Ferry Granville - Jersey

Granville – Jersey with Manche Iles Express

This route links Granville with Jersey, operated by Manche Iles Express. The two ferry terminals are about 55 kilometres (29 nautical miles) apart in a straight line. Use the search engine above for current timetables and fares, or use the Direct Ferries button at the top of the page to compare the sailings.

Launched in 2005 by the département of La Manche, Manche Iles Express links Granville, Barneville-Carteret and Diélette with Jersey, Guernsey, Sark and Alderney on two ferries owned by the département. Sailings were suspended in 2021, resumed in 2022 and are now supported by the islands too.

Granville

Granville lives by the tide. The range in the bay can exceed 13 metres, so boats sit on the mud at low water and the harbour changes character within hours. The Chausey islands, a granite archipelago a short boat trip offshore, multiply from a handful of islands into hundreds of rocks and islets when the sea goes out. In November 1793 the walled Haute Ville was attacked by the royalist Vendée army during its long march north; the town held, and the failure to take a port where help from Britain might have landed is often seen as the beginning of the end for the rebellion. Mont-Saint-Michel and the bay of the same name are about an hour's drive away, and in summer boats run from Granville to Jersey and Chausey.

Jersey

Jersey has a long history of attracting colourful characters. The actress Lillie Langtry, the "Jersey Lily" who became a favourite of Edward VII, was born here in 1853. In 1959 the naturalist Gerald Durrell opened a zoo in the grounds of Les Augrès Manor, and today the Durrell Wildlife Park is a leading centre for breeding endangered species. The island celebrates with the Battle of Flowers, a summer parade of floral floats held since 1902, and with some of the biggest tides in Europe, a range of up to about twelve metres, which cuts off the Corbière lighthouse from the shore twice a day until the causeway reappears. Place names often have French forms, a reminder that Jersey's legal and cultural roots lie in Normandy, though everyday speech is English.