Tours of Guernsey

10/09/2024

Following on from yesterday's post, last Saturday 7th September, I had a private tour for two very nice guests visiting Guernsey for the first time. The lady was very impressed as the vehicle I was using was called "Penelope" or "Penny" which was her name!!! The guests absolutely loved the tour, and could not believe how quick the 4 hours went by. With family over from the UK, in the evening we had a meal Village East Restaurant. The food and service was excellent.

On Sunday I had a large group of guests visiting from the UK for a full day tour. Whilst the weather was not great at the start of the morning, things did improve throughout the day. As lunch was at leisure, the group leader and I ate at Anni's Hideaway at Moores Hotel, I had the local picked crab ciabatta, which was fantastic. During the afternoon we had a "coffee stop" Guernsey Pearl Cafe where some guests tried the local gache. Most of the guests had not visited Guernsey previously, they thought our island was beautiful and thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Some great questions for me on route, and great feedback when dropping the guests back to their hotel

09/09/2024

An extremely busy last few days, with tours everyday from Thursday to Sunday inclusive!!! On Thursday I led a Town Walk & Castle Cornet tour for a group from the visiting cruise ship Hebridean Sky. Unfortunately the weather did not co-operate, and it was a particularly wet tour, however the guests were very hardy and appropriately dressed for the occasion, so everyone was happy. Whilst we were in Castle Cornet, I did manage to take a photo of the other ship in port, Regent Seven Seas Cruises Navigator. After the tour, I joined family over from the UK for lunch. On their list was to have the excellent seafood platter at La Barbarie Hotel Guernsey which I highly recommend.

On Friday I had a group of Canadian's arriving for the day from Jersey. It was just a short trip due to the ferry timetable, however we did manage a very nice coach tour with visits to the Little Chapel and Pleinmont Gun Batterie. A quick stop off at Guernsey Pearl Cafe for lunch, then back into town for a short walk through the cobbled streets. Of course we walked past the one time home of Sir Isaac Brock, and also viewed his portrait on the mural. Some cheeky from Nelio's special, a bit of a bulk purchase as we had 25 in the group, was enjoyed by all.

05/09/2024

Last Saturday morning I was out with the Festung Guernsey at L'Ancresse, continuing with digging out the room below the main gun room. Many hands make light work!!! We had 3 guys in the room itself, picking up stones, and shovelling the sand into buckets. Another volunteer then taking these buckets and passing them through the embrasure to another 5 or so volunteers that were then sieving all the contents to make sure that we take out all the glass, paper and other contents before returning the clean sand and pebbles onto the beach. Other volunteers on site were collecting wood to be taken to another location. Unfortunately Ben's tan is not a real tan, more a dirt tan from digging out this room!!!

There is still a great deal of work before that room is clear, however with so many enthusiastic volunteers on site, we did achieve a lot last Saturday.

03/09/2024

Another busy weekend just past. On Saturday morning I was back out with the Festung Guernsey at L'Ancresse East. I will share some photo's and info in a separate post.

On Sunday morning (1st September), we SOLD OUT well ahead of our last scheduled tour of Batterie Mirus, we therefore cleared the diaries to offer a second tour the same day, which almost sold out. Fantastic support from everyone who attended, with great feedback not only on the day, but also in reviews and emails. I am extremely grateful to all guests who take the time to write and post reviews of their tours. My thanks as always to Pierre Renier for his assistance and expertise on the day.

September is scheduled to be our last month in 2024 for public tours, with our last 3 tours being part of the Autumn Walking Festival. If you wish to join us, please book as soon as possible, as we have almost sold out of one of our tours, and have added a second tour time, which is not always possible.

Fort Hommet - Sunday 15th September at 10:15am
Batterie Scharnhorst - Sunday 22nd September at 10:15am and midday
German Underground Hospital - Sunday 29th September at 10:30am

This will be the last opportunity for 2024 to join us for a public tour to these sites, you don't want to miss out!!!

30/08/2024

Why would I want to live anywhere else!!! On Wednesday I had a "me" day. In the morning I had a much needed appointment with Lucy from Tips & Toes Guernsey. For various reasons, it was 6 weeks since my last appointment and I don't think I could have coped with nails this length for any longer. Lucy's work is fantastic, guests are always commenting on how wonderful my nails look, and it also feels like a "therapy session" as we have a great chat in the process.

As Lucy's salon is a short distance from home, I took a nice leisurely walk through the country lanes there and back. Of course on route walking past the Royal Guernsey Goats from Golden Guernsey Goats Cheese to see the beautiful goats which produce the most amazing cheese which can be purchased from the country shop on site. In the evening, I played social tennis at La Mare Tennis Guernsey. Great turnout, mixing in with different players it was a very enjoyable evening, and a beautiful sunset on the way home.

This is how life should be!!!

29/08/2024

Last Friday 23rd August, I had an amazing meal at Pier 17 Restaurant with my "Guide" friends. This is one of my favourite restaurants, which I highly recommend to my guests (a few of which also ate there last week). I chose of course my favourites, the prawn and calamari to start, followed by the famous Seamus scallops for main course, with a side of champ and courgettes. Absolutely delicious.

On Tuesday 27th, I assisted at the German Occupation Museum in the morning, and then had a private vehicle tour for two lovely ladies on holiday, one of whom is considering moving over to Guernsey. I usually visit the Little Chapel in the morning, however as our tour was an afternoon tour, it allowed us to see the sunshine through the beautiful stain glass windows reflecting on the floor.

28/08/2024

Just catching up today on some admin, as it has been very busy recently. Last Wednesday I had a private vehicle tour and on Friday a private walking tour for a lady from Australia, who was wonderful company. On the way to Castle Cornet, we of course had to stop off for some Guernsey ice-cream from Fishy Tales Kiosk & Cafe which was delicious and I highly recommend. On the Thursday, I had organised for this lady to visit Sark independently for the day, which also included a thoroughly enjoyable horse and carriage ride with Sark Carriages.

On Thursday I had another private tour for some guests staying on island, which included an exclusive visit to Batterie Mirus. On Saturday I joined the Occupation Society for a ramble around Little Sark, it was a great day out, and I highly recommend hiring an electric bike when you are visiting Sark (if you have not booked a horse and carriage ride). On Sunday Tours of Guernsey had two private tours from the visiting cruise ship, later in the afternoon I led a SELL OUT tour of the German Underground Hospital.

23/08/2024

To my overseas followers (or locals going overseas soon), can you help Guernsey Museums with their upcoming display? Please see their full post for details.

CAN YOU HELP? 💷🗽🗻🗿📷

On 3rd October Guernsey Museum, in collaboration with the States Treasury Department, will be unveiling its latest Foyer display –

“BAILIWICK BANKNOTES : The History and Evolution of States of Guernsey Banknotes”.

We recognise that our banknotes are part of our island’s identity. To showcase this, we want to include photographs of our paper money in different places around the world as part of the display.

🌎 Whether that be pinned up in a bar in Bali, posing for a portrait in Peru, or in front of a monument in Montreal. The world’s your Ormer!

If you have a photo like this already, are going on holiday and fancy taking a pic with a pound, or know someone abroad that can take a photo with a Guernsey note for you, we’d love to share it.

📱 Email your image to [email protected] with a name and location.

The best images will be included in the display captioned with the location and the photographer’s name.

Please share this with friends and family. Many thanks and happy snapping!

20/08/2024

What a fantastic turn out last Saturday afternoon for the Festung Guernsey open day at Pembroke. Many familiar faces from my tours which was great to see. All the appreciate the support, great feedback and donations that were made. 🙏🙏



VisitGuernsey

19/08/2024

Wow what a busy weekend I had. On Saturday morning I was helping the Festung Guernsey with a visit to Fort Hommet from a group of around 100+ scouts/clubs!!!! After this finished, it was straight down to Pembroke for the Festung Guernsey open afternoon of the bunkers in this area. We had great support from both locals and visitors, potentially 400-450 people attended this event. Photos to follow of these events.

On Sunday morning, we had our popular new tour of Fort Hommet which included opening the two private Festung Guernsey bunkers on the headland (M19 and personnel bunker). An amazing turn out with some great questions for both myself and Pierre Renier. It was fantastic to see some familiar faces as well, with guests who had also joined us on previous tours at other locations. My thanks as always to Pierre for assisting on this tour as our WW2 expert.

If you wish to join us on a tour of Fort Hommet, we only now have one more date in 2024, Sunday 15th September. This tour is included in the Autumn Walking Festival, and with already 30% of the tickets sold, I am sure it will sell out. If you wish to join us on this or any other public tour, please book online via www.toursofguernsey.com/booking-page.

16/08/2024

Yesterday afternoon (Thursday 16th) I decided in my "me" time to go out for a walk around the lanes close to my house. Of course I had to go passed the Royal Golden Guernsey goat farm to see the goats. There were a range of ages of goats in the field, the younger ones were grazing in the field, whilst some of the nanny goats were up on the rocks. Can you see them all? There were seven on the rocks!!!



VisitGuernsey Golden Guernsey Goats Cheese

15/08/2024

Catching up on some admin and marketing this week, however have also allowed myself some "down time"!!! On Monday I met up with a good friend for lunch at Muse Café & Deli where I had my usual jacket potato and prawns which was very nice indeed. The weather was great, almost too hot to sit outside!!! Unfortunately the clouds came over when later in the afternoon I walked down to the marina to see the yachts who were visiting ahead of the small ships race from Guernsey to Poole. There was another Royal visit for this, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh in her capacity of patron of the Association of Sail Training Organisations flew in to meet the various crews (sorry not photos of this!!!).

On Wednesday 14th it was great to see Regent Seven Seas Cruises Mariner in waters. We have another Regent Seven Seas Cruises ship, the Splendor due to visit this Saturday 17th August.

12/08/2024

Unfortunately not as busy a weekend as I had hoped (but will explain a bit later). Saturday morning (10th August) I was back with the Festung Guernsey at L'Ancresse East continuing with the clear out of the lower spent shell room. As we had quite a few of us on site, we formed a human chain from the room, up the rung ladder, into the shell room and out onto the headland where everything was sieved and separated. It was hard work, and extremely dusty for those who volunteered to go down into the lower room. However we did have a nice surprise towards the end of the morning, the original shield for the counterweight was found under a great deal of rubble. It was not easy to lift this through the shaft, however success, and the guys manoeuvred this into its original place. Who knows what else we will find!!!!

I was due to be providing a 6 hour private tour for guests arriving from the Regent Seven Seas Splendor yesterday (Sunday 11th August). Unfortunately I received notification from the guests on Saturday morning that the ship was arriving very late into Honfleur, and due to forecasts for winds in Guernsey for Sunday, the Captain had taken the decision to stay in Honfleur for an extra day. The guests were very disappointed, as they had booked their tour with me over 9 months ago, and we had finalised a very bespoke tour for them. Unfortunately weather is out of everyone's control, however hopefully they will make it to Guernsey at some point in the future.

11/08/2024

Clear blue waters, looks like the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, beautiful why would you want to go anywhere else!!!

08/08/2024

Catching up on administration including a sudden influx of quotes and bookings this week after an extremely busy week of tours last week. We had back to back to back to back private vehicle tours, over four consecutive days from from Wednesday to Saturday last week, with our popular Batterie Mirus public tour to finish the week on Sunday. A great range of guests from different parts of the world, some staying in on island hotels for a few days, and some visiting on a day trips. The feedback has been fantastic, it is great to hear the guests stories and why they have chosen to visit Guernsey.

Sorry not many photo's to share, but a scenic shot together with photo's of our famous Guernsey and our now "Royal" Golden Guernsey .

06/08/2024

Wow, what a fantastic sell out tour we had to Batterie Mirus last Sunday morning. With many of the guests visiting the island, everyone was amazed by the size of the emplacement and gun bowl. Some great feedback on the fantastic work that is being undertaken by Festung Guernsey. My thanks to Ben for his assistance, and providing additional WW2 knowledge/expertise.

We now only have one more scheduled public tour date (1st September) for tours to Batterie Mirus in 2024. Already nearly 1/3rd of the tickets have sold, you definitely will not want to miss out on this unique opportunity. To book, please visit www.toursofguernsey.com.

01/08/2024

The German Occupation Museum houses the most amazing private collection of WW2/Occupation artefacts, and is an absolute must visit attraction in Guernsey. Almost a second home for me, as I provide guided tours inside this location many times every week. My private guests are absolutely amazed by the collection and love this museum, it is difficult to keep on time as many would like to spend all morning inside.

When visiting, please arrive early as you will need at least 1 hour or more inside. For you need to allow at least 2 hours!!! It may look small from the outside, however it is a Tardis inside. Opening hours are 10am to 1pm, with last entry at 12:15pm.

Richard Heaume has been dedicated to preserving the history of our Islands’ WWII occupation for over 75 years. A recognisable figure within the history of Guernsey amongst locals and tourists alike, his passion for ensuring the memory of wartime islanders is honoured as a worthy cause.

30/07/2024

What a mixture of tours last week keeping me busy. On Sunday (21st) afternoon and Monday (22nd) morning I had private tours to Batterie Mirus for locals who also had guests visiting them from overseas. Last Tuesday was back to back tours for guests from the visiting cruise ship Borealis Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. The guests were wonderful, and feedback was fantastic, I am sure that many of them will return to in the future.

On Friday I had a wonderful private tour for a lovely mother and daughter visiting from the US. They already had knowledge of WW2, and were very interested in different locations we included within their customised tour. On Saturday Tours of Guernsey had two tours for private guests visiting from Crystal Cruise Line Crystal Symphony. My tours took in many stunning views around the island, plus a leisurely lunch for the guests at La Reunion Guernsey, they very much enjoyed the fresh seafood!!! Tim's Guided Walks - Tim Osborne very kindly led the other private tour as the guests wished to have a WW2 expert as their guide, visiting many different attractions.

We have a variety of different tours available for both locals and visitors, plus we can customise itineraries to ensure guests visit the locations they wish to see, at their own pace. Please contact us for more information.

29/07/2024

Wow, what an amazing busy day we had yesterday with our tours at Batterie Scharnhorst. With such great support, we had 3 back to back to back tours, the first 2 selling out, and the last one almost selling out. The weather was perfect, wall to wall sunshine all day!!! My thanks to Pierre Renier for his assistance on the day with all 3 tours.

We only offer tours to Batterie Scharnhorst on two dates per year, our only other tour date for 2024 is Sunday 22nd September, with our 10:15am tour already selling well with only 8 spaces now available. If you wish to join us for this exclusive tour, please book now as you do not want to miss out. Batterie Scharnhorst is situated on private land, with two gun emplacements and associated buildings being maintained by Festung Guernsey.

23/07/2024

Last Saturday I was helping out the Festung Guernsey with our open afternoon at Batterie Mirus. I was on car park duty with some of my guide friends and it was fantastic to see so many people supporting the great work that is carried out. Towards the end of the afternoon the "heavens opened" and the rain poured down. Luckily I made it to my car to cover for shelter!!!!

Last Sunday we had another one of our monthly small group public tours to Fort Hommet, which includes exclusive access to the private Festung Guernsey bunkers and also the restored casemate bunker on the headland. Some visitors who had joined tours last year were back visiting Guernsey again and joined this new tour, which was wonderful. My thanks as always to Pierre Renier for all his help on the day.

This coming Sunday, 28th July, we have one of only two opportunities this year to join a small group tour to Batterie Scharnhorst. To book, please visit www.toursofguernsey.com, you will not want to miss out on this.

22/07/2024

A first for me last week. On Thursday I was out on a private tour with some guests visiting Batterie Dollman, and what do we see??? Only the Trinity House helicopter on the helipad of the Hanois lighthouse!!! This is the first time I have ever seen the helicopter on the helipad and for it to take off. Sorry for the photos, only my zoom on the phone is not great, but I can assure you it was there.

On Friday I had a day off from touring, so after completing some admin tasks, I decided to walk to St Peter's village through the lanes to buy some "bits and pieces". How lucky am I to live on such a beautiful island, and in a great location where you can walk through stunning country lanes. Following the visit by King Charles last week, our Golden Guernsey Goats were granted a Royal title and are now known as Royal Golden Guernsey Goats. It is the first time in recent history that the protected title has been granted to a livestock breed. Royal titles are granted sparingly, on the advice of the Cabinet Office with strict standards applied, therefore this is an honour for our iconic native breed.



Golden Guernsey Goats Cheese VisitGuernsey Duke of Normandie Hotel