Guernsey, from St Peter Port to Petit Bot and the Airport

After a swim and breakfast at the Hotel de Havelet we walked down the steep hill into St Peter Port and bought provisions for lunch in M&S Simply Food. We then retraced our steps past the Town Church, the Albert Memorial and the harbour, with good views to Castle Cornet, first built on a tidal island in the 13th Century and later joined to one of the breakwaters, and beyond that to the islands of Herm and Sark. We walked past the bus station and buildings occupied by some of Guernsey’s financial industry, but we didn’t climb back up Havelet, instead taking the road as close as possible to Havelet Bay. It was drizzling but it soon stopped and the sun shone for most of the day.

We passed an outdoor bathing pool (not tempting in the weather conditions) and the entrance to La Valette Underground Military Museum and the Guernsey Aquarium, then climbed up steps to the Clarence Battery. Built in 1780, the battery is one of the last fortified remains of Fort George - the island's principal fort during the French Revolution and home of the German Luftwaffe early warning system during World War Two. There were good views back to St Peter Port.

We continued past the site of the rest of Fort George, and through a small up-market housing estate. We were beginning to think that Guernsey’s high population density might mean that we never got away from housing; this proved to be absolutely not the case, though in the following section there were some extremely posh houses on the hillside above us.

We were now into typical coastal footpath territory i.e. lots of ups and downs, with the reward of some lovely views through the woodland we were walking through. We rounded Fermain Point and descended to Fermain Bay, a lovely little bay with one of the remaining twelve of Guernsey’s “loophole towers”. These were built at various points along the coast of Guernsey between August 1778 and March 1779 to deter possible French attacks, after France had declared itself an ally of the American rebels in the American Revolutionary War. There is also a little café here, but we didn’t stop.

We climbed up and continued past Marble Bay to St Martin’s point. From here there was a steep climb up to Jerbourg Battery. We took a lane past Hotel Jerbourg, one of the other hotels we had considered. It is certainly in a stunning location, but would have been a little out of the way without a car.

We returned to the footpath and continued around Jerbourg Point, with good views to Icart Point ahead of us. This view remained with us as we walked around Moulin Huet Bay; we’d have liked to stop for lunch but it was windy and we thought it would be a bit cold. Eventually we found a sheltered spot and, even better, a newly opened toilet (which, according to the sign outside, will soon be decorated with murals by the children of St Martin’s School).

After lunch, we continued on the cliff top for a while, then went slightly inland in a wooded valley with lots of flowers (daffodils etc. but also camellias), then we returned to the coast and around Bon Port. At Saint’s Bay we went slightly inland again, then back to the coast past another “looped tower”. There was a footpath signposted to Icart Point, but we religiously followed the instructions in the guidebook, right down to the Saint’s Bay slipway then up a long flight of steps to the cliff top again. It was then only a short distance to Icart Point, and only a short distance beyond Icart Point to the car park. However, poor communication between Richard (in charge of the map and guidebook) and me had led me to believe that we were approaching Petit Bot, where there would be a café. I was somewhat disappointed to find that this was not the case!

We continued on, past La Bette Bay and La Jaonnet Bay. The walking was mostly on the clifftop, but there was at least one steep ascent before we eventually descended to a road and so down to the little bay at Petit Bot. Here was the café I had been waiting for; unfortunately it was closed! It was a pretty place though, with another “looped tower”.

We decided to leave the Channel Island Way here, and followed an attractive lane (“Route de Petit Bot”) up to the hamlet of Forest. We could have caught a bus back from here to St Peter Port, but we decided to walk just slightly further, to Guernsey Airport, to give us the opportunity for that long-awaited cup of tea and a larger choice of buses. Even now it took us some time to find the café, up on the first floor of the terminal building, but we got there in the end!

As we left the terminal building, a number 11 bus was just arriving. The driver warned us that he wasn’t leaving for 20 minutes or so, but that was fine and we were soon back in the hotel. In the evening we had a nice meal at Villa Italian restaurant in St Peter Port.

following leg