Jersey

Travelling to Jersey from England is extremely easy. There is no passport control as it is a ‘principle’ of the Crown, so you will pass through just the regular airport security scanning.

Taking a flight from London City Airport is a doddle on a Friday evening and then return on the Sunday afternoon for a nice weekend out of the rat race. Jersey is quiet and relaxed. So upon arriving into the hotel around 9:30pm we were told that there was fifteen minutes to order food or we could chance it out in St Helier.

My travelling companion was Portuguese and we decided to run the gauntlet and head out to “down town” St Helier. You need to know; this is not a party town. This is not a place that stays open till dawn. Restaurants close at 10pm. Sharp.

So, also know that there are a tonne of Portuguese inhabitants in Jersey. Very lucky for us – as we made friends with some local Portuguese and they kindly directed us to a great restaurant – Restaurant Do Porto (Minden Street JE2 4WR, +44 1534 632969).

Go hungry. Go very hungry. The portions are massive and the food is excellent – so you will want to finish. It was so good that we returned on the Saturday night (this time a little more reserved when ordering).

We stayed at the Hotel Savoy (Rouge Bouillon JE2 3ZA, +44 1534 727521). Which is well located and features a lovely open fireplace in the lounge. There is a jazz bar and afternoon tea if you need more food – (breakfast includes both cold and hot dishes).

Jersey is quite small. I think you could walk one end to the other in about four hours. If you visit in the low season (i.e. before end of March if it’s the start of the year), then a lot of attractions are not open. So what to do… well definitely visit the Castle at Gorey – Mont Orgueil Castle. This stronghold has 800 years of history and is quite impressive. The views from the top are superb – take comfortable shoes because you are about to climb.

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The one thing you must try is Jersey oysters and the local seafood. Everything is really fresh – oysters, crab, lobster and sea-bass. In Gorey, we visited the Crab Shack and had Oysters and excellent seafood linguine.

On Sunday in St Helier there is an excellent silver service restaurant offering three courses for £27 – Quayside Bistro & Grill (Liberty Wharf JE2 3NY, +44 1534 877004). Service is excellent and the food was perfect.

It would be really lovely in summer time as they have an open deck with stunning views.

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