Cosmos Stay and Explore tour to the island of Jersey
Arriving at Gatwick North terminal early on a Sunday morning for our first flight in eight months we were shocked at how quiet the airport remained. With so few shops and restaurants open we waited out our time to boarding by listening to music and reading a book, until we were eventually allowed to board our Easyjet flight to Jersey. The flight itself was only just over half an hour long and not long after we arrived in the terminal building our luggage arrived on the conveyor belt. We headed through security to the covid testing centre, something everyone arriving in Jersey has to do. The PCR test is free for all arrivals and it was swiftly carried out, taking no more than 30 minutes for us to be processed and waiting for a taxi to take us to our hotel.
We were staying at the Pomme D’or hotel located in the heart of St Helier, to experience a five night Stay and Explore vacation with Cosmos holidays. After checking into the hotel we were taken to meet Julie Anne, our tour guide for our stay. After a friendly greeting she took details of our vaccination status and checked our temperatures before giving us some information about our planned programme, the first of which was a welcome dinner in the hotel planned for later that evening. Since we had both been double vaccinated a few weeks prior we didn’t need to isolate until our PCR test results came through, so we dropped our luggage in our room and took ourselves off for a walk around St Helier to explore the surrounding area.
Although the weather forecast hadn’t looked too promising it actually got better and better as the afternoon wore on with many of the islands families making the most of the sunshine on the towns promenade or in the towns cafes and restaurants. St Helier is a lovely little town with a fascinating history, much of it centred around our hotel which was the location for the liberation of the islanders after their occupation in the second world war. We walked for miles, admiring the many statues and landmarks along the way, before heading back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.
As we were getting ready for dinner we both received a text to let us know that our PCR tests were negative, this arrived much sooner than we had expected but was a relief to know even though we hadn’t had to isolate until we got the result. At 7pm we headed down to the hotels dining room to meet our fellow guests and enjoy the rather delicious buffet dinner laid out for the hotel’s guests. Jersey had relaxed all of its covid restrictions a few days before we arrived so we didn’t have to wear masks around the hotel and we were able to serve ourselves at the hotel buffet at both this dinner and breakfast every day of our stay.
There were nine of us on this tour which was a new venture from Cosmos, with other tours going from Scotland and Warwickshire on the same day and the first time that Cosmos had had a tour in Jersey for many years. Our fellow guests were all very well travelled and were looking forward to their first venture out of mainland UK since the pandemic.
The next day we had a full day excursion with Tony, a local bus driver who was taking us on a tour around the island to show us some if the sights and give us a feel for what the island had to offer. We headed out of St Helier long the coast road, taking in the island in an anticlockwise direction, heading off along the dramatic south east shores. The tidal range on Jersey is one of the largest in the world and as we made our way along the coast the tide was at its lowest, giving us a view of the rocky seabed lying under the surface of a high tide, giving the illusion of a lunar landscape. Our first stop was at the lovely little fishing village of Gorey protected by its large cliff top Mont Orgueil castle towering over it.
Our next stop was a coffee pit stop at Saint Catherine’s Breakwater on the east coast and home to Simon the Sand Wizard and his magnificent sand sculpture. Back on the coach we toured the tiny country roads round the north-east point of the island and along the rugged, misty north coast until we reached Le Moulin De Lecq, a 12th century Inn and our lunch stop. Lunch options were traditional pub fayre and we enjoyed a delicious steak baguette and fries before heading off for a quick walk along the beach at nearby Greve de Lecq. Heading round the most north-westerly point we arrived at the west coast of the island, a complete contrast to the rest of the islands coastline, with its mediterranean style sandy beach resorts. We had a quick stop for a beach walk in beautiful resort of St. Brelade’s bay before heading off to Noirmont Point to take a wander around the remaining German bunkers and warheads. This action packed day had taken us from the rocky seascapes of the east coast to the misty cliff tops in the north, to the bunkers and gunheads and stunning beaches on the south and west coast and shown us so much this little island of contrasts had to show us.
Back at the hotel we headed out independently to get some dinner. The island is a gastronomical haven with a plethora of good eateries to choose from and our hotel was perfectly located to reach many of them on foot. With so much choice we decided to start our Jersey culinary experience with a curry and headed off to the local curry house, literally a few hundred feet from our hotel. And what a start to dining out in Jersey it was. Although we completely over ordered the food was amazing and very well priced. If ever you’re looking for a decent curry house in Jersey we would highly recommend Jaipur, conveniently situated opposite the bus station.
The next day we had a free day and the weather had taken a very sharp turn for the worse, with rain set in for the day. Following our wander round when we arrived on Sunday we decided to start the day with a quick walk to the stunning indoor market for a coffee and some souvenir shopping. With the rain persisting and putting paid to our plans to visit Jersey zoo, we decided to try out the local buses and in the afternoon headed off to St Aubin, a little town to the west of St Helier that we had liked the look of on our coach tour the day before. The buses in St Helier are so easy to use and although not that frequent are prompt and timely. Alighting in St Aubin we had a little wander round this charming little town, reminiscent of many of the Cornish villages we love, before deciding that despite the persistent rain we would walk the three miles back along the promenade to St Helier, stopping off at the renowned St Matthews church famous for its Lalique glass fittings. After such a soggy day we thought we would treat ourselves to a fish and chip supper in a small restaurant and takeaway located opposite our hotel and recommended to us by our friend and fellow cruise blogger Cruise with Amber, and she was right, they were the best fish and chips we had had in a long time.
After our buffet breakfast the next morning we boarded the coach again, with Tony our fabulous driver, and headed the short drive to the war tunnels. Upon arriving we were greeted by a Channel Islands BBC crew who were doing a feature on the resumption of tourism to its islands. A few quick interviews later and we headed into the tunnels for a couple of hours wandering through these interesting tunnels which were built by the Germans during their occupation of the island and telling the story of the island and its inhabitants during the time of occupation. It was a fascinating and insightful tour perfectly depicting this difficult time in the islands history.
In the afternoon we headed a little further north for our next tour of the day, a wine tasting and afternoon tea at the stunning La Mare wine estate. Upon arrival we had a small glass of their scrumptious cider before being shown around the vineyard and its production rooms. We then headed out to the gardens to taste some of the wines and liquors produced on the estate which we then soaked up with a rather delicious and very generous afternoon tea, served in the open air of the gorgeous luscious gardens adjoining the vineyards.
Returning back to the hotel late afternoon we decided to head out on foot to explore the beaches to the east of the town at Havre des Pas. Heading out of the town and around the peninsula we were greeted by a wonderful bay with people swimming in the open sea and enjoying this lovely summery evening in the bars and restaurants along the waterfront. At the end of the bay we found the magnificent sea lido, originally built in 1895 and added to in the 1920s and 30s, with an abundance of fabulous art deco features. Heading back inland we returned to St Helier, joining plenty of the locals at the Royal Yacht Club next door to our hotel for a rather delicious pizza and cold beer.
Thankfully the weather held out the next morning for our coastal cruise along the south west peninsula of the island to Corbiere lighthouse and back. Although we had stopped at most of the tourist hotspots along this coastline earlier in the week it was wonderful to see them from the sea. Unfortunately we didn’t see any dolphins on our trip but the crew assured us they are a regular feature of their coastal cruises. Returning by lunchtime and with the weather sunny and ambient we caught a bus along the coast road out to La Hocq. The tide was out so we walked along the beach for a few kilometres to the next village of La Rocque before getting another bus back to St Helier in order to make our dinner reservation that evening.
We had saved this restaurant until our last evening having heard some wonderful reviews of it. Quayside seafood restaurant was a short walk across the square from our hotel and was renowned for its delicious, locally caught seafood dishes. We decided to push the boat out for our last evening and ordered a nice cold bottle of white wine with a plate of local oysters to start with. Neither of us had ever tried oysters before but despite our trepidation we loved them and wished we had ordered more. The main course was just as wonderful with both of us choosing local fish dishes. At the end of the meal the waiter brought us over a glass of dessert wine, the perfect end to our few days on this gorgeous little island.
We were invited on this Stay and Explore tour by the Cosmos team and would like to thank them for giving us this trip to the wonderful island of Jersey.
If you would like to find out more about Cosmos Stay and Explore tours please click here.
If you enjoyed this blog why not read about our Riviera Travel escorted tour to Lake Como. If you would like to receive notification of any new blog posts, updates of our travels or links to our vlogs we would love for you to sign up to our mail list below. Thank you.
