The best museums Jersey

Some present the site of La Hougue Bie as one of the "most beautiful prehistoric monuments in Europe" and "one of the oldest". It is in fact a very beautiful Neolithic funerary monument, a dolmen with a gallery (about 20 meters) under a tumulus, which dates from 3,800 BC. The mound itself is 13 meters high. It has more than 60 vertically erected stones that support sixteen slabs. Unlike many other dolmens, here you can stand inside and fully experience the atmosphere. In the tomb to which the corridor leads, the remains of six skeletons have been found. On the long mound there are two medieval chapels: on the west side, Notre-Dame-de-la-Clarté, built at the beginning of the 12th century, and on the east side, the chapel of Jerusalem, built around 1520. La Hougue Bie is thus a pagan sanctuary on which, as is often the case, a Christian sanctuary was built. During the Second World War, the Germans built an underground bunker under the mound in which many workers died. Today it is a museum of archaeology and geology as well as a memorial for the victims of the occupation ("The slave worker memorial"). In this museum, the geological formation of the island is explained, and an overview of the history of agriculture in Jersey is presented. An amazing place, witnessing six millennia of the island's history and a must-see during a Channel Islands getaway!

This is an opportunity to get off the beaten track on the island. Because this curious museum proposes to make you discover a private collection of steam locomotives, military and civil vehicles of the time, organs, tractors, agricultural machines and various objects functioning... with air under pressure. A very original set. But you will go there especially for the reconstitution of a station of the Victorian time. For the amateurs essentially.

Opened in 1992, this museum is located in a former warehouse from the 18th century. It has won many awards and traces the island's past, its traditions and its industries. All presented in an interactive and lively way. A family visit and above all a must when you come to Jersey.

On the first floor, you can learn more about the history and geography of Jersey and you can regularly enjoy temporary exhibitions on various themes but often related to the culture of the island.

On the second floor, the political organization of Jersey, its history and its geological formation are explained. Then the showcases present, through a series of objects (from vacuum cleaners to tennis rackets) and wax mannequins, the daily life of Jersey. Also on display are Redcoat and police costumes.

On the second floor, the art gallery gives a glimpse of Jersey's landscapes through the centuries and presents, with the help of some portraits, the island's personalities.

On the third and fourth floors, we are immersed in 9, Pier Road. We then enter the interior of a merchant's house, The Merchant's House Lobby, dating from the Victorian era, around 1860. We discover the difficulties of a family of the time. It's beautiful and very playful and is definitely the highlight of the exhibit. When the evening falls, the lighting is not electric, but gas! Not to be missed.

The Channel Islands Military Museum is a very interesting military museum where British and German military equipment - including a machine to decode secret messages - dating from the Second World War is displayed. A collection composed of hundreds of pieces and which is installed in a large restored German bunker. At the time, it was part of the Atlantic Wall, the defense system designed by Adolf Hitler. A very instructive visit.

Here's a magnificent three-century-old group of rough-hewn stone farm buildings surrounded by meadows. Unlike ordinary farmers who, as they grew richer, destroyed their old houses to build bigger ones, these farmers built their farm buildings side by side. Inside, you can visit this reconstructed past. The buildings include 2 thatched cottages, a distillery, a bakery, a laundry and stables.

The Jersey Maritime Museum is absolutely brilliant. Don't miss it under any circumstances! For once, the public is allowed to touch the exhibits and you can have a great time. It's very playful, very amusing and there are explanations in French. The museum presents absolutely all the facets of the maritime life of the island, without forgetting any: the phenomena of the tides, the currents and the winds; the tools of the marine carpenter; the flora and the fauna; models of boats and one of the rorqual whale, a miniature replica of the one that ran aground on the coasts in 1910, an illustration of the various marine knots, the inevitable sailors' songs and so on. On certain days, you will also be able to see craftsmen making wooden models. Children will also be able to sail model ships in basins where a small fan inflates the sails as the wind would. On the deck of the Orient Star, where there is a giant earth mobile, you will smell the dried fish, gunpowder and heavy steam of the ships of the time and even listen to the song of the whales... Don't hesitate to press all the buttons and open the doors of the small wall cabinets. Here, it is really possible to touch everything! Also not to be missed, just next door is the Occupation Tapestry Gallery with beautiful, richly decorated panels woven for the 50th anniversary of the Liberation.

The transition from the Maritime Museum to this gallery offers a striking contrast! We leave a playful atmosphere to enter a very solemn one. This tapestry originally had 12 panels, made by the 12 parishes of the island on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation, and which told the story of Jersey under the German occupation. A 13th, woven by local artist Wayne Audrain, was added for the 70th anniversary.