Sark; The Dark Sky Island
/49°25'47.5"N 2°21'59.2"W Sark
There are lots of things Sark is not. Bustling. Metropolitan. Modern. Posh.
However, there are plenty of things undeniably special about Sark.
Due to it’s lack of light pollution, Sark was the first island in the world to be granted international Dark Skies status in 2011.
There are no cars and no sealed roads, your transport options are tractor, horse & cart ‘taxi’, bicycle or walk.
When you arrive in Sark, the harbour is at the bottom of a hill, you can either catch the ‘Toast Rack’ harbour hill tractor trailer, which will take you to the plateau, £1 per head (cash), which I would recommend if you have a child or anything heavier than a backpack to carry. Or do as we did and walk the 15 minutes uphill. Either way you can reward yourself with a cold one in the beer garden of the Bel Air Inn when you reach the top (Gin selection surprisingly good).
We stayed at Pomme de Chien campsite. Previous years we’ve rented tents from them (No need to carry your own and they are already constructed for you) however they’ve recently built a couple of timber pods, very basic but they have a light switch, mattress and a charging plug for your phone. They only had one pod left so all four of us snuggled into one cosy pod for the night!
Bikes can be hired from Avenue Cycle Hire on main street, or A to B Cycles or Sark Cycle hire both around the corner.
We dined at La Sablonnerie, which is on Little Sark across La Coupee, the most romantic narrow bridge, flanked on both sides by steep rock tumbling into the sea.
They must’ve given us giggle juice at La Sablonnerie, maybe the Sloe Gin went straight to our heads, but we spent the entire evening in fits of laughter. So much so this dinner will forever be etched in my memory. If that isn’t worth leaving the house for then I don’t know what is.
Without cars and street lighting the only light pollution here is a distant glow from Guernsey, Jersey and France. The night sky sparkles with the Milky Way stretching from horizon to horizon and thousands of stars on display.
We lay our mattresses on the grass in front of our glamping pod, snuggled in our sleeping bags and stared at the magical stars with our magical mates.
*Try this constellation app SkyView
La Seigneurie Gardens are a gem. Old, young, colourblind, these gardens are a treat.
Everyone played in the maze, Captain was first up the trapdoor to the flag, but he had an unfair advantage!
The best bit about Sark is simply the meandering, bike is definitely my favourite way to do so, you can get into all the nooks n’ crannies and lovely little paths leading to beaches, rock pools and look outs.
Dining at Stocks Hotel is always a nice idea, given how hot it was it was a brilliant idea; chilled rosé, crab linguine and a dip in the pool.
Sark is certainly no city break but it is charming, quaint, romantic, incredibly unique and either a bit dusty or a bit muddy depending on the weather.
Embrace it, you’ll love it.
C x
