Getting to the Channel Islands...
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Above: Mont Orgeuil Castle, Jersey
Buy train & ferry tickets to
the Channel Islands
Call 0845 6000 650
Lines open daily 06:00-22:00 |
"Great Britain is our oldest possession" is a long-standing
Channel Islanders' joke... The Channel Islands, lying
a few miles from the coast of France but over 70 miles from
the UK, were part of Normandy when William the Conqueror,
Duke of Normandy, invaded and captured England in 1066.
When the French king later invaded and captured Normandy in
1204, the Islanders chose to stay subject to the Crown of
England. In return for their loyalty, the Islands were
allowed to retain their own government (called the 'States')
and even today they are not legally part of the UK or even
the EU.
The resulting favourable tax laws have made the Channel
Islands a major financial centre and home to many
wealthy Brits. It's also the reason you'll find 'duty-free' goods sold on
the ferry to the Channel Islands, but not
on the ferry to France! The Channel Islands are a
great place to spend a holiday or short break, with sandy
beaches, castles, history, and lots to explore.
There's absolutely no need to fly, it's easy to get there by
train + ferry, a far more civilised &
environmentally-sound way to travel. There are special
combined train + ferry fares available to Jersey or Guernsey
from London or any station in Britain.
On this page...
How to travel from
anywhere in Britain to Guernsey &
Jersey by train + ferry...
Special train+ferry fares from anywhere in
Britain to Jersey or Guernsey...
Ferries between
Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark & Herm...
Buses on Jersey &
Guernsey...
Ferries from
the Channel Islands to France...
Sponsored links:
Option 1: Anywhere in Britain ►
Poole or Weymouth by train ► Guernsey & Jersey
by fast ferry...
Take a train from your local station to Poole or Weymouth on
the south coast.
Condor Ferries operate fast and comfortable catamarans from Weymouth & Poole
to both Jersey (St Helier) & Guernsey (St Peter Port) in
just 2-4 hours, all year round. This is a very relaxed
and comfortable way to travel.
Example timetable from London to the Channel Islands...
Ferry times vary by day of the week and time of year, but on
many days you'll find train & ferry times looking something
like this. Treat this as an example and check actual train & ferry
times for your own specific date:
London ► Guernsey & Jersey:
Take the 12:05 train from London
Waterloo to Poole, then a taxi ride or walk to the ferry
terminal, then a 16:10 fast ferry from Poole arriving St
Peter port (Guernsey) at 18:40 and St Helier ( Jersey) at
19:55. On other dates, you may find a 13:30 or 13:55
fast ferry from Poole rather than a 16:10, so take the
08:35 train from London Waterloo to connect. You
arrive in St Peter port (Guernsey) around 16:30 and St
Helier ( Jersey) around 17:45.
Guernsey & Jersey ► London:
Sail
from Jersey by fast ferry around 11:00 and from Guernsey
around 12:15 (times vary by date), arriving
Poole about 15:10. Take a taxi or walk to Poole station.
A train will get you to London Waterloo by about 18:45,
trains run at least every 30 minutes.
How to check train+ferry times for your own date of
travel...
Start with the ferry. First, check ferry sailing times & dates
between Poole or Weymouth and the Channel Islands at
www.condorferries.co.uk.
Then check train times & fares from London or any
station in Britain to Weymouth or Poole using
www.nationalrail.co.uk. Remember to allow for the one-hour
ferry check-in at the port, plus at least half an hour to get from
the station to the ferry terminal on foot or by taxi.
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Above: The civilised
way to go! Take a modern air-conditioned train
from London or any other station in the UK to Poole,
then the fast ferry to Guernsey or Jersey. |
Fares from anywhere in Britain to the
Channel Islands...
There are
special combined train+ferry fares between any railway station
in Britain and
Jersey or Guernsey via Condor Ferries from Poole or
Weymouth, which usually save
money over buying separate train and ferry tickets.
They allow you to travel by train from your local station to Weymouth
or Poole
on any suitable train service to connect with
your chosen Condor ferry, even at what are normally peak times.
They also allow you to travel the day before the ferry if
necessary, for example to catch a morning sailing.
Special train+ferry fares
to Jersey or Guernsey...
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About these fares...
Children under 16 go for half the adult fare.
Children under 5 travel free.
Your ticket will include a reservation on a specific ferry
sailing,
so work out which sailing you want before calling to book.
The ticket will then be valid on any suitable train to
connect with the ferry you've chosen, via any permitted
route, even if you need to
travel the day before the ferry sails. In Poole these fares also include a
transfer by Arial Taxis between the station & ferry terminal.
Up to 15Kg of luggage travels free on Condor Ferries, you
can take more but in theory they may make an additional charge.
Bicycles are carried free on the ferry, free of for a
small charge on trains.
You can take dogs & other pets on the ferry for £10
one-way, £20 return. For
comparison, a Poole-Jersey foot passenger return for the
ferry alone costs around £114, so these fares usually save
money over buying separate train and ferry tickets.
There's no discount for railcard holders with these special fares
(so in this case separate train and ferry tickets may be cheaper, you'll
just have to work it out...).
Remember, these fares are centre-to-centre, no extra cost getting to
& from airports. |
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To Jersey or Guernsey by train + ferry to or from: |
Normal
one-way
fare... |
5-day
excursion
return... |
1-month
Saver
return... |
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London (or any station in the Greater London
area): |
£92 |
£114 |
£134 |
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Rail station in Hampshire & Dorset: |
£67 |
£97 |
£104 |
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Rail
stations in Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex,
Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Avon, Oxfordshire,
Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire,
Herefordshire, Gwent, Glamorgan |
£92 |
£114 |
£134 |
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Rail
stations in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex,
Kent, Cornwall, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire,
Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, West
Midlands, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire: |
£114 |
£137 |
£157 |
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Rail
stations in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Merseyside,
Greater Manchester, Humberside, Lincolnshire,
Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Powys, Dyfed,
Clwyd, Gwyned: |
£156 |
£177 |
£195 |
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Rail
stations in Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear,
Durham: |
£183 |
£200 |
£218 |
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Any rail
station in Scotland: |
£192 |
£209 |
£228 |
How to buy a
combined train+ferry ticket: Call
0845 6000 650...
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First, use
www.condorferries.co.uk
to work out which ferry sailing you want (and from which
port, Weymouth or Poole), because your ticket needs to
include a reservation on a specific ferry sailing on a
specific date.
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Then buy your
special train+ferry ticket ticket by calling South West
Trains telesales on
0845 6000 650 (lines open
daily 06:00-22:00).
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You can also buy
tickets in person at all main railway stations in Britain,
although don't expect the ticket office staff to be very
familiar with issuing these! You can't buy these
tickets online.
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Your
ticket will be valid on any suitable train, any time of day,
to connect with your chosen ferry. It's even valid for
train travel the day before the ferry sails if this is
necessary to connect (for example, you're coming south from
Scotland and cannot connect with the ferry the same day).
You can
use
www.nationalrail.co.uk to check train connections.
This is
sometimes cheaper than the special through fares, for
example if you have a senior or young persons railcard. First, book the
ferry online using
www.condorferries.co.uk.
This is easy, you book online and print out your booking
reference. When you get to the ferry terminal, you
simply quote your booking reference, there is no ticket
involved. Then buy the train tickets either at your local station
on the day of travel or online via
www.nationalrail.co.uk.
What's it like
on board the fast
ferries Condor Express or Condor Vitesse?
The vessels have plenty of seating, a self-service
cafe-restaurant, a bar and open observations decks from
which to enjoy the sea views both leaving the UK and arriving in
Guernsey and Jersey. You'll be treated to a departure
past all the small boats in Poole Harbour, a call at
St Peter Port in Guernsey, then a trip right along the south-west coast of
Jersey past Corbière lighthouse, St Brelade's Bay and
Portlet Bay, then
an entrance to St Helier Harbour passing right by Elizabeth
Castle. Club Class seats in an exclusive lounge are available for a
supplement, with complimentary tea,
coffee and pastries, and a stewardess service of wine,
spirits, snacks and meals. Condor Ferries' Club Class
is easily the most comfortable and civilised way to reach the Channel
Islands!
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Above: The Condor Express
arriving in St Helier, Jersey... |
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The main seating saloon on
the Condor Express... |
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Stewardess service in the
exclusive Club Class lounge... |
Option 2: Anywhere in Britain ► Portsmouth by
train ► Guernsey & Jersey by ship...
The fast catamarans can occasionally be cancelled if the
weather is very bad, especially in winter. Condor
Ferries operate a daily all-year, all-weather sailing
by conventional ship from Portsmouth to Jersey & Guernsey
taking 9-10 hours.
Portsmouth ► Channel
Islands: The ship sails by day, leaving Portsmouth Continental Ferry
Port at 09:00 and arriving in St Peter Port (Guernsey) at
16:30 & St Helier (Jersey) at 19:30. Private cabins &
reclining seats are available. To catch this ship, you'll
need to leave London Waterloo at 05:00 (Mon-Sat only, check
times at
www.nationalrail.co.uk), or travel down to Portsmouth
the night before.
Channel Islands ►
Portsmouth: The ship sails overnight, leaving Guernsey at
17:30, Jersey at 21:30, arriving Portsmouth at 06:30.
Cabins and reclining seats are available. A train
connection from Portsmouth & Southsea station will get you
to London Waterloo at about 09:30 - you can check times at
www.nationalrail.co.uk.
To double-check
sailing days & times, see
www.condorferries.co.uk.
Then check train times and fares from London or your local
station to Portsmouth using
www.nationalrail.co.uk. Allow for a one-hour
check-in at the port, plus at least half an hour to get from
the station to the ferry terminal by taxi. Bicycles are
carried free on the ferry, dogs and other animals for £10
one way, £20 return.
What's it like
on board
Condor Ferries Commodore Clipper..?
The Commodore
Clipper is designed to carry passengers, cars & freight,
so her passenger accommodation isn't as extensive as on some
ships, but it's clean, very comfortable and well-run.
Cabins are available, and there's a self-service
café-restaurant, a bar with panoramic views, a duty free
shop, and Club class seating available for a supplement.
You'll be treated to a departure from Portsmouth Continental
Ferry port past the Royal Navy frigates and even the odd
aircraft carrier in the naval dockyard, past Nelson's
'Victory' and ironclad HMS Warrior in the dockyard museum, a
call at Guernsey, then a trip along the coast of Jersey from Corbière lighthouse, past St Brelade's Bay, then an entrance
to St Helier Harbour with great views passing right by
Elizabeth Castle.
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The all-weather Commodore Clipper... |
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A cabin on the Commodore Clipper.
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Fares & how to buy tickets...
The same
combined train+ferry fares from any UK station to Guernsey &
Jersey are valid via the Condor Ferries ship from
Portsmouth, see above. You can
buy the special combined train+ferry tickets at all main British railway stations,
by phone from South West Trains on
0845 6000 650 (lines open daily 06:00-22:00). You cannot buy them online. Alternatively,
you can book the ferry
online at
www.condorferries.co.uk,
then buy train tickets to Portsmouth separately, either at
your local station
or online via
www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Jersey -
Guernsey:
www.condorferries.co.uk offer fast ferries between St Helier (Jersey) and
St Peter Port (Guernsey) in about 55 minutes, with day trips possible,
plus a daily sailing by ship.
www.manche-iles-express.com and
www.hdferries.co.uk also offer sailings by fast
ferry.
Jersey - Sark
www.manche-iles-express.com provides occasional sailings
to Sark ('Serq' in French) by fast ferry.
Guernsey - Sark:
The
Isle of Sark Shipping Co provides 1 to 5 sailings daily
between St Peter Port (Guernsey) and Sark, taking 45
minutes. See
www.sarkshipping.guernsey.net.
Guernsey - Alderney
www.manche-iles-express.com provides occasional sailings
to Alderney ('Aurigny' in French) by fast ferry.
There are good
bus services between all major points on Jersey and
Guernsey.
Bus services on Jersey:
www.mybus.je.
Bus services on Guernsey:
www.buses.gg.
Bicycles are also a great way to see the Islands, with
well-marked low-traffic cycle routes across the Islands and
several bike hire agencies available. Jersey is only
10 miles across, so bikes are an easy way to get around.
Jersey & Guernsey ► St Malo
www.condorferries.co.uk
operates fast ferries from Jersey to St Malo.
www.hdferries.co.uk also started running this route in March 2007,
twice daily in summer, 3 times a week in winter, but are
suspended again for winter 2008/9.
Emeraude Lines (www.emeraudelines.com)
also used to run from Jersey to St Malo, but the
company ceased operating in 2006.
For onwards
train connections from St Malo to Paris, see the French
Railways website,
www.voyages-sncf.com (the English button is a UK flag at
bottom left, leave 'France' selected to pick up tickets at
the station in France). You can check fares and book
online at this site.
Jersey & Guernsey ►
Normandy
See
www.itferries.com.
Alderney ► Cherbourg
See
www.manche-iles-express.com for fast ferries from
Jersey/Guernsey to Diélette, Barneville-Carteret and
Granville in Normandy.
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