Making the most of Saint Peter Port Guernsey
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
St Peterport greets cruise ships with a vista of colorful houses climbing steeply from a quayside busy with luxury yachts and fishing boats.
Guernsey is a compact island - just 24 square miles - which means that nowhere is more than a 30-minute ride from St Peter Port
Cruise ships will tender you to the center of town at the Albert Pier. Tenders are often not able to land passengers due to adverse weather conditions.
As it is no member of the EU, cruise companies "like" this port, as this makes the entire itinerary tax exempt, but also are they allowed to open their duty free stores onboard.
Printable map to take along.
Webcam
Guernsey's capital has been a busy entrepôt since Roman times. Her deep, safe anchorage and relative remoteness from France made St Peterport the Channel Islands' premier port, graced by the wealth of ship builders, privateers and merchant adventurers. Georgian and Regency styles were enriched by an influx of French emigrés, including Victor Hugo, whose influences included Parisian-style urinoirs. Today the town is a captivating blend of styles, framed by a tumble of terraces and tiered gardens and crisscrossed by worn steps and hidden alleys.
Castle Cornet: At noon time a cannon will be fired off. If you don’t want to pay to go in the castle but simply want to see the cannon fired off, head towards the entrance of the castle but do not go through the tunnel. If you see the Castle Cornet sign, simply hang out there, in the little inlet and you can watch the cannon to the left.
Getting around
The bus service is excellent for tourists. Its cheap and frequent during the daytime hours. A nice thing to do is take the public bus #91 or #92 around the island, it will cost approx £10 for a day pass. Each trip and lasts about 90 minutes, it gives a good overview of the island, you can get off and where you want. When cruise ship visit the island, buses can be very busy, than take a alternate route.
The Petit Train offers a sightseeing trip with onboard commentary around St Peter Port.
St Peterport itself is very steep.
Food and shopping
Shopping in St Peterport is an unmissable experience. Electronic and photographic equipment, jewelry and perfume are all good, low duty buys, along with wines, spirits and tobacco and of course the famous Guernsey jumper. Small boutiques offer exclusive clothes, shoes and leather goods, whilst the Old Quarter is the place to find antiques. But take time to just look around you. After all, this is the Channel Islands' most beautiful town. In general duty free prices on your ship will be much lower.
Fine antique shops along Mansell Street and Mill Street in one of the oldest and prettiest parts of St Peterport.
Snap up a traditional curvy Guernsey Milk Can at the Edwardian Tin shop at Sausmarez Manor.
Money
The Channel Islands have been in currency union with the United Kingdom and the Guernsey and Jersey pound are not a separate currency but are local issues of banknotes and coins denominated in pound sterling, in a similar way to the banknotes issued in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Staying connected
Free WiFi at the Tourist Information Office at the water front and at the Albert Pier. Also Wifi at the library
Opening Hours and
Guernsey's shopping hours run from 09:00 to around 17:30 Monday to Saturday, with only a handful of shops actually opening on Sundays.
Public holidays are the same as the UK with the addition of Liberation Day on 9 May.