Nestled away in the English Channel, 20 minutes by a small boat from Guernsey (my beloved home island) and a mere few miles from the French coast lies Herm. It’s one of my favourite places in the entire world and I wanted to share some snaps with you from a recent visit for a friend’s wedding on the tiny island.
Despite being a stones throw from Guernsey (3 miles to be exact), once you arrive on Herm with the sun shining it can feel like you’re on the Southern coast of Italy rather than in the UK. It’s the ideal spot for a lovely day trip, going over on the Travel Trident from Guernsey’s St Peter Port harbour – timetable HERE – or you can spend a few days on the gorgeous unspoilt isle, with no crowds, cars or distractions; a real slice of paradise in the English Channel and a wonderful place for families. There’s a variety of accomodation options too, including staying at the hotel, renting one of the lovely quaint cottages or camping on one of the full-quipped camp sites.
Measuring a mere one and half miles by half a mile wide, it’s a quirky place with a colourful history. There are no cars and no bikes allowed on the island which keeps it authentic, and it’s got the feeling of a very ‘seasonal’ place, despite there being about 70 people who reside there all year round (including a little primary school with about 10 students!). There’s only one hotel and there is one pub – the institution that is The Mermaid Tavern – where many a Channel Islander or holidaymaker will put away a few Rocquaine ciders and a fresh crab sandwich of an afternoon. Little Herm was even taken over by the Nazi’s in WW2 during the German Occupation!
Once you hop on the Trident, you have a stunning view of Guernsey as you pull off out to sea…
There’s plenty a Puffin or Guillemot to be spotted on the ride over which is always fun! As we were heading over to the island for a wedding, the entire party had taken over the Trident and we were treated to a ‘coastal’ tour of the island by our lovely captain, allowing us to point out to the Herm newbies two of the best beaches; Belvoir and Shell Beach.
After our little private tour, the captain turned around to settle us into the Herm harbour to this incredible view where we made our way the short hundred yards or so to the wedding reception at the White House Hotel.
Champagne and canapes on the lawn of The White House was an incredible setting to celebrate our lovely friends tying the knot, where we were also thoroughly blessed with sunshine and a pretty cloudless sky for the entire rest of the day…
As the sun set and just before the party really got started in the marquee, us locals all lolled around drinking in the view and feeling so lucky to have been brought up in such an incredible part of the world.
If this post has whet your appetite (which I hope it has) to visit the delights of unspoilt Herm, then you can find everything you need on Herm.com and also keep up with the local news and any good deals and events happening on the island via their Facebook page.
You can fly to Guernsey on Aurigny airlines or Blue Island from a variety of UK and European airports.
If you’ve ever visited I’d love to hear your thoughts too!
LMNH x
Great photos of the views.