Jersey or Guernsey

[McWeedie]

Would like to go to Jersey or Guernsey this summer. We have never been and have no idea which would be better for 5 year old twins. Also any suggestions of areas to stay. Thanks.

They are quite different in their topography but I love both. Both islands are easy to drive around and have their own share of interesting little nooks and crannies.

If you stay in Guernsey, you can easily visit the Herm Island for a day. The Shell Beach is beautiful, on a sunny day you'd think you're somewhere in the Caribbean. It has no cars and the boat trip there will be fun for the twins. I'd say anywhere there is a good place to stay.

If you decide on Jersey, St.Brelades Bay is beautiful and would recommend to stay there.

What Jersey gains in being slightly bigger and having more amenities, Guernsey gains in being quirkier. I personally prefer Guernsey slightly more (not least because it's proximity to Herm Island) but Jersey is a great destination too.

If the weather is bad there is not a lot to occupy young children on Guernsey speaking from bitter experience
Jersey is bigger, and I think has more to do.
Of course if the weather is great there are loads of fab beaches and beautiful countryside on both.

We did Jersey when DD was 5 year before last. My DD says it was one of the best holidays ever. Lots of visiting different beaches and eating ice cream, there was plenty to do - we did Durrells and Maritime Museum in St. Heilier on a couple of grey days. We also went to the leisure centre on the last day before our ferry to wear her out before the ferry home. We camped, and the campsite had a swimming pool and fresh pastries delivered daily.
We did the fast ferry there, I can recommend paying extra to sit in the lounge at the front, more leg room, power point and separate place to get drinks. We were very glad we did as it was quite cramped in the usual seats. Also if you book your accommodation first, most of them have deals with the ferry company and it is much cheaper. Keep an eye on the fast ferry, it is not unknown for it to break down, we discovered through talking to people on the way back that those who had booked direct with Condor ferries were last to get re-booked either on the fast ferry or the clipper, we booked with Channel Island Direct with a code from our campsite and it was almost £100 cheaper.
We will go back when we can face the ferry journey with our youngest!

Thank you, really useful information. Thinking probably Jersey might be best to keep DT’s occupied in case if bad weather but both sound fab!

I’m a Guernsey Girl and love my Island but will agree, that Jersey probably has more to keep 5 year olds occupied, especially in bad weather.

Condor ferries are very unreliable and the Liberation (fast ferry) is a hideous boat with a strange movement to it. We all hate it but have to use it! It is known locally as the Liability rather then the Liberation.

I think it’s the Merton Hotel in Jersey that has a small indoor water park attached to it but is still quite close to town, St Helier. That’s probably good place to stay with 5 year olds.

If you’re feeling flush and the schedule is in your favour, you may be able to do a day trip to Guernsey. Unfortunately you can’t visit Herm Islamd from Jersey and as a PP has said, Herm is beautiful i love going there.

Have had dodgy crossings to both several times. I am not a good sailor The actual ferry takes hours.
It may be worth considering flying. Have done that a couple of times - vast improvement!

The Liberation takes 3 hours when it's running properly. The traditional ferry, the Clipper, will take 7+ hours depending on the tides and whether it has to call in to Guernsey before Jersey in which case it could be 12 hours!

We've had a couple of lovely holidays to Guernsey. There is quite a bit to do when it's rainy but Jersey does have things like a zoo which are a plus. Beaches on Guernsey are beautiful and we've stayed at a couple of self catering places with their own pools.
We've flown both times - it only takes about 40 minutes from Gatwick.

You could do both? I think Guernsey is good because you can visit Herm and Sark easily, but Jersey is better in poor weather. Guernsey is very quirky and doesn't really have any chain restaurants etc so is more different than Jersey to the UK in that respect.

Thanks again for all your replies, they’re so helpful.