The Sark toast rack

Once you arrive on Sark there are no cars or buses waiting to carry you up the steep hill from the harbour.

Instead, there is the toast rack.

What is the toast rack?

The toast rack is Sark’s tractor-drawn passenger transport from the harbour.

It carries people up the hill after the ferry arrives. Retreat guests then continue by horse-drawn carriage to the house.

Why Sark needs it

Sark is a plateau, the highest land in the Channel Islands, and the harbour sits well below it. The island is car free, and this short climb from the harbour to the top is the only form of public transport on Sark.

For most of the island’s history, people walked up, or went by horse and cart. As more visitors arrived, somebody looked at the horses hauling load after load up that hill and decided they had done enough. A little tractor took over instead, in a contraption the island affectionately calls the toast rack. The horses were spared the worst of it, and still meet guests at the top for the carriage ride onward.

What happens to your luggage?

Your luggage does not travel up with you.

At the Sark end, it is lifted from the ferry and passed to the island carters, who deliver it to wherever you are staying. Nobody expects you to carry a suitcase up the steep hill from the harbour.

You arrive one way and your bags arrive another, but both get there.

Paying for the ride

There is a small fare for the ride up. No more than £1.50.

Cash is king, but Pete and Keith will have card machines handy as well.

Our Getting to Sark guide explains the complete journey through Guernsey, what happens to your luggage and how the horse-drawn carriage fits into your arrival.