Guernsey: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Guernsey feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 31 written places.
Quietly British and village-trusting; the roadside honesty box is a working institution, not a novelty.
✓ Considered polite
- Wave thanks when a driver gives way in the narrow lanes - everyone does
- Pay hedge veg stalls with the right coins - the honesty box system runs on trust
- Greet fellow walkers on the cliff paths
- Book Sunday lunch ahead - the pubs and hotels that open fill quickly
✗ Better avoided
- Call it England - Guernsey is a Crown dependency with its own identity and its own money
- Expect Sunday shopping - most of St Peter Port shuts
- Count on late nights - kitchens and bars wind down early
- Rush - the island runs at a gentle pace and service follows suit
Worth knowing
- Guernsey issues its own pounds - fine everywhere locally, refused in UK shops, so swap before leaving
- Check your phone plan - the Channel Islands sit outside most UK and EU roaming bundles
- There is no VAT, which takes a little sting out of the prices
- Sea fog can hold up flights and ferries - leave slack around fixed connections
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links - if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.