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Guide to the island of Herm
For the ultimate in peace and tranquillity, head for Herm, a mere 20 minutes by ferry from the easily accessible Channel Island of Guernsey.
Why jet around the world in search of a remote island retreat when you have the beautiful island of Herm so close to home? If all you want to do is relax on a white, sandy beach and swim in unpolluted, crystal clear waters or take a gentle stroll around the island, Herm ticks all the boxes! Often described as ‘the jewel in the Channel Islands’ crown’, Herm offers exclusivity, yet within the budget of the average tourist in search of a quiet, stress-free break.
LOCATION & SIZE:
The smallest of the main Channel Islands, Herm lies approximately 4.8 km (3 miles) northeast of St Peter Port, Guernsey. The island is approximately 2.5 km (1½ miles) long (excluding the rock protrusions around the island) and 1 km (¾ mile) wide. The island covers a total area of 2 square kilometres (0.77 square miles).
TRAVELLING TO HERM:
The main link to Herm is by boat from St Peter Port, Guernsey. Most UK airports have direct flights to Guernsey. Several ferries also operate between the UK and Guernsey. The Herm Trident catamaran operates a regular service between St Peter Port and Herm, with hourly departures in high season.
GETTING AROUND:
Cars and bicycles are banned on Herm, but the island is so small that getting around on foot is no problem.
CLIMATE:
As with the other Channel Islands, Herm has a temperate climate with warm summers and milder winters than in the UK.
CURRENCY:
Pound Sterling (GBP); Herm is a dependency of the States of Guernsey which also issues its own coins and Guernsey notes.
EMERGENCY COVER:
There are no resident doctors, police or fire-fighters on Herm, although procedures are in place to deal with emergencies.
LANDSCAPE:
The northern part of the island has sandy beaches; the southern part is rocky. Nature conservation on Herm strikes a happy balance between the demands of visitors who want to enjoy the island’s natural attractions and the rigours of running a modern-day farm. Large areas of the island, including the scrubland around the farm and a sand dune, have been deliberately left wild.
NATURAL HABITAT:
Thanks to the equable climate, Herm is awash with colourful wild flowers for most months of the year: Royal Fern (peculiar to Herm), horned poppies, sea kale, wild iris, and white campions growing between the boulders that mark field boundaries; this small island also supports an impressive array of sub-tropical plants including New Zealand flax, Japanese cactus and palm trees.
ACCOMMODATION:
Although choice may be somewhat limited, tourists are well catered for on the island with a range of quality accommodation. The 85-bed White House Hotel, overlooking the harbour and sandy beach has a fine reputation for its attentive service and facilities including swimming pool, tennis court and croquet lawn. Self-catering accommodation is also available in converted farm buildings. Herm has two campsites.
EATING & DRINKING:
Try the White House Hotel’s award-winning Conservatory Restaurant with sunset views and speciality fish and seafood menu featuring locally produced oysters; the popular Ship Restaurant serves breakfasts, afternoon cream teas, hearty pub grub as well as excellent à-la-carte menu. The Mermaid is set around a courtyard with a snack-bar, barbecue and restaurant with an extensive menu including steak, oysters, lobster and crab; Herm also boasts two superb beach cafés at Shell Beach and Belvoir Bay.
ENTERAINMENT:
Apart from the White House, the Ship and the Mermaid, entertainment on Herm is of the self-made variety, but this, after all, is one of the island’s main attractions!
MUST SEE & DO IN HERM
WALKING:
Herm is a walkers’ paradise. It may be small, but it is totally unspoilt with no ‘blots on the landscape’ to mar its natural beauty. The best way to explore the island is on foot; it only takes a couple of hours to walk round this tiny island.
HERM HARBOUR:
The small harbour is located in a picture-postcard setting, with pastel coloured cottages, a couple of tasteful craft and gift shops, the welcoming Ship Inn and, on the outskirts, the Mermaid Tavern, with its café restaurant and small general store selling essential provisions.
BIRD WATCHING:
Ornithologists flock to Herm; the island is a feeding ground for birds of passage, during summer and autumn migrations. Resident and visiting birdlife includes Brent geese, guillemots, razorbills, shags, ravens and occasionally puffins (between March and June) on the ‘Humps’, four small islands off the south coast, 2 nautical miles from Herm.
BEACHCOMBING:
Herm offers an amazing variety of around 200 different sea shells and shell fragments washed onto the beach by the Gulf Stream tides; sift through the stunning white sands of Shell Beach for souvenirs with a difference.
ST TUGUAL'S CHAPEL:
Dedicated to the memory of a Welsh woman called Tugual who accompanied St Magloire to Guernsey and Herm in the sixth century, the chapel with its fine stained glass window was restored by the Wood family.
For more information about Herm, visit the island’s website at:
DID YOU KNOW THAT …
Over the years the charismatic island of Herm has attracted artists, writers and free-thinkers, as well as a number of celebrities to its shores.
In the summer, particularly at weekends, Herm plays host to as many as 2,000 day-trippers, arriving by ferry from Guernsey.
In 1946, the island was bought by the States of Guernsey; from that date onwards Herm has been leased to a single tenant, on condition that the general public has access to its foreshore and other main parts of the island.
Apart from an embargo on motor vehicles and bicycles, Herm also vetoes ghetto-blasters and transistor radios on the beach and only allows you to wash your clothes between midnight and midday.
Way back in the sixteenth century, Guernsey’s gentry used Herm as a game reserve.
After tourism, oyster farming is the island’s second most important growth industry.
Why jet around the world in search of a remote island retreat when you have the beautiful island of Herm so close to home? If all you want to do is relax on a white, sandy beach and swim in unpolluted, crystal clear waters or take a gentle stroll around the island, Herm ticks all the boxes! Often described as ‘the jewel in the Channel Islands’ crown’, Herm offers exclusivity, yet within the budget of the average tourist in search of a quiet, stress-free break.
LOCATION & SIZE:
The smallest of the main Channel Islands, Herm lies approximately 4.8 km (3 miles) northeast of St Peter Port, Guernsey. The island is approximately 2.5 km (1½ miles) long (excluding the rock protrusions around the island) and 1 km (¾ mile) wide. The island covers a total area of 2 square kilometres (0.77 square miles).
TRAVELLING TO HERM:
The main link to Herm is by boat from St Peter Port, Guernsey. Most UK airports have direct flights to Guernsey. Several ferries also operate between the UK and Guernsey. The Herm Trident catamaran operates a regular service between St Peter Port and Herm, with hourly departures in high season.
GETTING AROUND:
Cars and bicycles are banned on Herm, but the island is so small that getting around on foot is no problem.
CLIMATE:
As with the other Channel Islands, Herm has a temperate climate with warm summers and milder winters than in the UK.
CURRENCY:
Pound Sterling (GBP); Herm is a dependency of the States of Guernsey which also issues its own coins and Guernsey notes.
EMERGENCY COVER:
There are no resident doctors, police or fire-fighters on Herm, although procedures are in place to deal with emergencies.
LANDSCAPE:
The northern part of the island has sandy beaches; the southern part is rocky. Nature conservation on Herm strikes a happy balance between the demands of visitors who want to enjoy the island’s natural attractions and the rigours of running a modern-day farm. Large areas of the island, including the scrubland around the farm and a sand dune, have been deliberately left wild.
NATURAL HABITAT:
Thanks to the equable climate, Herm is awash with colourful wild flowers for most months of the year: Royal Fern (peculiar to Herm), horned poppies, sea kale, wild iris, and white campions growing between the boulders that mark field boundaries; this small island also supports an impressive array of sub-tropical plants including New Zealand flax, Japanese cactus and palm trees.
ACCOMMODATION:
Although choice may be somewhat limited, tourists are well catered for on the island with a range of quality accommodation. The 85-bed White House Hotel, overlooking the harbour and sandy beach has a fine reputation for its attentive service and facilities including swimming pool, tennis court and croquet lawn. Self-catering accommodation is also available in converted farm buildings. Herm has two campsites.
EATING & DRINKING:
Try the White House Hotel’s award-winning Conservatory Restaurant with sunset views and speciality fish and seafood menu featuring locally produced oysters; the popular Ship Restaurant serves breakfasts, afternoon cream teas, hearty pub grub as well as excellent à-la-carte menu. The Mermaid is set around a courtyard with a snack-bar, barbecue and restaurant with an extensive menu including steak, oysters, lobster and crab; Herm also boasts two superb beach cafés at Shell Beach and Belvoir Bay.
ENTERAINMENT:
Apart from the White House, the Ship and the Mermaid, entertainment on Herm is of the self-made variety, but this, after all, is one of the island’s main attractions!
MUST SEE & DO IN HERM
WALKING:
Herm is a walkers’ paradise. It may be small, but it is totally unspoilt with no ‘blots on the landscape’ to mar its natural beauty. The best way to explore the island is on foot; it only takes a couple of hours to walk round this tiny island.
HERM HARBOUR:
The small harbour is located in a picture-postcard setting, with pastel coloured cottages, a couple of tasteful craft and gift shops, the welcoming Ship Inn and, on the outskirts, the Mermaid Tavern, with its café restaurant and small general store selling essential provisions.
BIRD WATCHING:
Ornithologists flock to Herm; the island is a feeding ground for birds of passage, during summer and autumn migrations. Resident and visiting birdlife includes Brent geese, guillemots, razorbills, shags, ravens and occasionally puffins (between March and June) on the ‘Humps’, four small islands off the south coast, 2 nautical miles from Herm.
BEACHCOMBING:
Herm offers an amazing variety of around 200 different sea shells and shell fragments washed onto the beach by the Gulf Stream tides; sift through the stunning white sands of Shell Beach for souvenirs with a difference.
ST TUGUAL'S CHAPEL:
Dedicated to the memory of a Welsh woman called Tugual who accompanied St Magloire to Guernsey and Herm in the sixth century, the chapel with its fine stained glass window was restored by the Wood family.
For more information about Herm, visit the island’s website at:
DID YOU KNOW THAT …
Over the years the charismatic island of Herm has attracted artists, writers and free-thinkers, as well as a number of celebrities to its shores.
In the summer, particularly at weekends, Herm plays host to as many as 2,000 day-trippers, arriving by ferry from Guernsey.
In 1946, the island was bought by the States of Guernsey; from that date onwards Herm has been leased to a single tenant, on condition that the general public has access to its foreshore and other main parts of the island.
Apart from an embargo on motor vehicles and bicycles, Herm also vetoes ghetto-blasters and transistor radios on the beach and only allows you to wash your clothes between midnight and midday.
Way back in the sixteenth century, Guernsey’s gentry used Herm as a game reserve.
After tourism, oyster farming is the island’s second most important growth industry.
