Saint Helier: the fortress on the island closest to France

The Elizabeth Castle, a sixteenth-century fortress on a rocky islet, remains accessible on foot only during low tide, otherwise by amphibious vehicle.

Steps away, the Jersey War Tunnels, an underground complex built by the Nazis during the occupation of the Channel Islands, tells the story of the only Nazi-occupied British territory during the Second World War.

Heading along the coast, you visit the Victorian Central Market of Saint Helier, with its distinctive iron and glass structure from 1882.

Toward evening, the city waterfront animates seafood restaurants, a local Jersey specialty.

Jersey, though a British Crown Dependency, lies just twenty kilometres from the Norman coast of France, far closer to France than to England itself.

Elizabeth Castle takes its name from Queen Elizabeth I, who financed its construction to strengthen the island's defences against potential French invasions in the sixteenth century, a very real threat at the time.