Travel Guide Herm

The island of Herm is as popular a vacation destination with visitors as it is with the inhabitants of the neighbouring islands. Every day, numerous speedboats link it to Saint-Peter-Port, the capital of Guernsey. When you disembark here, you find yourself on the shores of another world, one with a Mediterranean flavour, a world that lives away from the industry and urbanization of the archipelago's larger islands, Jersey and Guernsey.The island is small, and each of its 60 registered inhabitants looks after it with passion, as they would their own home. It's thanks to the hard work of this handful of inhabitants that the island was awarded the "Britain in Bloom" horticultural prize and a gold medal in 2002, both awarded to the best-flowered seaside resorts in the whole of Great Britain. Herm also has its own school, first-aid center and power station, giving it a degree of autonomy from its larger neighbor, Guernsey.The island, the smallest in the bailliage (it covers an area of 1.8 square kilometers, or 2.5 kilometers by 800 meters, and doubles in size at low tide), is perfect for a stroll. Distances are short, so you won't get lost. It takes just 2 hours to complete the tour. Unless you want to linger on its long beaches or at a table at the Mermaid, an afternoon is enough to visit it. In the north of the island, you'll find the long sandy beaches that give Herm a Caribbean feel. To the south, the cliffs overlook the sea. The center of the island is all green valleys, home to most of the island's dwellings. Next to the port is Harbour Village, the island's "main town" (and only one).