Looping Guernsey; A tale of two halves

49°27'33.6"N 2°32'01.6"W Guernsey, Channel Islands

We were sat around the table scrambling over Sunday brunch pancakes, lathered with mascarpone & maple syrup with tumbles of berries. It was late autumn.

“I’m craving a walking holiday” Emiko announces. She has not long returned from hiking her way through California and sharing the envy inducing photos.

“I’m in” chimes Renee. Agreeing to a non-existent plan.

“Nice idea” I agree “However funds and time are both tight for the for-seeable”

“Let me think” she trails off…

Two days later my email pings. We are booked on a flight to Guernsey next Friday evening return Sunday night, with overnight stays in two dubiously cheap triple rooms, chosen primarily for their locations and low price points off season.

Girls weekend and a stomp for under £150, you’re on!

Friday night we feasted on a bundle of yummy sharing plates and a bottle of red at Octopus, overlooking the sea and the glow of Castle Cornet.

The pull of this weekend for us was that it was cheap and cheerful, we chose our accommodation based solely on location and price. The first night we slept at St Georges Guesthouse, a shared triple room allowed for £30 a head inclusive of breakfast.

Guernsey is a tale of two halves.

Half of the coast is cliff paths, expect to ascend and descend regularly, steep and rugged.

Half is coastal, dunes and sweeping beach vistas.

Our intention is to loop the perimeter of the island, starting in St Peter Port Harbour Saturday morning and then cruising back into St Peter Port before dusk falls Sunday evening.

Every year Guernsey host a Round The Island Charity Walk in association with Saffery Rotary. We followed their route planner and made a charitable donation in exchange (even better if you can join in with them on their annual stomp!).

One of the beauties of this walk is that it is very hard to go the wrong way, just by keeping the sea to your left you’ve got a solid route.

Logic dictates walking with the wind behind you as much as possible. The route suggested in the above guide takes you from St Peter Port clockwise around the island, which also means tackling the hardest day of the walk, the steep cliff steps, first. In our case this tied in nicely with the wind conditions.

Day 1. Clockwise from St Peter Port to L'Erée.

Cliff Paths. Ascending and descending regularly through the mud. The views are worth it.

First day complete. Easier said than done.

As you can see on our route above, we veered right away from the cliff path shortly after La Planel, choosing to walk the country lanes of cottages and cows towards L’Eree. We were running out of light and quite frankly running out of steam! It transpires my boots are a fraction too small and I was hobbling every step by this stage, my toenails may never be the same.

We slept at L'Eree Bay Hotel, reminiscent of the Mary Celeste this time of year, again a triple room set us back the princely sum of around £30 a head inclusive of a cooked buffet breakfast. We had much needed showers, then crossed the road to dine at A Taste of India where we went big, the waiter raised his eyebrows when we ordered, nobody likes a doubter. We sure showed him, food was delicious.

Day 2. L'Erée to St Peter Port.

Coastal vistas and dunes.

Getting going this morning was tough. We had all grown increasingly stiff overnight, my quads were cringing with every knee bend and pulling on my boots was bittersweet. Knowing we needed to get going to warm up we set off with the knowledge that today’s walk looks very different, it is flatter.

This walk is annually achieved in summer within 24 hours by a bunch of very keen charitable walkers. We spread it across two shorter winter days and it was challenging. This walk is perfectly achievable for moderate fitness levels, however if you have not done a significant amount of walking recently or you simply want to take your time along the way, I would recommend splitting it across 3 days for comfort.