With my girlfriend, Scarlett, having previously spent a summer on Sark, we were well-prepared for the island’s idiosyncrasies. Although I’ve lived my whole life without a car, a community where everyone is a pedestrian necessarily looks a bit different. So I thought it was worth sharing some pointers for would-be visitors.
Getting There
Unless things go so badly wrong that you need a medevac helicopter, the only way on or off of Sark is by ferry from one of the larger channel islands. Summer services from Jersey only operate on a handful of dates each month, so for most passengers the natural choice is to depart from Guernsey’s St Peter Port.
We travelled on Sark Venture, the smaller (and slower) of the Isle of Sark Shipping Company‘s two passenger vessels. It’s comparable in size to a sightseeing boat, with a single enclosed cabin offering seating and shelter for about 100 passengers; there’s also an open air rear deck. Booking in January for travel in May, we paid £77 for two adults round trip.
The crossing is less than 10 miles, but still takes most of an hour – and can be a rough experience! On the way to Sark conditions only really deteriorated as we rounded L’eperquerie to the north of the island, and we reached the shelter of Maseline Harbour not long after. But the return leg was subject to unpleasant rolling most of the way, with waves regularly crashing over the sides. If sea-sickness is something you’re prone to, Sark may not be the destination for you…..
Carting
Even a small amount of luggage would be a significant burden to drag up Harbour hill to the village. Fortunately, you can make use of ‘carting’ services to transport items around the island. It’s easiest to let your accommodation arrange this (and add the small fee to your bill); we tried to book directly which caused a lot of confusion about payment.
You’ll need to pick up tags at the Sark Shipping office on Guernsey, and carry everything onto the ferry yourself. But on arrival you can simply leave tagged items on the quayside and within a few hours they will be delivered to your hotel, apartment or campsite. You don’t need to be around to receive them – our hosts even brought our bags in so they wouldn’t be sitting in the rain.
The return process is a bit daunting: with breakfast plans elsewhere, we had to leave our bags at the end of a country lane for collection a few hours before the ferry would depart. Trusting both that the carters would find them, and that no-one else would, I was reassured to spot them again just before boarding.
The Toast Rack
Sark is car-free, but it’s not entirely bereft of vehicles: there are a few tractors that perform essential services, Carting is one of them, but for human cargo, there’s the toast rack, so called for its open-sided carriages reminiscent of old trams. A couple of these curious contraptions will be waiting for ferry passengers, but once they’re full, they’re gone, so don’t linger at the harbour too long. It costs £1.50 (now payable by card as well as cash) to ride, a fair price compared to tackling the steep hike with sea legs!
Getting Around
On foot
Without motor vehicles, Sark also eschews paved roads. Although I made do with cheap trainers that I didn’t mind ruining, I’d recommend sturdier boots: the unmade country lanes kick up a lot of dust when dry, and quickly turn to mud when it rains. The other essential is a head-torch for walking at night, as there are no street lights (Sark is the world’s first designated ‘dark skies island’).
The bigger avenues have names (in French), and Google maps will do a reasonable job of navigating them (although there is no street view coverage of the island). However, directions are more likely to be given by reference to landmarks, some of them obscure: “turn right at the owl” will require you to pay close attention to the ornaments in a window of a cottage!
By bike
At just 2 square miles, Sark is the smallest of the four main Channel islands and exploring entirely by foot would be viable. However, we found it convenient to get bikes to make lighter work of touring some of the more distant corners. Avenue cycles is one of the first places you’ll spot on what counts as Sark’s high street, but Scarlett favours A to B Cycles, who you can find near the Mermaid Tavern. They set us up with hybrid bikes – pairing practical off road tyres with a comfortable seat and a basket, plus locks and lights. Five days of hire was just £40 each; they proved mostly reliable steeds, but when one gained a puncture it was no hassle to swap it out for a replacement.
There is a third transport option on the island: horse-drawn carriages. However, these operate more as tours than taxis, and fees are steep at over £100/hour, so we didn’t use them!
Where to Stay
Given Sark’s diminutive size, it’s not surprising that accommodation options are limited, so you’ll want to make arrangements far in advance. Almost all of the properties I contacted in January had long since booked up for not just May, but the whole season, with earliest availability ranging from September to summer 2026!
Since (unlike Scarlett) I wasn’t willing to camp, for a while it seemed we’d have to stump up a hefty £200/night for a room at the luxurious Moinerie Village, going so far as to book. Fortunately that reservation was fully flexible, as we eventually found Le Hurel. Their ground floor flat was a much more reasonable £400 for 5 nights (another complication – many properties had fixed weekly arrivals / departures), with the benefit of a small kitchen to cut down on meal costs too.
Groceries
Plans for self-catering do come with a caveat though: opportunities for grocery shopping on the island are quite limited. There is a supermarket, “Food Stop”, on the Avenue, although rather than any formal supply arrangements, it seems to be stocked with items purchased from a variety of shops on Guernsey. Expect an eclectic assortment, with prices marked-up to cover the cost of shipping them over! Also watch out for the operating times: the store closes at 5 on weekdays, and is open for just a few hours at the weekend. Mon Plaisir Stores on Rue du Sermon trades until 6, but is even smaller, more expensive, and a fifteen minute walk away… So it’s worth planning ahead for any meals you intend to cook.
One final, related note – there is no mains water on Sark, with individual properties responsible for their own supply via catchment or wells. That means not all water will be potable – in our accommodation a specific tap was marked as suitable for drinking from. You might therefore prefer to stock up on bottled water.
