Discover the charm of a PEI road trip with our comprehensive guide! Uncover hidden gems, scenic routes, and must-visit attractions for an unforgettable drive through Prince Edward Island.
Canada’s smallest province has it all – gorgeous beaches, blazing red cliffs, drifting sand dunes,
postcard fishing villages, fresh-from-the-boat seafood, lighthouses galore, and Anne of Green
Gables.
The history of Prince Edward Island is so rich that the capital, Charlottetown, became the Birthplace of the Canadian Confederation back in 1864.
For those planning a PEI road trip, one of the most incredible PEI fun facts is that all of this wonder comes in an incredibly compact size.
Because Prince Edward Island is only 280 kilometres long.
Its tiny size, beautiful landscapes, and quality roads make Prince Edward Island one of the best provinces in Canada for road trips. Heck, even winter in Prince Edward Island is magical.
There are some stunningly beautiful places to visit in PEI. But we found that the most enjoyable part of traveling here was simply wandering the country roads, where we experienced one wonderful scene after another.
Tourism PEI has mapped out suggested driving routes, such as the Central, North Cape, and Points East Coastal Drives, as a great framework for our PEI road trip. Use these as a starting point, but also be sure to follow your nose and explore off-the-beaten-path experiences in the province as well.
The Green Gables Shore
The north-central coastline stands out as classic PEI road trip scenery. The coast here is dominated by the rugged cliffs, sand dunes, and seemingly endless beaches of Prince Edward Island National Park.
Stretching over 40 kilometres along the north shore, the park has three sectors, each with its own unique appeal. The most popular is Cavendish, which has magnificent beaches and spectacular red sandstone cliffs.
What makes the Green Gables Shore so perfect for road-tripping in Prince Edward Island isn’t just the park, though.
Nearby towns like North Rustico and Stanley Bridge are hotspots for seafood eateries, while French River is the classic tiny, colorful maritime fishing village. Cavendish is also the home of Anne of Green Cables, where Green Gables Heritage Place provides the lowdown on how this classic children’s tale became an international phenomenon.
Written in 1908 by Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables is a work of fiction that shot rural life on Prince Edward Island to world fame. What surprised us most about Anne’s story was how much of it was based on a real-life setting.
The story’s setting was a farmhouse owned by Montgomery’s cousins, which Parks Canada has restored to Victorian-era style.
And yes, it does have green gables.
Other places that feature prominently in the Anne of Green Gables story, such as Haunted Wood and Lovers’ Lane, are also real places that we can visit today on walks around them.
The Brackley-Dalvay sector is mostly about fine sandy beaches. Although it’s the closest part of
the park to Charlottetown, you can usually find your perfect spot with practically no one else
around.
One of the best-known landmarks in Prince Edward Island National Park is the Covehead Lighthouse. It stands tall among the sand dunes next to the beach.
The Greenwich sector of PEI National Park on the eastern part of the north coast is home to the island’s largest dunes. A beautiful and easy walking trail winds through woodlands, across a marshland boardwalk bordering the dunes, and onto a secluded sandy beach. Unlike other sectors of the park with campgrounds and services, Greenwich is day-use only and sees fewer visitors.
The Red Sands Shore
One of the best areas for a PEI road trip is through the Red Sands Shore along the central part of the south coast. This area is home to many of Prince Edward Island’s famed red-sand beaches. Some beaches here have an almost unreal reddish hue.
Among the most prominent landmarks along the Red Sands Shore are the Confederation Bridge connecting PEI with the mainland in New Brunswick and Wood Islands, where the ferry connects to Nova Scotia.
This south coast road trip route is also home to Charlottetown, Canada’s most easy-going provincial capital. The city has just 40,000 people spread around a picture-perfect historic harbour.
Small maritime fishing villages line the Red Sands Shore, with the most famous and picturesque being Victoria-by-the-Sea, which lies just a few kilometers east of the Confederation Bridge.
Historic buildings, such as the Orient Hotel, dominate the community. This historic hotel was built in 1900 and is now a bed & breakfast.
The Victoria Seaport Lighthouse, dating to 1879, houses the Victoria Seaport Museum, preserving the town’s seafaring history.
Seafood restaurants abound in Victoria. Arriving around lunchtime, we decided to stop at Richard’s Seafood, a take-out eatery with a large patio overlooking the waterfront. We picked it simply because it looked popular. It turned out to be a fantastic choice.
We ordered mussels, the island’s most famous seafood, and were served a huge pile of the delicacies for a bargain price. The quintessential Prince Edward Island road trip experience just doesn’t get any better – chowing down on PEI mussels in PEI while gazing over a postcard-perfect fishing harbour.
North Cape Coastal Drive
Starting at Summerside, the island’s second largest community after Charlottetown, the North
Cape Coastal Drive runs 350 kilometres around the western and northernmost parts of Prince Edward Island.
Here, we travel through the Evangeline Region, the heart of Acadian culture on PEI. There’s an Acadian Museum in Miscouche and summer festivals celebrating Acadian food and culture. Our PEI road trip route takes us through the cultural home of many Acadian families – the imposing Notre Dame du Mont Carmel Church overlooking the sea.
At the southwestern tip of the North Cape, the road trip brings us to West Point Lighthouse, built in 1875 and the tallest on the island at 20.6 metres. The small inn attached to the lighthouse is said to be the first lighthouse inn in Canada.
The inn was by far our favourite place to stay on the island, with comfortable digs where we fell asleep to the rhythm of the waves. We particularly loved the balcony where we could gaze over the pristine beaches and coastline of this scenic section of Prince Edward Island.
By the way, the West Point Lighthouse place is said to be haunted, possibly by early lighthouse keepers, according to the stories that we were told. The lighthouse may even be among Canada’s Most Haunted Places.
If those ghostly apparitions don’t show up, you might keep an eye out for a Phantom Ship that
many have reported seeing far to the west out to sea. The sightings are all remarkably similar –
an old, fully-rigged sailing ship on fire.
The ghost ship is said to disappear as suddenly as it appears.
The main part of the lighthouse operates as a museum where we climb up five floors, each portraying an aspect of the lighthouse story – the keepers, their lives, and how lighthouses work. It has the largest collection of historic lighthouse equipment in Eastern Canada, so if you make it to only one lighthouse museum in PEI, this should be it.
Just up the coast from Westpointoint is Howard’s Cove, home to the smallest lighthouse on the island at only 5.8 metres in height. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in its spectacular cliff-top location and immaculate condition in brilliant white and red. If ever a lighthouse could be called cute, this would be it.
Spud Route
One Potato, Two Potato…
Along this PEI road trip route, as well as practically everywhere on the island, potato crops blanket the countryside. This is because Canada’s smallest province grows a quarter of the country’s spuds.
Potatoes aren’t merely a source of food here but an essential part of the island’s identity. Famed Canadian musician Stompin’ Tom Connors even immortalized the PEI potato in the catchy tune “Bud the Spud.”
To learn more, be sure to stop at the Canadian Potato Museum in O’Leary, just a few minutes drive from Westpoint. We were greeted by the world’s largest potato sculpture in front, and inside is the world’s largest collection of potato farming equipment.
The exhibits at the museum feature everything you could ever want to know about potatoes, from their origins in the South American Andes to how PEI provides the ideal growing conditions and why the potato is the near-perfect food.
If you work up an appetite, the museum’s restaurant offers an array of dishes, all potato-based, of course. They prepare potatoes any way you can imagine, plus a few you never dreamed of.
Potato fudge, anyone?
If you still have the “Bud the Spud” tune stuck in your head, your next stop will help put everything in perspective.
Skinners Pond is Stompin’ Tom’s boyhood home just up the coastal drive. The Stompin’ Tom Centre tells the story of the singer’s early life in poverty, his rise to fame as a Canadian icon and winner of six consecutive Juno Awards.
Exhibits at the museum feature his gold records, well-used stompin’ boards, Tom’s old schoolhouse, and a restaurant with daily musical entertainment.
The tip of North Cape is where the waters of the Northumberland Strait collide with those of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Windmill power generation is big in this windswept part of the island. To get a closer look you can visit the North Cape Wind Energy Interpretive Centre.
Hands-on displays at the interpretive center highlight the importance of wind energy, along with the colorful history and folklore of the North Cape and its many natural features.
The Road Less Travelled
While the mapped-out coastal routes are a great way to experience a Prince Edward Island road trip, don’t overlook the island’s interior roads and lesser travelled byways. In early summer, wild lupines and other wildflowers provide a riot of colour to the landscape.
By all means, see PEI’s star attractions, but what we found just as rewarding was heading down a country road simply to see what’s over the next hill or around the next corner. We were never disappointed.
How To Get To PEI
If you’re planning a PEI road trip, there are many options to make the most of your experience. You can either drive to the province or fly and rent a car while you’re already in Prince Edward Island. Here are a few tips to get to PEI from the mainland:
Options are to fly to Charlottetown or to drive to the island. Driving to PEI makes getting here half the fun.
The Confederation Bridge links Borden-Carleton, PEI, with New Brunswick. This 12.9-kilometre-long bridge is the longest in the world that crosses ice-covered water, so driving it is an experience in itself.
If the route along the Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick isn’t for you, Northumberland Ferries operates a car ferry service from Wood Islands, PEI, to Nova Scotia. The ferry to PEI takes about 75 minutes.
You can even enjoy the best of both worlds by traveling one way by ferry and the other by bridge, taking in both experiences. There is a toll for using the bridge leaving PEI and a cost to use the ferry when leaving PEI. There is no cost for either when travelling to PEI. Since the ferry costs more than the bridge toll, you can save a few bucks when you arrive by ferry and then leave via the Confederation Bridge.
Tips For Planning Your Road Trip in Prince Edward Island
Our biggest piece of advice to visitors to PEI is to give yourself more time than you think you might need. We have highlighted only some of the many delights that await on a PEI road trip.
Many first-timers get fooled by the size of the island and underestimate how long it takes to see even the main sights. While the island is small, and most distances between PEI attractions are short, many roads are winding and slow. The island pulls more than its weight when it comes to scenery, so it’s not a place to rush through.
Our travels were especially slow since we seemed to be stopping for yet another photo op around every beautiful corner.
Are You Ready To Plan Your PEI Road Trip?
The wonderfully unique culture and wold-class landscapes of Prince Edward Island make it one of the best road trip destinations in Canada Whether you’re driving to the province or renting a car in Charlottetown and hitting the road, these tips for planning a Prince Edward Island road trip should help you have the drive of a lifetime.
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Robin and Arlene Karpan are award-winning writers, photographers, bloggers, and authors of several travel books, including Canadian Bestsellers. Their work has appeared in over 100 publications around the world. While their travels have taken them to all seven continents, they find that some of the most compelling destinations are close to home in Canada. They have a special interest in the natural world and outdoor photography. Robin and Arlene publish the travel blog Photo Journeys which looks at travel through a photographer’s lens, and is rated by Feedspot as among the Top 100 Travel Photography Sites.
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