Canada is a stunning country, from east to west, and offers an incredibly diverse travel experience. Prince Edward Island is the smallest province and you can drive from tip to tip in about three hours. It’s the perfect destination for the slow traveller. You can enjoy the red sand beaches, visit the Anne of Green Gables Museum, and hike numerous trails. You can visit for as little as one day, or spend a few days to travel around the island. Fly in to the Charlottetown airport, or drive about 4 hours from Halifax, NS or 2 hours from Moncton, NB to get to the island. Read on for your ultimate Prince Edward Island Road Trip!
Table of Contents
- Where to Stay in PEI?
- When to Visit PEI?
- Where to Eat in PEI?
- PEI Packing List
- How to get to PEI
- Prince Edward Island Road Trip
- PEI’s second largest city, Summerside is a beautiful waterfront city. Take the Summerside Walking Tour by Wyatt Heritage to start to explore the city. Stop by the Runway Drive-in Movie Theater for a fun night out! Head out on the water and explore by paddleboard or kayak by renting equipment at the Paddle Shack!
Where to Stay in PEI?
There are only two major cities in PEI: Charlottetown and Summerside and they’re about 60 minutes apart. The population of Charlottetown is 40,000 and Summerside is 15,000. My recommendation is to stay in Charlottetown and spend one day heading out to the east of the island and another heading to the west of the island. If you plan on eating out, most of the island shuts down fairly early in the day so your best bet is to stay in a city. However, you could easily find a cottage on Airbnb and grab groceries in Charlottetown before venturing to the countryside.
If you’re visiting in the summer, you can book a dorm room at the University of PEI. It is only about a 30 minute walk from the University to downtown and a great option for the budget traveller. It is dorm style so you can rent a room for yourself/with friends and use communal bathrooms.
When to Visit PEI?
PEI is best visited between May and October, as the province opens up for travellers. It’s a seasonal province with most people visiting in the summer. PEI weather is similar to most of the eastern provinces. Summers are hot and humid. Springs are wet and rainy. Fall is my favourite with the beautiful fall foliage. Winters are snowy and cold. Keep in mind, summers attract more tourists but PEI is a relatively small province so it doesn’t get as busy as other major Canadian cities!
Where to Eat in PEI?
PEI has some of the freshest seafood in the country, and you can find many other Canadian classics.
- Lobster season is May/June (peak season) and August to October. A lobster dinner will typically come as a full lobster in it’s shell but you can sometimes ask for lobster out of the shell, or go for a lobster roll.
- PEI oysters, mussels and clams can all be enjoyed fresh out of the shell. Head to a farmer’s market or seafood market to try different varieties.
- Cow’s ice creamery was started in Cavendish, PEI and has expanded to many locations in Canada. The ice cream is delicious and they have fun and funky flavours to try.
- Farmer’s Markets are the best places to get the freshest produce.
- PEI supplies 25% of Canada’s potatoes. That’s 2.5 BILLION a year! You’ll find them at local farmer’s markets or try them as fries at the Chip Shack.
- Lobster on the Wharf (Charlottetown’s seafood market)
- The Chip Shack (food truck at Peakes Quay in Charlottetown)
- JMK Fish Mart (lobster dinner in Summerside)
- Gahan House for craft beer and live music
PEI Packing List
Depending on the season, you’ll want to be prepared for the weather! Winters are cold with a lot of snow. Summers are hot and humid. There are a wide variety of activities to do in PEI including: hiking, whale watching, sea-kayaking, nightlife, exploring the city, swimming at the beach, biking, etc. PEI is a slow-travel kind of place so you’ll be comfortable wearing just about anything. An ideal packing list for visiting PEI in the summer:
- Waterproof rain jacket and umbrella
- Light jacket, like a jean jacket or bomber
- Beach wear outfit (bathing suit, cover up, beach towel, sandals)
- 1-2 activewear outfits (leggings, comfortable shirt/sweater) and a day pack for hikes
- 3-4 t-shirts
- 2-3 pairs of shorts/pants
- 1 dress
- Straw hat for sun protection and photos
- 2-3 sweaters for shoulder seasons (fleece or wool are great options)
- Socks, underwear, bras (enough for each day you plan on visiting)
- Comfortable walking shoes (hiking trails, biking, walking through Charlottetown)
How to get to PEI
There are three ways to get to PEI: fly, drive or take a bus. There are limited flights directly to PEI, but you can fly in to Charlottetown. If you choose to drive, you’ll cross the Confederation Bridge or take a ferry from Nova Scotia. The Confederation Bridge is the longest bridge in Canada and crosses the Northumberland Strait. Alternatively, you can take a ferry. The ferry leaves from Caribou, Nova Scotia. You can also book a relatively inexpensive bus from Charlottetown to Halifax or Moncton.
Prince Edward Island Road Trip
The province is a 6 hour round road trip to travel in a circle. You could pick a few of these stops for a shorter trip, or all of them to visit for about a week. Here are some of the many things you can do in Prince Edward Island road trip!
Charlottetown
Charlottetown is the capital of Prince Edward Island. You can use this as your home base and venture out on day trips, or spend evenings at various Bed and Breakfasts’ around the province. It’s about 2 hours from the most northernly point of the province and just over 1 hour to the most eastern point of the province. You could spend an entire day within the city picking a few of the following things to do:
- Visit the Confederation Centre Art Gallery
- Step into Province House, a National Historic Site of Canada. The Charlottetown Conference was held here, which resulted in the Canadian Confederation!
- Enjoy live music at the Old Triangle Irish Alehouse, the Celtic heart of the Maritimes
- Stroll the car-free Victoria Row, the historic retail and dining district
- Get active and kayak or paddle board on the water, or rent a bike to explore the city!
- Visit the Founders Food Hall on Charlottetown’s Historic Waterfront
- Eat at the Fishbones Oyster Bar and Grill rooftop patio
- Check out the outdoor restaurant Nimrods’
- Take a Top Notch Lobster Tour, learn how to haul a lobster trap and enjoy freshly caught lobster for dinner
Lighthouses
There are 63 lighthouses in PEI, 9 of which are open seasonally for people visiting the island. The nine include: West Point, Tignish Run, Leard’s Front Range Light (Victoria by the Sea), Point Prim, Wood Islands, Cape Bear, Panmure Island, Souris and East Point. You can climb to the top of seven of them (for a small fee). They are generally open from mid-June to mid-September. You can spend the night in West Point. One of the only lighthouses in Canada built of brick is Point Prim. It is now covered in wooden shingles but you can see the brick from the inside. East Point has 67 steps to the top and you can book a guided tour if you’d like.
Red Sand Beaches
There are 23 beaches on PEI, most of which have the iconic deep red sand. Stop at the Thunder Cove Beach for large red sandstone cliffs, Tea Cup Rock (an awesome rock formation) and nearby sea caves. The Greenwich Beach has a beautiful boardwalk. Go swimming at Jacques Cartier Provincial Park!
PEI Dig your own Clams
Experience clam digging on the PEI beaches! You can often find clams in the soft, wet sand of beaches during low tide. Why not experience this unique activity? For a few hours you can try something new! The tour includes steaming the clams, prepared in a traditional PEI way, to taste fresh on the beach.
North Cape
The drive to North Cape is spectacular. It is the northernmost point of the province. Unforgettable sunsets and a view of the ocean will lift your spirits! At the tip you’ll find the Wind Energy Institute of Canada (WEICan), and you can spot the windmills in the background of the photo below. The red sand cliffs overlooking the ocean is a wonderful spot for photos. A few fun stops on the way include: the Green Gable Alpacas (over 50 of them!); Black Marsh Nature Trail; and any restaurant serving oysters as this is the Oyster Coast.
PEI Food Tour
If you’re a foodie, take the PEI food tour in Charlottetown! A 3.5+ hour tour, taste your way through PEI and ask for recommendations for restaurants, cafes, food and more! Tours are a fantastic way to get to know the locals way of life and more often than not are led by locals!
Anne of Green Gables Museum
Lucy Maud Montgomery is a Canadian author who wrote the Anne of Green Gables novels in the early 1900s. The books are classic children’s novels and detail the 11-year-old Anne Shirley’s adventures. They are quintessentially Canadian and a visit to the Anne of Green Gables museum is an absolute must! The house was built by Lucy’s aunt and uncle and is the birthplace of the novels.
Summerside
PEI’s second largest city, Summerside is a beautiful waterfront city. Take the Summerside Walking Tour by Wyatt Heritage to start to explore the city. Stop by the Runway Drive-in Movie Theater for a fun night out! Head out on the water and explore by paddleboard or kayak by renting equipment at the Paddle Shack!
Potato Museum
PEI is Canada’s largest potato producer. On the west side of the island, you can visit the Canadian Potato Museum. The museum is in potato fields! Learn about the potato growing business, visit the potato fields and farm buildings, and taste potato dishes (poutine is a must in Canada).
Prince Edward Island National Park
Spend an afternoon or the day at the Prince Edward Island National Park. There are many historic sites nearby if you don’t want to spend too long in the park. However, you can enjoy the red sand beach, paddleboard or kayak, explore walking and biking trails, and more!
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