If there’s any downside to travelling as a family is that sometimes I overlook what’s available on our doorstep. I’ll hold my hands up to not being the biggest fan of staycations and I tend to keep days out to within the M25 as a die hard city girl. As part of their #TravelWithCondor campaign Condor Ferries challenged us to think outside the box when it comes to days out and invited us to head to Guernsey for a spontaneous day trip.
So with an early start to our Sunday, we drove down to Poole port ready to board the Condor Liberation – the check in and boarding process was quick and simple and before we knew it we were on board and taking our seats in Ocean Plus at the front of the ship. Say hello to recliner seats, vista views and the ever handy power sockets. Guernsey is less than 3 hours from Poole and is the perfect destination for those seeking a little more from a day trip without venturing as far as the continent. We arrived at the Channel Island, docking at the capital, Saint Peter Port, in time for lunch we headed off to explore the area by foot – the great thing about being a foot passenger is that we were off the boat in moments and making the most of our day trip.
After a delicious lunch at The Catch – which on top of great fresh local seafood has one of the best views of the harbour we went off to look at all the boats and have a general stroll. It’s amazing how the Channel Islands are a special mix of British culture and sentiments of holiday; perfect for a vacation mode top up.
Top tip: if you get the chance to sample Guernsey ice-cream… do it! The Channel Islands are famed for the dairy and I am going to make the bold statement that I had the best rum and raisin ice cream EVER there.
We boarded the Condor Liberation late afternoon and the views where beautiful as we sailed out of port.
On the return sailing back to Poole I took advantage of the genuinely great duty-free, with lots of special offers available on top of the tax free savings. All the facilities onboard are on one deck meaning that we got through dinner and shopping super quick leaving us time for a cheeky nap – call me an old lady but I always sleep so well at sea!
There is no way to see everything Guernsey has to offer in a day, but day tripping with Condor Ferries is affordable and means that now we have the perfect reason to head back, so we can continue our adventures.
So next time someone asks you ‘What did you get up to at the weekend?’ Instead of saying the usual of shopping/heading up to town, don’t settle for the same old next weekend, head to Guernsey…
Disclosure: This is a collaboration with Condor Ferries, a fee was received for my time.
