Put On Your Prince Edward Island Vacation Pants

Are you obsessed with all things Lucy Maud Montgomery? Have you dreamed of putting on some puffed sleeves and dancing around with Gilbert Blythe? Maybe you are not familiar with Lucy’s work. Maybe you just want to feel that beautiful Canadian Island breeze. Whether you are the hugest Anne of Green Gables fan in the world or you just love going to unique and interesting places, Prince Edward Island is the place for you. Read on to find out some travel planning tips!

Trip Overview

Prince Edward Island is delightful dream. We went in late June/early July and the weather was perfect. The island is pretty big and we barely scratched the surface, and we definitely want to go back, but this little guide will get you started with the PEI vacation of your dreams.

Trip Itinerary

We stayed for five nights, but had six full days because we drove in early and stayed pretty late on our last day there. This particular trip was part of a month long trip throughout Northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada. Here is the overview:

Day 1 – Drove across the bridge and drove straight to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Checked in to our cabin, Green Gables Cottages,. Visited Avonlea Village.

Day 2 – Visited Prince Edward Island National Park and Stanhope by the Sea (A.K.A The White Sands Hotel from the Avonlea television series).

Day 3 – Visited Green Gables Heritage Place (walking distance from our cabin), Lover’s Lane, Haunted Woods, Lucy Maud’s Childhood Home, Canvendish Post Office (which included a L.M. Montgomery exhibit).

Day 4 – Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Birth Place, Lake of Shining Waters, Anne of Green Gables Museum at Silver Bush, Mariner’s Cove Boardwalk, Kensington Train Station.

Day 5 – Charlottetown.

Day 6 – Beach Combing on the Red Sands. Departed for Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Trip Budget

Here is a snapshot of what our trip to PEI cost for a five night, six day trip. We took our trip in late June and early July, so these were peak traveling prices. You can definitely get the cost down if you go during a different time of the year. All prices are in USD, even though we spent our time in Canada.

Airfare – I’m not including airfare in the cost of this trip because although we flew to Boston from California, we really road tripped up from Boston. It was definitely more of a road trip type trip than an airfare type trip. Just in case you are curious we flew to Boston from Los Angeles for $246 a person. Not my best deal ever, but we love Delta. They give you meals still. What the heck?! Delta Airlines is amazing.
Rental Car – $241 – We rented a swanky midsize car for our 22 day long trip, so our portion for this part of the trip was only $241 with taxes and fees.
Gas – $24 – I calculated the round trip cost for gas on https://www.fueleconomy.gov/ . It’s a large island and you could spend a pretty penny driving across it, but we stayed in Cavendish most of the time, so we didn’t spend much on gas at all. If you plan on driving the whole island it will cost a bit more. I should also mention we got a sweet deal on a hybrid, so gas costs were also super low.
Toll Costs – $36 – It is an island after all and there is a very long bridge that connects it to the mainland of Canada, so you do have to pay a one way toll when you leave the island. Of course, if you stay on the island forever, you never have to pay.
Lodging Costs – $575 for the small cabin. It had a queen sized bed, full kitchen with full fridge, living room area with a television. Yes, I watched The Bachelorette during my visit.
Attractions – $58 – Most of the things we did on PEI were FREEEEE! Children are cheap or free for many of the heritage and museum sites and we did a lot of walking and hiking. Plus, the National park was free with the pass from the cabins, so pretty cheap trip I’d say.
TRIP TOTAL = $1043 for a family of four. Pretty good dealio for a trip to a beautiful island. We traveled in the summer of 2018, so you have an idea of the prices at the time of travel.

Trip Lodging

We stayed at the cutest quaintest little cabin in Cavendish. Cavendish is what the fictional town of Avonlea was based on and you can see why the second you step foot in to it. Naturally, when we were looking for a place to stay on the island we wanted an affordable place, but we totally wanted to stay at a Anne of Green Gables themed place. We got the best of both worlds at Green Gables Bungalows and Cottages.

We got a smaller bungalow that had a Queen Bed and a pull out sofa couch that was perfect for the kiddos. It also had a fully equipped tiny kitchen which was perfect for our stay. We saved money and cooked in it a couple of nights. The facility had a library, free DVD rentals, free National Park passes, laundry, a playground, and a pool. Plus, it was walking distance from the Green Gables Heritage Center.

We paid $775 Canadian Dollars which translates to $575 USD. That is only a little over $100 a night for a cabin with a kitchen during a Holiday Week (we celebrated Canada Day in Prince Edward Island). I thought that was a steal especially since all the other places we were looking at staying at were much more expensive.

Trip Eats

We ate, and we ate good, on our adventures on Prince Edward Island. We grocery shopped and ate in our kitchen a few times because we had a full kitchen, but we ate out a bit too. Sadly, our favorite restaurant seems to have permanently closed down. They had spectacular baked potatoes and other yummy comfort foods. Just in case it reopens it was called Red Island Baked Potato. Here are a few other recommendations:.

Cows Ice Cream – Here is a local chain of ice cream you have to try. I am talking homemade-tasting, fresh ingredients. If you get a fruity flavor they put the full chunks of fruit in the ice cream. So yummy. Go one, two, or maybe three times like we did.

Beavertails – It didn’t sound appetizing, but the sweet delectable smells drew us in. A Beavertail is actually a sweet pastry and you pick toppings to go on it. Think like a thicker crepe. It does resemble a Beavertail, but in an appetizing way. It was a really fun and yummy treat.

Subway – Yeah, you heard me right. My husband has had a few Lobster Rolls around the Northeast US and he said the Lobster Roll from Subway was the best one he had. He got it three times while we were there because it is not something you can get in California Subways. His tip is to keep it light, don’t put cheese on it. Maybe some light lettuce.

Tim Horton’s – Obviously you have to go to Tim Horton’s in whatever part of Canada you are visiting, but can we recommend the BEST doughnut we have ever laid our taste buds on? It is called the Maple Cream. It’s like a Boston Cream, but with a Maple frosting instead. Very Canadian! We stopped at every Tim Horton’s we saw to see if they had any.

Trip Activities

Recreating a Matthew and Anne moment at Avonlea Village in Cavendish, PEI.

Avonlea Village – This is actually a fun little tourist stop. Make it your first stop when you head into Cavendish. Go on a day the cruise ship is not in port for a less crowded experience. We loved recreating scenes from Anne of Green Gables and the Tales from Avonlea television show. Make sure you hit the Anne of Green Gables Store if you are an Anne fan. We went several times during our trip.
Prince Edward Island National Park – We got a pass from our cabin we were staying at and took a drive around this beautiful park. Sand dunes and beautiful ocean sounds for days. We saw a family of foxes and so many beautiful birds. You won’t be disappointed with this beautiful park.
Dalvay By the Sea (A.K.A. White Sands Hotel) – If you were a fan of the Kevin Sullivan Production of Road to Avonlea you have to see where they shot the exterior shots of the White Sands Hotel. You will feel like you are transported back in time. They have a photo album of the production in the lobby, and you feel like you will see Gus Pike and Felix King run by the lobby and the restaurant. Spoiler Alert, it is not right on the ocean like the show and book depicts, but it is pretty close to it, and it does overlook a beautiful lake.
Green Gables Heritage Place – Chances are if you are reading this blog post you are an Anne of Green Gables fan. If you fall into that category, then you have to visit Green Gables. Did you know the author of Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery) actually was inspired to write about Green Gables because she often visited her Aunt and Uncle’s farm and home? The coolest part about visiting is that, because Lucy Maud was actually a popular author in her lifetime, so many of the places she visited have been preserved for future generations. You can actually walk Lover’s Lane. You can visit the Post Office she used to work at. You can see where her childhood home used to stand. You can see the room she was born in. It is so fun to see the views and the places Lucy Maud was inspired to write about. She put a bit of herself in to her novels and has left a legacy for generations to come.
Green Gables Museum at Silver Bush – Lucy’s parents died when she was very young and she moved around from different family members homes. Sound like a familiar character? One of the homes she lived at was called Silver Bush and you can actually tour her home. This was the inspiration for King Farm and you can get a look at the famous Lake of Shining Waters from this destination as well.
Kensington Train Station – Prince Edward Island no longer has trains that run across the island, but they still have a station preserved for your enjoyment and so you can reenact Matthew Cuthbert picking Anne up at the Bright River Train Station. Nearby there is a Haunted House that we checked the outside of, but our kiddos were a little unsure of going inside. The outside looked amazing. If you are into the those types of attractions, you should probably check it out. There is also a pair of dog statues out front that have to be inspired by Gog and Magog.
Mariner’s Cove Boardwalk – Prince Edward Island has a timeless flair about it. You feel like you are walking around before the turn of the century in most places. Mariner’s Cove Boardwalk is not one of those places. Yeah, it’s touristy. Yeah, it has amazing junk food. Yeah, it has a Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum. The kiddos did so good following Mommy and Daddy around on our literary journey, but the boardwalk provided a place where you would be excited to be a kid. Don’t forget to make time for those memories too. Heck, we had fun too. Who doesn’t love a Beaver Tail Pastry and a kitschy cool museum?
Charlottetown – Many of the places that Lucy wrote about in her novels were real places that she renamed, but one place that she wrote about that was a real place with a real name was the bustling busy town of Charlottetown. It was a good 45 minute drive across the island and you could see it taking a while to get there in a horse and carriage. We enjoyed walking around the city and taking in the old buildings. We also got our son the most adorable turn of the century hat. He wears it all the time. If you time it right you can take in the Anne of Green Gables Musical or the Gilbert and Anne Musical. We caught a local Anne play right before we left for PEI, so we opted to just walk around and have fun that night.
Swimming Rock – On our way out of town we stopped at a beautiful red rock beach. We found some seashells and skipped rocks. Pretty magical stuff.
Halifax, Nova Scotia – Nope, not on Prince Edward Island, but the Avonlea townspeople always talked about this so-called “God forsaken place.” We found this port town quite charming and loved our adventures there. We walked the boardwalk and did pretty much the best room escape we have ever done in our lives (and we have done A LOT of escape rooms). Check out Mind Hack Room Escape in Nova Scotia. I had to put it on here because it is connected to Prince Edward Island through Lucy Maud’s amazing storytelling.

Whelp, there you have it. A fantastic adventure through Prince Edward Island. As Anne Shirley once said, “It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.” Well in this case, Prince Edward Island isn’t that hard to enjoy, but really how could you not agree with our beloved Anne? Happy traveling everyone. Comment if you have any questions on this amazing place. Check out the gallery below and don’t forget to follow us on Social Media.

One more thing: If you love all things Anne, than you will love a very special podcast by my dear friends. Check out the Call Me Cordelia Podcast. They are about to embark on an adventure to Prince Edward Island, so you can follow their adventures as well.