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Featured place: La Valette campsite, Isle of Sark

Submitted by richard on 5 May, 2007 - 10:22.

Camping just isn't camping without a decent view of the stars on a clear night and a slot-token shower unit. Which is what you can expect at La Valette campsite on the east side of the Isle of Sark - the smallest of the four main Channel Islands, about 80 miles off the English coast and about as far from city lights as you can get in the UK...
Photo © Richard Hammond.

The campground overlooks the sea, there's fresh produce available from the farm and the four minutes of hot water for the shower comes courtesy of a solar thermal unit and a £1 token. Cars aren't allowed on the island, but though it's only three miles long and a mile and a half wide, you need a bike to explore all the coves and bays over a long weekend, else you can hire a horse and carriage.

The award-winning La Sablonnerie Hotel on Little Sark is connected to the island by a dramatic steep-sided isthmus. After an evening at the restaurant, I had a magical trip back to the campsite over the narrow strip of land guided by the light of the moon.

· A night at La Valette costs £6.50pp (sercq.com, 01481 832202). Weymouth-Guernsey ferry £39.50 one way as a foot passenger (condorferries.co.uk). Ferry to Sarkcosts £22 return (sarkshipping.info).

This article, by Richard Hammond, was first published in the Guardian.

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