Ferry Sark - Jersey (Gorey)

Sark – Jersey (Gorey) with Manche Iles Express

This route links Sark with Jersey (Gorey), operated by Manche Iles Express. The two ferry terminals are about 35 kilometres (19 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.

Sark

Sark has no cars and no street lighting, but its history is anything but sleepy. Cornish miners came in the 1830s to dig for silver in the cliffs of Little Sark, and the ruins of the mines can still be seen at Port Gorey. In October 1942 a dozen British commandos landed in the dark below the Hog's Back, took a German prisoner and set off a chain of events that is believed to have contributed to Hitler's Commando Order; the raid is still remembered on the island. Today most visitors come for the walking. La Coupée, the narrow ridge joining Great and Little Sark, stands about 80 metres above the sea. Railings were fitted in 1900, and before then children are said to have crawled across on their hands and knees when the wind was strong. Bicycles and horse-drawn carriages are the main ways to get around.

Jersey (Gorey)

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.