A Day Out in Sark Island

Island-hopping around Guernsey is one of the most exciting things to do around here. A few months ago just before my birthday, we decided to pop over to Sark for the day. Rob’s mum was staying with us after coming to Europe for a conference and we headed over on the ferry for the day. Now, Sark takes a bit longer to get to from Guernsey than Herm. It is about 50mins on the water. I spent much of this sitting outside as I don’t enjoy being inside on boats.

When we got there, it was a pretty welcome into a small harbour and we paid the £1.20 for the tractor bus to take us up to the top of the hill. We then headed straight for a coffee at a local cafe before attempting to get a horse & carriage ride around the island. As all of the horses were in fact booked up, we ended up hiring bikes, much to the initial shock of Rob’s mother. But you know what they say – “It’s like riding a bike!” We soon got the hang of it and swung a quick left towards Little Sark to have a look at the famous bridge and maybe even pop over to explore.

We didn’t have a whole lot of time, so we ended up taking a few pictures on the bridge crossing and then we cycled over to La Sablonnerie where we decided to have lunch in the gardens. It’s a very charming, old fashioned place. With traditional black and white uniforms and a very pretty setup. A glass of rose and a piece of bread and we soon settled in. The meal itself was actually very good.

I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting it to be so. Maybe because it was very much in the middle of nowhere. But we were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed roast beef, salads, duck and dessert before jumping back on our bikes and heading to Caragh Chocolates for a coffee and a quick squizz around their shop. Caragh makes chocolates on Sark (she also teaches the local yoga class) and the chocolates are sold all over the world. They are very good, I have to say.

Our whirlwind tour ended with a scone, a glass of prosecco and a tour of the Seigneurie Gardens with it’s mini maze and sun clock.

It’s a pretty place to spend some time. We were a little rushed as we had only really gone over for the afternoon and spent a little bit too much time working out what to do when we arrived. But once we had the bike plan in action, we were off!

If you do pop over to Sark, I would definitely do it the way we did it. Hire a bike, enjoy a leisurely lunch at Sablonnerie, pop into a couple of cafes. We didn’t manage anything around the edges – the beaches, the pools and the cliffs etc. So I’d definitely hope to try and see more on my next visit. Which may have to be an overnight adventure!