Initially I thought St. Helier was going to be of village size. Deeper into my research I realised it was bigger, and when arriving in the dark, in a taxi passing through downtown to my hotel, I realised it was quite big. Most is centred around the pedestrian main streets of Queen Street and King Street, the former turning into the latter, but venturing out into the side streets will also have a few things to offer. You’ll stumble across the fish market and the Central Market, Liberation Square and Royal Square. You’ll spot Fort Regent up on the hill, and if you’re visiting in October, you can be a Jersey Rally spectator. I randomly happened upon the car racing event, when I was enjoying the very best the Jersey capital has to offer, the sea bed walk out to Elizabeth Castle, and Elizabeth Marina. Walking the rim of adjecent Victoria pool, a large tidal pool, which at high tide becomes totally submerged, was also kind of cool. The 5 km beach / promenade taking you all the way to St. Aubin located on the other side of the bay, looked nice too. Plan was to do parts of it, but I just wasn’t up for it. The whole trip I felt under the weather. That may be why I wasn’t too excited about this place. Or maybe it just wasn’t that exciting to begin with 😀 When the restaurants close at 2 pm, everything quiets down, which can both be nice and boring 🙂 I didn’t find it to be the tax-free shopping haven I have heard it is, not many good deals. Could be due to the world economy. Still, I couldn’t do what I do when I am bored on travels, shop.
Had I been the regular me, I would have gone out of town, for a cliff walk or something. I spotted the beach at St. Ouen’s Bay, and La Corbière Lighthouse, as we flew out, and it might have been a fun excursion. You can tour the island by local bus. Cheap and efficient. But there are no villages “as you define villages” as the tourist information office lady put it.
Looking for a local SIM card? Before arriving I had found out JT was a option, and that there would be a store on Queen Street. Sure enough. Ran into it a few shops down from the intersection with La Motte Street. Was quite busy, so had to wait a while. But when it was my turn, I got all the help I needed to set things up. Pay-As-You-Go SIM card including 5 GB data for 5 pounds. Works on Guernsey as well.
Restaurant tips The taxi driver recommended Bistro Rosa at the fish market. Looked very nice, but things never aligned for me to give it a go. Unfortunately. He also said a Portuguese restaurant across from Premier Inn, had the best bolo do caco on the island, but I couldn’t find it. Nude, below, was suggested online. Clean eating. My salad wasn’t all that. They were closing, so just had a few items left to choose from. Cock & Bottle, right, was cozy, but the coq au vin pie was bland.
