Jersey War Tunnels - Fabulous Family Fun #CountryKids

It's been way too long since I have joined up with Fiona over at Coombe Mill for her #CountryKids linky so today I am rectifying that.  At the end of October we took a family holiday to Jersey and it is a wonderful place. I'd be happy to recommend it as somewhere to take the kids and get outside and explore. The island is beautiful and the beaches just divine.

One day we took a short drive from our hotel in the capital St Helier and headed to the Jersey War Tunnels. You might not be aware that during WW11 Jersey was occupied by the Nazi's and the whole island had to bow down to their power. One of the things they did during their time on Jersey was to build a complex web of tunnels into the hillside. These tunnels were used as a hospital and were a safe haven from overhead attack.

Sailing to Jersey with Condor Ferries

Last week my family we're lucky enough to take a fun family break to Jersey and what a great time we had. It was the first time the children had ever travelled on a ferry and the first time my husband and I had as adults. My last ferry ride was when I was about 19 years old and in fact I went to Jersey but it was on one of those overnight booze cruises that were popular with students about 20 years ago. The idea of lots of cheap alcohol was very enticing, I'm glad to say that phase has long passed!

This holiday was about forming memories to last a lifetime and having fun and relaxation together as a family and Jersey was the perfect place to do that. Small enough to travel its length and breadth in one day but built up enough that there is loads to keep you entertained.

10 things you might not know about Jersey

1. The beaches are beautiful. There is such variety – some really long and wide white sand beaches, others with rocks that are great for rock pooling and awesome waves for surfing too.

2. The Island is only 5 miles long by 9 miles wide and thus you can easily travel around and see all of it. Even a short stay of 3 days like ours is enough to feel you have had a good look around.

3. Then because it is so small it means you don’t really need to bring your car. Hire cars are plentiful here and there are loads of coach tours to take you to see various parts of the Island. These all stop at the major hotels in St Helier too for easy pick-up and drop-off.

4. Jersey was occupied by the Nazis during WWII and there is so much history here to explore. The war tunnels are brilliant; a real eye opener to what life was like for those living in occupied Jersey.

5. Petrol is much cheaper here. Our VAT is 20% whilst Jersey’s tax is just 5%, so if you bring your car, make sure you fill up before you go home.

6. Generally it is cheaper to buy things here, you can get perfume and alcohol at duty-free prices and some shops will offer a discount for buying in Jersey. For example we shopped at the Entertainer toy store and they offer 10% discount on everything sold. Food however, seems to be more expensive and is sold at 5% more than it is in the UK.

Liberation Square in St Helier

7. Jersey celebrates its Liberation Day on 9th May and there are island wide celebrations on this public holiday. I’m told this is a really nice time to visit as you can join in the festivities and have a lot of fun. Being as it is May the weather is generally warm and beautiful too.

8. As it is a British Isle, much is the same as home. You drive on the left side of the road, the currency is Stirling but also there is the Jersey pound that cannot be spent back home. Everyone we met spoke English and most speak French too. The shopping centre is very British and you will find brands like Next, M&S, Goldsmiths and WH Smiths.

9. Despite it being a British Isle some things are different - the healthcare system is a private one, so take out insurance. Your British phone plan for data will not work here, you will need to purchase data roaming and calls and texts back home are more expensive and won't form part of your inclusive plan. The postal service is also independent and you need to purchase Jersey stamps if you want to write home.

10. St Helier (the capital) appears to take a lot of pride in the way it looks and you can spend a nice day there without really spending that much money. There are loads of statues and monuments to look at, there is an interesting historic walking trail around Fort Regent, the views are also pretty spectacular from there too and the harbour is beautiful and recently redeveloped.

We had a really nice break in Jersey earlier this week and I would happily return there another time. I think it would be great to visit in summer as although it might be busier, the weather and the deep green/blue seas will be enough to make up for the people.

If you want to find out more about Jersey and what is there then visit the tourist board site - http://www.jersey.com/ and for super transport from the UK it is worth looking at Condor Ferries. I can also recommend the Mayfair Hotel where we stayed too.

We had a great holiday in Jersey but it never seems to stop, now the kids are talking about how wonderful it would be to go to Lapland for Christmas, so I headed over to Kates to check out her Lapland holiday review.

Disclosure: We were provided with ferry crossings and 3 nights B&B for our family. A massive big thank you to Condor Ferries, Jersey.com and the Mayfair Hotel for ensuring we had a lovely time. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

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Holidaying in Jersey with the Family

Image Credit

October is going to be a very busy month for me, it starts with JJ's eleventh birthday and we are taking him and a friend away for a weekend, just some good old fashioned fun at a holiday park in Camber Sands.

Then mid-month of course I head off to America on my own for a whirlwind trip to Washington D.C to attend the ONE AYA Summit where I expect to be inspired and amazed.

Practically as soon as I return to the UK I'll then be Jersey bound in half-term with all my family. We first drive down to Weymouth and stay overnight there to be ready for an early morning ferry crossing with Condor Ferries. It has been years since I've been on a ferry, I think perhaps the last one was back in the early 1990's when I went to Jersey for a day trip with some uni mates. That trip was pretty different to this one though as our main aim was to buy duty free and drink a lot of alcohol.

The kids don't know we are taking this trip yet and I'm sure they will be excited to find out they will be travelling Club Class on this huge ferry. I can imagine it will all be very exciting - from driving the car onto the ferry, to finding our seats, to being on the viewing deck and watching the ferry pull away and just generally enjoying the four hour journey.

I suspect the girls will seek out the special children's area where they can watch films and dress up in Condor uniforms and I bet JJ will badger me to buy him one of the activity packs that has a chance of a golden ticket inside and with it a trip to meet the captain. Dh and I will probably just be happy for a nice relax in the private club class area; the seats recline, there are large tables for us to play games with the kids (we can even hire board games on the ferry) and there is complimentary tea, coffee and muffins. It all sounds good to me.

Then once we are in Jersey we have a short drive from the port to the Mayfair Hotel for our three night stay there. It looks like a great base, we have well equipped inter-connecting rooms and I see there is small pool, I suspect the children will pester me into that each day as well as a trip to the free soft play at the sister hotel. It was reassuring to see the Mayfair Hotel has won a TripAdvisor award of excellence in 2013 too.

The Jersey tourist board found our accommodation for us and I have been having a good look through their site checking out some of the attractions we should go and visit during our short stay on the island. There are many things I like the look of - Mont Orgeil Castle, walking the lush north coast, duty free shopping in St Helier and a cruise around the bay, but it is hard to know what it best to fit into our short stay so I asked some fellow bloggers for their recommendations and this is what they suggested -

Donna at Mummy Central lived in Jersey for three years so she knows the place pretty well and has suggested St Brelade's Bay, the Durrell Zoo and the Amazing Maize.

Amanda at the Ana Mum Diary has said she really enjoyed the Jersey War Tunnels when she visited three years ago and it does look interesting, I know JJ would love it, he is very into learning about the 2nd world war.

Being Mrs C didn't specifically recommend a particular place for me to visit but did point me to a post about her visit to Jersey back in 2008 and said it was a wonderful break.

Globalmouse Travels has a whole host of posts about the channel islands on her blog and I've had lots of fun reading through and discovering some great finds.

My friend Anya visited Jersey  in the summer and she travelled with Condor Ferries too. She was visiting friends on the Island and had also previously lived there for a bit so her post is a great insight to both Condor Ferries and to Jersey as a tourist destination.

It's only about a month until we take this trip now and I pray this beautiful weather continues so we can go on the beaches and really get to explore Jersey. It feels amazing to be going somewhere further afield but be able to take our car and not have the expense of buying the kids passports. Check back in early November to find out what we thought of our holiday in Jersey.


Disclosure: We are being offered complimentary ferry crossings and 3 nights B&B at the Mayfair hotel for the purpose of reviewing both. We have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.
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