Alderney

With its rich and varied wildlife – including the blonde hedgehog – Alderney remains almost totally unaffected by the outside world. There are over 30 miles of walks that wind their way over cliffs and golden bays, across exposed commons, past Victorian fortresses and World War II batteries and alongside a scenic, but challenging golf course. 

Then you arrive at St Anne – the capital town – a community of colour-washed houses, cobbled streets and shops that has at its centre a magnificent church, known as ‘ the cathedral of the Channel Islands’.

There are plenty of welcoming pubs and restaurants on the island and there’s even a standard gauge railway (the only one in the Channel Islands) complete with ex-London Underground coaches.