Outdoors

Escape to the country and head inland to Guernsey's rural lanes and pathways.

Traditional granite farmhouses and cottages dot the countryside where fields separated with hedgerows form a patchwork where Guernsey cows graze. Agriculture is still a vital industry in the island and the hilltop fields fall away to the coast offering stunning sea views.

Explore the nature reserves and parks or go off the beaten track and explore the lanes and Ruette Tranquilles where nature is literally at your fingertips.

The network of country lanes have a recommended speed limit of 15mph with priority given to walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

Country shows still thrive in the island with the North, South and West Shows reflecting the sense of community that exists, particularly in the more rural parishes. They offer a window into traditional island life not only from the past, but how it fits into modern life.

Walking is one of the best ways to get a real feel for the island's natural beauty, but if you want to hang up your walking boots, cycling and horse-riding are a great alternative. The heart of the island offers the perfect rural retreat just hours from the UK.

The interior houses a number of visitor attractions including the German Occupation Museum, which offers an insight into life in the island between 1940 and 1945, and The Little Chapel. Though to be the smallest chapel in the world, the labour of love was built by Brother Deodat in 1914 as a miniature version of the famous grotto and basilica at Lourdes, France.

If you want to get away from it all and take life in the slow lane for a while, you have taken the right turning.

From the Guernsey Lily and the island's floral export industry, the world-class nature reserves and rare bird colonies, Guernsey has so much to offer to nature-lovers.

Guernsey takes pride in its own Nerine, a Guernsey Lily called sarniensis. Although native to South Africa, local legend has it the bulb washed ashore on the west coast from a Dutch ship, wrecked while en route from the Far East.

Candie Gardens is a rare example of a late 19^th century flower garden and has the oldest known heated glass houses in the British Isles, where you can find out more information about the local Nerine.

Established in 1894, the Gardens were once part of a private estate. They are St Peter Port's finest floral attraction and are open daily with free admission.

Saumarez Park gardens, in the Castel, which includes the recently-restored Victorian Walled Garden, and the subtropical gardens at Sausmarez Manor, St Martin, are also must-sees for garden lovers.  For an insight into the floral export industry, visit the Guernsey Fressia Centre, St Sampsons.

Guernsey's rural Ruette Tranquille lanes are a sea of colour from spring through to autumn with a dazzling array of wild flowers on the hedgerows.

In the town, one of the best-loved native wild flowers is commonly known as the St Peter Port daisy, which grows out between the granite on walls and pathways.

The cheerful plants were introduced into UK in the 1830s from Mexico, as garden plants. The first record of it in St Peter Port was in the 1860s and, since then, has spread throughout the island.

If nature holidays are what you are looking for, go to the West coast for a wilder walk and head to the island's headlands and rugged coasts. Guernsey has a 426-hectares RAMSAR site out west, which includes Lihou Island, surrounding nature reserves and the inter-tidal area and outlying reefs and rocks. This is an international initiative to protect important wetland habitats and a mecca for keen bird-watchers.The Bailiwick coastlines are home to a huge variety of species of birds that settles along the cliffs, including puffins which nest around the back of Herm and Jethou, a neighbouring privately-owned island.

Why not tie in your trip with the ? The popular annual event offers tours around some of the island's most stunning private gardens as well as guided and self-guided walks, talks by visiting experts and workshops. The Festival offers something for both experienced gardeners or keen beginners. For something later in the year the SUMMER FLORAL FESTIVAL WEEK   starts on 6 July. For more information on both of these popular floral events, contact Guernsey Information Centre on +44 (0) 1481 723552, email: enquiries@visitguernsey.com or go to www.floralguernsey.co.uk

Wall to wall

When Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visited Guernsey in 2012 they were so impressed with the floral display at the Victorian Walled Garden at Saumarez Park they want to recreate it at their Gloucestershire home.

'He was extremely complimentary about one variety, Capani, which he grows at Highgrove.

'He said they were nothing like as good as the ones we had grown, which really was amazing,' said Jayne Spicer, who is responsible for growing and maintaining the sweet peas.

Following their visit to the garden, Garden Trustee Raymond Evison received a call from Highgrove requesting the details of the Heritage varieties.

All the seeds are varieties that would have been grown in the mid - late 1800s. At that time the working kitchen garden grew all the fruit and vegetables for the private house, which is now St John's Residential Home.

The walled garden had been closed and neglected for years and used as a dumping ground. In 2006 the Guernsey Botanical Trust was formed to restore it to its formerly glory.

Jayne has been a garden volunteer since the project began.

'The first two years were very hard work. It was in such a mess, it took that long to get the soil to a stage where we could even plant anything,' she said.

Once the planting was complete, each section of the garden was assigned a 'guardian'. Previously, Jayne had been looking after the brassicas - including cabbages, broccoli and Brussels sprouts - but last year her name was put forward to take over the sweet peas.

'I was quite pleased, they are my favourite flowers, and definitely smell better than cabbage.'

Jayne began researching the different varieties and contacted the Sweet Pea Society for advice on how best to care for the flowers.

New seeds are planted each year and line the footpath leading from the head gardener's cottage to the recently completed Orchard House.

'Because they are so close together you get a real intensity of the fragrance,' said Jayne.

In October last year, 500 sweet pea seeds were planted in 14 varieties.

The seeds were planted in large trays, each individually sectioned off with a toilet roll tube to act as both protection and to contain the seedlings long roots, making planting out easier. They were then meticulously labelled and stored in a sheltered spot outside in the garden with a net covering.

'My husband thought I was getting quite paranoid about the whole thing but all of a sudden they started to grow and I was a lot more relaxed,' said Jayne.

At the end of February bamboo canes were collected from within the Park to make the 22 tepees for the sweet peas to climb.

With the help of fellow tall volunteers, the canes were fixed in the ground, secured at the top and trimmed.

There are 10 canes per tepee and at least two plants were dug in around each cane, with a feed of blood, fish and bones. They were planted out in April and began flowering in May.

RHS member Mrs Spicer said they are already planning for next year's display.

Planting will start at the end of October, with a second batch being planted next April. The early blooms from this later crop will have longer stems - perfect for exhibiting in the North Show. The more you pick sweet peas, the shorter the stem.

Heritage seed varieties planted in the Victorian Walled Garden are: Matucana, Capani, Dolly Varden, Nelly Viner, Black Knight, Queen of the Isles, Violet Queen, Captain of the Blues, Painted Lady, Prince Edward of Wales, Miss Willmott, Blanch Ferry, Senator and America.

If you would like to know more about the Heritage varieties grown, visit the Victorian Walled Garden on Saturday morning, between 10am and midday.

For more information on the garden go to www.guernseywalledgarden.org.gg

Guernsey's spectacular south coast cliffs are punctuated with beautiful bays, secluded coves and picturesque harbours.Getting away from it all in Guernsey is easy - just take one of the narrow footpaths that lead to the winding cliff path routes and you will feel a million miles away from the chaos of everyday life.

It is possible to walk all the way from St Peter Port - take the steps that lead up from the old Victorian bathing pools - all the way around to Pleinmont, the island's most southerly point.

The routes are lined with wildflower hedgerows and offer spectacular views.

Small granite watch houses interrupt the cliff paths. In the later years of the 18^th century, local militia manned these structures scanning the seas for a potential French invasion.

Lookouts and gun emplacements built into the rock by the WWII German occupying forces are a reminder of the Occupation of the islands between 1940 and 1945.

If you are looking for some seriously dramatic scenery, head to Pleinmont, the most southwesterly point where the cliffs descend to meet the west coast. Victor Hugo wrote about this enchanting area of the island in his book 'Les Travailleurs de la Mer' while living in exile in the island in the 19^th century.

The view across the churning and dramatic ocean towards the Hanois lighthouse is one of the best - even better in mid-winter when the wind is blowing a hooley.

From living history to peace and tranquility, dramatic seascapes to pebble beaches, you will find it hard not to be captivated by the beauty of our south coast.

Guernsey beaches are where summer memories are made. The Bailiwick offers quiet beach holidays that make the most of the simple things in life. Building sandcastles, sitting in your swimmers, with the sun on your back and the sand between your toes, eating an ice cream, exploring rockpools and swimming in the cool coastal waters.

The island has 27 beaches from the sheltered south coast coves to the wide expanses of white sand to the north. As well as Guernsey, neighbouring islands Sark, Herm and Alderney all offer beach holidays with snug coves full of character and long stretches of uninterrupted white sandy beaches.

South coast beaches include picturesque, pebbled Fermain Bay - reached only by foot, it is a lovely swimming beach and has a café, which serves restaurant quality food.

Petit Port is one of the island's most difficult beaches to access but, with its secluded bay and dramatic cliff scenery, it is well worth the steep stepped climb.

West coast beaches tend to be wide, flat and sandy, as are north coast beaches. Favourites including Vazon, Cobo, Grandes Rocques, Port Soif and Pembroke which are easier to access and all have toilet facilities and a kiosk.

Guernsey's uninterrupted clean beaches and clear waters make them among the best of the best.

It's time to dive in.