Commissario
I'm feeling a bit pants today so I thought I'd make a post here about our holiday in a few weeks time to cheer myself up.
Every year at around this time, we go away to Herm Island for a week. Herm is one of the smallest of the Channel Islands at less than 1.5 miles x 0.5 miles and can only be reached by boat. It's about three miles east of Guernsey and is one of the islands where no cars or bicycles are allowed.
Accommodation on Herm is either in the one hotel, the few holiday cottages or camping. We stay in one of the cottages in the 'village' area which is about a ten minute walk up a very steep hill. It really is very steep, just saying "it's steep" doesn't give any indication and nobody believes you when you tell them how steep it is until they stand at the bottom looking up. I worked out that it climbs 68m in a quarter of a mile which is something like a 16% gradient.
In the peak of the summer, it's a very busy island but we go right at the end of the season where the campsite is closed and there aren't many people in the hotel. In fact, up until a few years ago, the hotel wasn't even open when we went but they've extended the opening times.
Herm is a beautiful and magical place. The north of the island has lovely beaches and a wide, open common area and the south side has high cliffs, lovely winding paths and fantastic views.
The sea is always lovely and clear although by the time we go, it's cooling down so we don't do any more than go for a paddle.
Here you can see the entire island - This is from my drone from a couple of years ago.
And here's one of the beaches, also by drone.
Here's the same beach from the track that goes around the island.
This is Shell beach, taken from the same track.
To get to Herm, you first have to get to Guernsey and we use the Condor ferry from Poole which takes about three hours. The departure time varies every year and we normally manage to get from Guernsey to Herm on the same day but this year, the Condor arrives after the last boat to Herm so we're staying on Guernsey for one night.
You have to go by boat to Herm Island, we always use the Trident which makes the trip multiple times a day.
It's quite common to see dolphins alongside the Trident as it makes the crossing over to Herm.
Although we always stay in the self-catering cottages, we don't really self-cater apart from breakfast. We're on holiday, we don't want to be faffing about preparing and cooking meals all the time.
At the time of year we go, there's not much to do on the island so this really is a break for us and a chance to unwind. A typical day will be to get up, make a bacon sandwich and then go out for a walk. We'll generally end up at the pub for a very light lunch and a quick half. The pub on Herm is the Mermaid Tavern and is at the bottom of the hill in the harbour area. After lunch, we'll take another stroll around and end up back in the cottage. We play cards, sleep, relax.
In the evening, it's back down the hill to the pub for dinner and a couple of beers. After that, we'll go back up to the cottage, perhaps watch the telly, maybe play a game and just chill. The place we've stayed for the last couple of trips has an open fireplace so we often light a fire (even though it's not really cold enough to need it). We may even bump into @chaparral one year
As you can see, there's a lot of walking to do on Herm.
The sun goes down and it's time for bed.
Sunset over Guernsey.
I've always liked island holidays (even though I live at the coast), there's something special about being surrounded by the sea and you can see the sea everywhere you go on Herm. I appreciate that a week doing nothing isn't for everyone but it works perfectly for us, it's time to unwind.
The weather is generally better than mainland UK and for the last few years, I've spent the entire week in shorts and a t-shirt. That doesn't mean it's always lovely when we go, we've been there while it's been blowing a hooley and chucking it down with rain, although that's the exception. A few years ago, the Condor ferry from Poole was rescheduled due to high winds being forecast and we had to go a day early.
Regarding cost, it has gone up over the years but I still don't consider it crazy. For three people, including the Condor from Poole to Guernsey, a week car parking in the harbour in Guernsey, a cottage that technically can hold six people and a night in a hotel on Guernsey, it's costing a little under £1500 which doesn't include the shopping we take over and our daily food/drinks in the pub.
We've seen a lot of changes over the years we've been doing this. In my opinion, they've not all been for the best but I still love the place. I don't expect much from this thread, it's not a sexy or exotic enough location but just posting it has cheered me up.
Not long now, just a few more weeks and we'll be there again
Every year at around this time, we go away to Herm Island for a week. Herm is one of the smallest of the Channel Islands at less than 1.5 miles x 0.5 miles and can only be reached by boat. It's about three miles east of Guernsey and is one of the islands where no cars or bicycles are allowed.
Accommodation on Herm is either in the one hotel, the few holiday cottages or camping. We stay in one of the cottages in the 'village' area which is about a ten minute walk up a very steep hill. It really is very steep, just saying "it's steep" doesn't give any indication and nobody believes you when you tell them how steep it is until they stand at the bottom looking up. I worked out that it climbs 68m in a quarter of a mile which is something like a 16% gradient.
In the peak of the summer, it's a very busy island but we go right at the end of the season where the campsite is closed and there aren't many people in the hotel. In fact, up until a few years ago, the hotel wasn't even open when we went but they've extended the opening times.
Herm is a beautiful and magical place. The north of the island has lovely beaches and a wide, open common area and the south side has high cliffs, lovely winding paths and fantastic views.
The sea is always lovely and clear although by the time we go, it's cooling down so we don't do any more than go for a paddle.
Here you can see the entire island - This is from my drone from a couple of years ago.
And here's one of the beaches, also by drone.
Here's the same beach from the track that goes around the island.
This is Shell beach, taken from the same track.
To get to Herm, you first have to get to Guernsey and we use the Condor ferry from Poole which takes about three hours. The departure time varies every year and we normally manage to get from Guernsey to Herm on the same day but this year, the Condor arrives after the last boat to Herm so we're staying on Guernsey for one night.
You have to go by boat to Herm Island, we always use the Trident which makes the trip multiple times a day.
It's quite common to see dolphins alongside the Trident as it makes the crossing over to Herm.
Although we always stay in the self-catering cottages, we don't really self-cater apart from breakfast. We're on holiday, we don't want to be faffing about preparing and cooking meals all the time.
At the time of year we go, there's not much to do on the island so this really is a break for us and a chance to unwind. A typical day will be to get up, make a bacon sandwich and then go out for a walk. We'll generally end up at the pub for a very light lunch and a quick half. The pub on Herm is the Mermaid Tavern and is at the bottom of the hill in the harbour area. After lunch, we'll take another stroll around and end up back in the cottage. We play cards, sleep, relax.
In the evening, it's back down the hill to the pub for dinner and a couple of beers. After that, we'll go back up to the cottage, perhaps watch the telly, maybe play a game and just chill. The place we've stayed for the last couple of trips has an open fireplace so we often light a fire (even though it's not really cold enough to need it). We may even bump into @chaparral one year
As you can see, there's a lot of walking to do on Herm.
The sun goes down and it's time for bed.
Sunset over Guernsey.
I've always liked island holidays (even though I live at the coast), there's something special about being surrounded by the sea and you can see the sea everywhere you go on Herm. I appreciate that a week doing nothing isn't for everyone but it works perfectly for us, it's time to unwind.
The weather is generally better than mainland UK and for the last few years, I've spent the entire week in shorts and a t-shirt. That doesn't mean it's always lovely when we go, we've been there while it's been blowing a hooley and chucking it down with rain, although that's the exception. A few years ago, the Condor ferry from Poole was rescheduled due to high winds being forecast and we had to go a day early.
Regarding cost, it has gone up over the years but I still don't consider it crazy. For three people, including the Condor from Poole to Guernsey, a week car parking in the harbour in Guernsey, a cottage that technically can hold six people and a night in a hotel on Guernsey, it's costing a little under £1500 which doesn't include the shopping we take over and our daily food/drinks in the pub.
We've seen a lot of changes over the years we've been doing this. In my opinion, they've not all been for the best but I still love the place. I don't expect much from this thread, it's not a sexy or exotic enough location but just posting it has cheered me up.
Not long now, just a few more weeks and we'll be there again
