Visiting Prince Edward Island

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 12:32pm

I'm looking into planning a trip to PEI and I was just curious if anyone on the board as been there before. What were your thoughts? What do you consider a "must see". Any information that you can share would be very much appreciated.

I've already done a bit of research but I'd love to hear from someone not trying to sell me on their town or hotel

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 2:47pm

I haven't been there for some 17 years. So I'm not sure how helpful I can be.

It's a pretty laid back kind of vacation. It's a simple island with simple pleasantries.

The one thing that jumps out at me as to what you MUST do: have a church lobster supper. They do these all over the island. PEI mussels, lobster....I can't remember what else, but SO incredibly wonderful. Research the different ones.

Must visit the red sand beaches and learn to look for 'wishing rocks".

Of course visiting Lucy Maud Montgomery's house is high on the list along with seeing the musical -- unless you are not a fan of the Anne of the Green Gables books.

[artscallion]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 3:09pm

It's a beautiful place. But it's not like there are a lot of attractions aside from the natural ones. The best thing to do is just ride around exploring the island, the beaches, the coastline, etc. If you're interested at all in the Anne of Green Gables books, there is a lot there built around that.

Charlottetown is a main "touristy" kind of city for shopping, some historical tours, etc.

One of the funky, unusual touristy things we discovered was the Potato museum. Potatoes are a big industry on PEI and this museum is fun. http://www.peipotatomuseum.com/

Don't go to PEI for the food though. Not one of their strong points.

Updated On: 7/12/13 at 03:09 PM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 4:22pm

My friend and I are both Anne fans and that’s how the idea of this trip came up. It turns out visiting PEI has been on both our “bucket lists” and we decided we need to stop talking about it and actually go. Heck, I was even looking at going to college up there. I’m not THAT obsessed with the books/movies but part of me longed for something “simpler” and I thought I could find it there.

Funny you should mention the Potato Museum because about 10+ years ago I got the idea in my head to move to PEI and O’Leary was the town I had picked out. I figure we can stop in O’Leary on our way up to Cavendish.

[artscallion]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 4:43pm

When we went, a big part of our trip was getting there. We drove from RI, up through ME, into Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island before driving the 7 mile bridge across to PEI. Cape Breton Island was particularly nice. If you are going that way to get to PEI, the Cabot trail ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabot_Trail ) is amazing, winding around the island, through steep mountain passes on thrillingly dangerous roads. The views are like none you'll see anywhere else. Every time you turn a corner the view is better than the one before. And moose and other wildlife are everywhere!

And, if you can, try and go during lupine season (June.) These flowers grow wild and cover the countryside.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 5:33pm

We went for my honeymoon. My ex husbands idea. That was probably the last thing he ever did for me. (Except for give me two beautiful children.)

[canmark]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 10:23pm

There's a new musical premiering at the Charlottetown Festival called Evangeline:
http://www.charlottetownfestival.com/en/23-Evangeline-Book-Lyrics-Music-by-Ted-Dykstra

Plus, of course, the Anne of Green Gables musical:
http://www.charlottetownfestival.com/en/2-Anne-of-Green-Gables-The-Musical

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As somebody mentioned above, the Cabot Trail in the northern part of Nova Scotia is a very scenic drive. And do visit the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck (where Bell had a summer home).

http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/grahambell/index.aspx

Updated On: 7/12/13 at 10:23 PM

[StockardFan]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 10:39pm

Gosh, I haven't been there since I was a little girl!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 12:34am

It's absolutely gorgeous--but as others have said, extremely laid back. Depending on what you like to do for a holiday, I would recommend only a weekend and then visiting somewhere nearby (I'm not sure where you'll be travelling from.) The Summer is also very heavy with tourists (as an Anne fan, you probably know how obsessed many Japanese people are with LM Montgomery) but weather and activity wise is probably the best time to go--or anytime before (Canadian) Thanksgiving.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 2:37am

Thanks for all the replies! I'm traveling up from NJ and according to Google it's a 13+ hour drive.

We had discussed going in late September/early October. Before it starts getting cold but when it's not so hot. But nothing's set in stone at the moment.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 3:00am

Late Sep would be ideal, I think, between tourists and weather. Can you travel by Stratford? Most of their shows go on till Oct. (Not that you have to combine the trips, but it always makes sense to me to try to combine things like that.)