St Peters Port Shopping VS Weymouth

I am planning our Portland/Guernsey days and so far am thinking in Guernsey we can take the Explorer Bus ride around the island and then walk to the Vallette Underground Museum to explore that. Then on Portland Day we can take the shuttle into Weymouth for shopping in the Village. I would also like to see the shopping area in St Peter's Port, but it might not be too interesting for my husband to shop 2 days in row. Is Weymouth as nice as St Peter's for shopping?

Weymouth had a nice shopping area & lots of nice restaurants

Guernsey is often missed due to sea conditions

If you make it ashore send DH back to the ship while you shop ;)

It also depends when you will be in Guernsey. Our cruise stopped at St. Peter Port on a Sunday, and almost everything was closed.

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You will not find shopping in Guernsey very extensive, apart from the Guernsey sweaters.St Peter Port is mainly geared up to local shopping. Also be careful not to get Guernsey £ notes in change as they are not useable on the UK mainland. The other good purchase if anyone is a philatelist are the local stamp issues from the main post office. Guernsey is quaint, lots to do, don't waste on shopping.

Thanks for the info! Will plan to shop more in Weymouth and do some sightseeing in Guernsey. Good tip about sometimes not being able to get into this port, may not pre-pay for a tour in Guernsey and will plan to find something there.

In theory items should be cheaper in Guernsey due to lower taxes.

However we only found one store which had adjusted pre printed UK mainland prices to reflect the difference.

A bit of feedback from a true Guernsey local.

To the OP: If you wish to shop, I would take a tour in the morning, and shop in the afternoon. Your husband could always go to the Castle in the afternoon whilst you are shopping (sometimes they have a guided tour leaving at 2pm which is included in the entry price). As Cindy stated, if you are docked on a Sunday, there are very few stores which will be open. As Thejuggler stated, most of the UK stores do not adjust the prices, as they say they have extra charges for the freight to deliver the item to the island. Stores such as Jack Wills and Marks and Spencer will however be cheaper than the UK, but not the full 20% less.

Is there anything in particular that you are looking for? Make-up, perfume and jewellery will be cheaper in Guernsey than in many places as we are a VAT free jurisdiction, I can provide some recommendations if needed.

LHT28 stated that Guernsey is often missed. This is quite a wide ranging statement. Whilst many of the cruise ships which were due to dock early in the season did not make it, since 3rd May, we have probably had less than 5 cancellations due to weather from over 60 ships which were due to dock. However if there is something that you absolutely must buy, and there would not be much difference in price, it may be safer to purchase it in the UK.

As GrJ Berkshire said, Guernsey is quaint, lots to do. I agree, one day is not enough to see everything, however I understand that different attractions appeal to different people.

OP: please post back if you have any further questions.

We just returned home from a HAL British Isles cruise and both Weymouth and St. Peter Port were on our itinerary. I will say Guernsey was probably the most surprising port we visited on a great cruise. I found the downtown port area quite impressive. Actually, I thought there were many shopping options; most of the stores were more high end in nature. The Guernsey Art Museum is a must see. Weymouth's downtown area was interesting, but I would suggest you make it out to the Promenade Area along the beach. If you don't know about it, I think people might miss that part of the town. I know several people on our cruise didn't know it even existed. Good luck and enjoy your trip.

Something we enjoyed in Weymouth was the revolving viewing tower https://www.jurassicskyline.com/. Great views of the coastline from it and a bit of fun too!

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Thank you to all for the replies! I like the idea of the revolving view tour and will look for the promenade in Weymouth. Guernseycruiser, you sound passionate about your island! Can you tell me a good fish and chip place..just a takeout maybe that locals go to. Also, what makes for a good souvineur there..I have heard that there are good silver pieces but probably expensive..do you know any good jewelry stores, moderate and high end? Thanks!:):)

Weymouth is a lovely seaside town with a beautiful beach and a nice little harbour. As a seaside holiday resort it has plenty of fish and chip takeaways along the promenade - beware the seagulls though who like to join in. The revolving observation is good fun but for the best views go up to Portland by the hotel and you get fantastic views along Chesil Beach to one side and the purbecks and jurassic coast to the other.

If it is jewellry you are hoping to buy then Guernsey is your best bet due to tax free shopping but for anything else there is probably not much to chose between Weymouth and St.Peter Port, being similar size towns.

Being Dorset born and bred I wouldn't waste a day in Weymouth shopping unless its pouring with rain, its such a beautiful area to explore. But of course I don't know what your other opportunities are so if thats your only chance to catch up then thats what you need to do. There is a small Debenhams Department store and a small M&S but not a lot of choice. If your chip is starting from Southampton you are better off trying to get to the West Quay shopping centre there.

Must have chips on the brain after talking about fish and chips. Tried to edit chip for ship but it doesn't want to change - still a nice seaside image!

Thank you to all for the replies! I like the idea of the revolving view tour and will look for the promenade in Weymouth. Guernseycruiser, you sound passionate about your island! Can you tell me a good fish and chip place..just a takeout maybe that locals go to. Also, what makes for a good souvineur there..I have heard that there are good silver pieces but probably expensive..do you know any good jewelry stores, moderate and high end? Thanks!:):)

Hi Cleobella

Yes I am passionate about my island, I am so lucky to have been born here, I just wish to spread the word on how beautiful it is, and that although we are a tender port, it is well worth the ride in. So many times I have met passengers who have just arrived off the tender and say what a beautiful place it is, and they have only seen one part of the town for less than 5 minutes.

Now, fish and chips. My local for this is near the airport, so not really of any use for you. If in St Peter Port, there is a fish and chip shop at the bottom of Fountain Street, next to the Town Church, less than 5 minutes walk from the pier, although I cannot vouch for it as I have never eaten from there. It always seems to have a queue outside, so this is a good sign. The other place is at Cobo. Many a time we have sat on the sea wall eating fish and chips from the chippy opposite, admiring the view of the beach and sea.

A good souvenir, not really sure on this one as different people have different tastes. If you visit the Little Chapel (I highly recommend) there is a clockmaker and gift shop next door including many local items such as the traditional Guernsey milk can, jewellery and more general Guernsey items (small tubs of Guernsey ice cream).

For jewellery stores, moderate there is Martin and Martin in the Commercial Arcade

https://www.patoisjewellery.com/

For high end jewellers, I would recommend Ray & Scott. They are in St Sampsons which is a 3 mile bus or taxi from town. They have a small diamond museum inside, for a nominal entrance fee.

http://rayandscott.com/

Any more questions, please feel free to post.

Hi Cleobella

 

Yes I am passionate about my island, I am so lucky to have been born here, I just wish to spread the word on how beautiful it is, and that although we are a tender port, it is well worth the ride in. So many times I have met passengers who have just arrived off the tender and say what a beautiful place it is, and they have only seen one part of the town for less than 5 minutes.

 

Now, fish and chips. My local for this is near the airport, so not really of any use for you. If in St Peter Port, there is a fish and chip shop at the bottom of Fountain Street, next to the Town Church, less than 5 minutes walk from the pier, although I cannot vouch for it as I have never eaten from there. It always seems to have a queue outside, so this is a good sign. The other place is at Cobo. Many a time we have sat on the sea wall eating fish and chips from the chippy opposite, admiring the view of the beach and sea.

 

A good souvenir, not really sure on this one as different people have different tastes. If you visit the Little Chapel (I highly recommend) there is a clockmaker and gift shop next door including many local items such as the traditional Guernsey milk can, jewellery and more general Guernsey items (small tubs of Guernsey ice cream).

That was absolutely my first impression of Guernsey as well when we first sailed in (on Condor, not a cruise ship). And on our 2nd trip, we did no more than make it to Vazon from town, so less than an hour into a 4-day stay, and I said to my wife that I can't wait to come back. It's a wonderful island, indeed!

Shopping in town did surprise me a bit. Though I'm hardly much of a shopper, I'll concur with Nodakboiler in finding many of the shops to be higher end than I expected. I was also surprised at the lack of tourist-focused shops. Certainly not how we do it in the US where a tourist destination is littered with shop after shop selling souvenirs and t-shirts.

I'll second the comments about the shop by the little chapel. Note that it's not affiliated with the chapel, it's just on the same path. Definitely worth popping in after seeing the chapel, if only to look about and buy some ice cream. Definitely buy some ice cream. The ice cream is delicious! I wish we had something close to Guernsey ice cream over here.... and Guernsey milk.... and Guernsey butter... and Guernsey gauche...

Thank you very much Guernsey cruiser, and all! Btw the Occupation history, the walking, the sights and the duty free shopping, I am very excited about this port. And now the thought of Guernsey Dairy too!! Hubby will love that! Thanks again!!

Weymouth is certainly not reknowned for its shopping opportunities [emoji23]

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