleted User]

We took a car (mazda 3) and I found it was pretty big for the roads there, a Mazda 2 size car would have been better - lots of pulling onto pavements and trying to avoid scuffing alloys. However, having a car did make it really easy to get around and get to things that needed early starts without having to find bus stops etc. We stayed a week in Guernsey and a week in Jersey both times in a rented cottage 

Murphybear

TELLIT01 said:

It might be worth investigating the comparative cost of travelling without the car, generally using the bus service, and hiring a car for a few days.  From a quick look on the Condor site, there is a big saving by not taking the car (no surprise).

I’ve been to Jersey 3 times, I love it.  Last time I went we took the car ferry, from what I remember the ferry is expensive if you take your own car.  Car hire used to be cheap so I agree, go as foot passengers and hire a car.

mr_stripey

don't restrict yourself to Jersey.

Guernsey, Herm, Sark and Alderny are all worth a detour. Even if you can't do all of them, I'd recommend Sark - it is quite unlike anywhere I've been before

Re the car - I assumed everyone would be driving round in Ferraris but they roads are terrible and most cars are covered in dents and scratches. If you value your paintwork you need to take real care!

Murphybear

mr_stripey said:

don't restrict yourself to Jersey.

Guernsey, Herm, Sark and Alderny are all worth a detour. Even if you can't do all of them, I'd recommend Sark - it is quite unlike anywhere I've been before

Re the car - I assumed everyone would be driving round in Ferraris but they roads are terrible and most cars are covered in dents and scratches. If you value your paintwork you need to take real care!

I went on a day trip to Sark on one of my Jersey weekends, it was very interesting.  The sea on the way back was very rough.  That night was the infamous hurricane of 1987.  

Fen1

Brill advice from all. Thank you.