Walking on Guernsey. Paddy Dillon

      Almost a tropical scene, as walkers take a break at a well-appointed beach café

      The walks in this guidebook are mostly short and straightforward, chosen to reflect the diversity of the landscapes and seascapes, along with the history, heritage and natural history of Guernsey. Almost all the walks link directly with one or two other walks, allowing all kinds of extensions to the routes. All the walks are easily accessible by bus services, so a car is not necessary.

      The islands covered by the Bailiwick of Guernsey have a combined land area of 78km2 (30 square miles) and walkers are never more than 3km (2 miles) from the sea. Within this limited area this guidebook offers around 225km (140 miles) of incredibly varied walking, with a coastal walk alone measuring almost 65km (40 miles). If explorations are extended beyond Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm to Jersey, then the interest and enjoyment is doubled. Complete coastal walks around the five main Channel Islands are now being promoted as the ‘Channel Island Way’, measuring 178km (110 miles).

      In the past the Channel Islands were not really viewed as a walking destination. Rather, they were a holiday destination where people simply couldn’t help walking. These days, one third of visitors state that their main reason for visiting the islands is to walk. The sight of golden beaches, rugged cliffs, flowery headlands and lush woodlands prove irresistible for exploring on foot. There are so many things to see along the paths, tracks and roads – interesting places to visit and always the offer of food and drink.

      The walks are mostly circular and almost every stretch along the coast features a contrasting exploration inland. It has to be said that there are few paths and tracks inland, and while some roads can be quite busy, there are plenty of quiet country roads too, specially designated as ruettes tranquilles, where priority is given to walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. A few of the walks are entirely inland, because it is important to appreciate the inland countryside and its farming traditions just as much as the popular coastline. Almost every route passes some sort of attraction, ranging from castles to historic houses, churches to craft centres. Many attractions seem to exist purely because they have a captive audience of visitors; those that are on or near the walks are noted, with brief details offered. Many of them have an entry charge and may be well worth an hour’s exploration.

      Paths on Guernsey are mostly on firm, dry surfaces, but some stretches may be muddy after rain. Some paths on steep slopes are equipped with plenty of concrete steps. Most of the time a pair of comfortable walking shoes are fine for walking, and hefty boots are not required. If boots are worn, lightweight ones will suffice. There are some signposts, but most paths are obvious even without markers, and it is usually obvious if a path is private. Roads on Guernsey sometimes bear their names at one end or both, which saves confusion when they form a dense network.

      There are plenty of walking opportunities inland on Guernsey, where there is a network of lanes

What to take

      Generally speaking, Guernsey’s weather is a little milder than the weather you would expect in the south of England. There are no hills and walkers rarely find themselves much above 100m (330ft) above sea level. The most basic walking gear will suffice, with comfortable footwear, clothing to suit hot and cool conditions, including sun protection for sunny days and waterproofs in case of rain. It is increasingly common to see heavily booted walkers with poles and packs trudging round the island, but Guernsey is a gentle landscape, and even if foul weather were to interfere with a walk, it is very easy to cut walks short, bail out by bus and retreat to your lodgings.

Waymarking and access

      Guernsey is intensively cultivated, with large areas given over to tillage and greenhouses, while most pastures are grazed by Guernsey cows. Around 60,000 people live on the island, the road network is remarkably dense and car ownership is very high. Add to this the huge number of visitors, and it is a wonder there is room to breathe, let alone walk. However, there are plenty of paths, tracks and quiet roads available for walkers, and while signposts and waymarks are few, routes freely available to the public are usually quite obvious. The best maps of Guernsey show many of these routes, but by no means all of them. By contrast, paths, tracks and roads that are private are usually clearly marked as such. In practical terms, with this guidebook to hand, Guernsey can be explored thoroughly using the available access.

      Prominent stone markers often indicate where paths are leading, especially around the coast

      Special mention needs to be made of the inter-tidal zone. Guernsey has one of the biggest tidal ranges in the world, up to 12m (40ft) at spring tides. The sight of sandy beaches and jagged rocks emerging from the sea as the tide recedes encourages many people to explore to the water’s edge, and to a certain extent this is to be encouraged, but it must be done with caution. Obtain a copy of the tide times and study them carefully. Walking out as the tide recedes is unlikely to be a problem, but when the tide is advancing it is possible to be cut off before realising it. Trying to get from beach to beach around the foot of cliffs can be dangerous and can lead to an inconvenient stranding, or death by drowning. In short, do not wander around the inter-tidal zone without having a clearly visible route back to dry land.

Maps

      The maps in this guidebook are extracted from the 1:15,000 States of Guernsey map. This is rather different from the Ordnance Survey maps used by most walkers in Britain. In fact, the map was originally compiled by the Military Survey at 1:25,000, but this is now out of print. New and updated digital mapping has been produced by Digimap at 1:15,000, www.digimap.gg, for the States of Guernsey. This is the most detailed map of the island, showing everything down to field boundaries and even the back gardens of houses in towns and villages. The walking routes in this guidebook are shown as a highlighted overlay on this 1:15,000 map. Sketch maps of Alderney, Sark and Herm show the walking routes on the small islands.

      There are plenty of other maps of Guernsey, mostly published by Perry’s. These include free maps suitable for general touring, which often highlight attractions so boldly that they obscure other details in the vicinity. By all means amass a collection of free maps, picking them up from the tourist information centre or from hotels and visitor attractions around the island.

Getting around Guernsey

      By car

      Cars can be taken on the Condor ferries to Guernsey, and it is possible to hire cars on Guernsey, either pre-booked or on arrival. Guernsey cars carry only numbers on their registration plates, but hire cars are stamped with a prominent ‘H’ for ‘hire’, or according to

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