Getting the flavour of...idyllic Sark

The pace of life on the "idyllic" Channel Island of Sark is so relaxing, "a week's holiday there is worth two anywhere else", says Steve Usher in the Independent on Sunday.

The island is only three miles across and entirely car free, so everyone gets around on bicycle, horseback or in horse-drawn carriages.

Delightful days can be spent exploring its woods and fields, "bursting with wild garlic, borage and briar rose", or scuba diving in the surrounding waters, which are rich with life.

And at some point, most visitors make the thrilling trip across "La Coupee", a precipitous rocky isthmus that divides "Big Sark", the main body of the island, from "Little Sark", where its most beautiful beaches are to be found.

From Guernsey, the Isle of Sark Shipping Company (01481-724059; has returns from £25. ·