janisj

Got great help finding a place to stay so now working on prioritizing my 2+ days on the island Arrive late afternoon on Tuesday and fly to London Friday 11-ish AM. Staying at the Old Court House, St Aubin.

• first question, about rental cars . . . I can rent a car for the whole time, for one day, or not at all. Since apparently parking is a problem, I'm leaning to maybe renting all day either Wed or Thurs and using buses/taxis the rest of the time. Does that make sense? Cost isn't an issue because rental cars seem really inexpensive - I'm more wondering if I can see enough driving around the island in one day.

• Help prioritizing sites/'stuff. I'm mainly interested - in no particular order - castles, WWII sites, pretty beaches/lighthouses, seafood, gardens. Not too much shopping. If you were showing a first timer around the island what would be on the "must" list?

Thanks for any and all suggestions . . .

Judyrem

Sounds great, janis.
Hope someone can chime in here.
I always wanted to go there,

Odin

I always rented a car for the whole time, there is public parking and would ask the Old Court House what their recommendation is for parking in St Brelade. St Brelade has a very nice beach.

La Corbiere at late afternoon (lighthouse)
Underground Hospital is a must if interested in WW2
Elizabeth & Mont Orgueil Castle
Bonne Nuit Bay is really pretty & Plemont
German bunker at L'Etacq although there are plenty of WW2 things all around the island. For a small island 9x5 miles there is alot to do and the speed limit is something like 30mph, with filter in turn system at some junctions.

Gordon_R

Janis: parking is generally easy on the island, just not in the specific vicinity of the Old Courthouse Inn at St Aubin. Still doable with a bit of perseverence though, and having a car is the easiest way to get around the island. I always book through Avis Jersey for the best rates: www.avisjersey.co.uk

Make sure you familiarise yourself with Jersey's idiosyncratic "paycard" system: http://www.jersey.com/english/transp...s/default.aspx

Odin: St Brelade does indeed have a wonderful beach (definitely on my "must see list", but Janis's question about parking related mainly to where she is staying in St Aubin - which is a different kettle of fish entirely when it comes to finding a parking space.

Odin has given you a great list of things to see. I would also recommend some walking if the weather is good. My two favourite walks, which should give you some amazing views and history are:-

(1) From St Aubin up past the Somerville hotel and along the coast to the seriously spooky Noirmont command bunker - a restored relic of the German occupation, then on to look down over Portelet bay before returning to St Aubin.

(2) From the ruins of Grosnez castle along the NW coastal path to Plemont bay and back. The friendly ittle cafe at Plemont does some wonderful fish and chips and you can look out over the sea to Guernsey and Sark in the distance.

Ackislander

Good lord, janisj! Thank you for asking a question and giving others the chance to return the help you have given so many!

Having said that, I have nothing useful to offer as everyone I know who has been to Jersey has been there for directors' meetings which might as well have been held in Wyandotte, Ohio.

Gordon_R

PS Janis - I'm away for the next week and won't have access to any computers. If you need any other input from me I'll get back to you when I return.

janisj

Thanks guys -- great start. (I've been out in 90F all day running a garage sale - sort of a car boot sale-ish thingy - and just now am getting back here)

WOW -- that paycard system looks really complicated! Years ago I used to have parking discs to park in Oxford and other towns. That was easy. This thing looks scary

I'll digest the suggestions and post followups in a day or two (round 2 of the garage sale is tomorrow and it is supposed to be just as hot!)

Never been to Wyandotte - maybe I should plan a visit . . . nah

Odin

Gordon_R: Let me correct my error.

<<I always rented a car for the whole time. I would ask the Old Court House what their suggestion is for parking close to their property which is situated in St Aubin.
In response to the question about which beaches are pretty, St Brelade has a very lovely beach.>>

bilboburgler

Don't forget to visit the smallest church.

janisj

OK -- quick update: After looking at the parking situation etc. I've decided to not pick up a car until my 2nd day on the island. I arrive in the late afternoon and will go straight to the hotel. I'll explore/walk around, maybe take a bus somewhere, have a good dinner - and figure out the hot set up for parking near the hotel.

Then the next morning (Wed) I'll go back out to the airport, collect my car and spend all day touring around and return to the hotel in the evening. Next day I'll explore the other end of the island and back in the evening.

I fly out Fri. at 11AM so I might do some early AM photo stops, turn in the car and fly on to London.

2 full days w/ a car (plus a couple of early morning hours on Fri.) -- how would you group the sites Wed and Thur?

Gordon_R

Janis - there's no need to return to the airport to pick up your car. The hire car companies on the island will generally deliver it to the door of your hotel free of charge (I know for sure Avis Jersey do this).

latedaytraveler

Hi Janisj,


To get in the mood for visiting Jersey, you might read THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL SOCIETY by Mary Ann Schaffer and watch the DVD ISLAND AT WAR.


Both center around the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands during WWII. Scenery in the film is spectacular.

Have a great time….

janisj

Thanks latedaytraveler. Yes, I've read TGLaPPS - it was my choice for my book club 2 or 3 years ago. Really enjoyed the book. I'll look for Islands at War . . .

Gordon: That's good to know, I'll check at the car rental office when I land - if they can deliver the car the next morning, great.

But assuming I do need to start from the airport, I'm thinking to basically do the west end of the island on Wed and the east half on Thurs. Is the Orchid Foundation worth a visit? (don't your hate 'worth it?' questions )

Gordon_R

Not all the car hire companies have offices <i>in</i> the airport terminal (Avis's for example is a short shuttle bus ride away).

Jersey is so small it doesn't really matter if you have to transit backwards and forwards across the island (we're talking maximum journey times in the order of tens of minutes here). There's no natural break between east and west sides, so it's not really necessary to structure a trip that way - unless of course you want to. We normally adjust our itinerary according to the weather - outdoorsy stuff on a fine day and museums/indoor places when its not.

I do know of the Orchid place but have never got round to visiting it myself. I wouldn't say it was one of the top attractions unless you have a specific interest in plants.

Dejais

Janisj...For what it's worth...Islands at War is available for streaming on Netflix. It is in my queue and coming up for viewing. There are so many great BBC series it is hard to watch them all!

Gordon_R

Island at War - yes it was a good series (I have the DVD myself), but produced by Granada TV (part of the ITV network here in the UK, nothing to do with the BBC). And yes the scenery in the series was good, but it was filmed in the Isle of Man not the Channel Islands!

Vpicks

We rented a car for part of our stay - just a couple of days, and I don't remember having problems with parking (as a few years ago though). For some descriptions and photos of places to visit in the Channel Islands, including Jersey, see:

http://postcards-pfte.blogspot.co.uk...nnel%20Islands

Gordon_R

Vpicks - you're right there's generally there's no problem at all with car parking on the island. However the vicinity of the Old Court House Inn at St Aubin where Janis is staying is a notable exception. It's located along a narrow quayside packed with pubs/restaurants, with only a very small public car park at the end. St Aubin is a <i>very</i> popular spot with locals and visitors alike, both during the day and in the evening.

PalenQ

I'm more wondering if I can see enough driving around the island in one day.>

we walked around the island in less than a day and saw anything of interest. But maybe you are not a walker but if so it is neat traipsing by the ubiquitous soft-looking Jersey bovines! Moo!

janisj

PQ: get w/ the program. I've been back for 2 weeks (and I seriously doubt you walked around the island in one day since it is nearly 50 square miles)