Prince Edward Island - any advice?

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Matt_01

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We are starting to plan for a trip next year. As with most of our plans they start at 2 weeks (school holiday) somehow extends to 3 and ends up just short of 4 weeks. Current plan is shaping up AU-UK(London) -CA(Montreal, Toronto, Victoria, Vancouver) -AU, currently around 3-4 weeks. MrsM recently mentioned she would like to go to PEI, going to ‘Anne’ country is on her bucket list (not mine).

Is it worth a side visit, I was thinking about dropping Montreal or Toronto from the itinerary to fit PEI.

Has anyone been to Prince Edward Island and if so how long do you need to be there, we will be there in the CA/US Fall (autumn).

Thanks
 
Well we will be there at the end of August this year.A TR will be done.
From our research it does appear to be enough to do.Yes the Anns bit for mrsdrron and the lobster and mussels for me.Maybe see a few whales and seeing the tides of the Bay of Fundy.
There was a TR I think about a year ago.I will try and find it.
 
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I found it.Apologies to Ozduck as it was nearly 3 years ago.
31 Days to Acadia

Thanks for posting this. I had searched Prince Edward and only got 1 hit from 2014 which I noticed Mrsdron had replied to indicating PEI was on Her bucket list.

I look forward to your TR as I have a feeling we will be going there.
 
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I found it.Apologies to Ozduck as it was nearly 3 years ago.
31 Days to Acadia
No worries.

PEI is well worth a visit. Very pretty beaches and countryside with some lovely little settlements. Superb food and restaurants, especially seafood, but the local vegies especially the potatoes are also great. The PEI tourism people do a great job with signage etc on the island.

We got a copy of the visitors guide & maps etc posted to us beforehand and it was very good. It is also available as a download. See Welcome to Prince Edward Island | Tourism Prince Edward Island and Visitor's Guide
 
Question mainly for @drron and @OZDUCK as you seem to have been to all the places we are looking at. MrsM changed her mind on the weekend after looking at some of @drron TR, so now UK/EU is off the table and it is just North East USA and CA.

Although we know the dates of arrival and departure I have to work out that in between stuff, MrsM also put Portland and Nova Scotia into the mix. We will have a total of 21 days on the ground, with another couple of days either side for flights there and back.

My initial thoughts are:

Portland - 3 days;
Catch the ferry to Nova Scotia, hire a car for 7 days and spend 4 days in Nova Scotia and, 3 days on PEI.
Fly to Toronto - 2 days ,
catch the train to Montreal - 4 days
fly to Vancouver - 5 days.

Do you have any advice around what durations could be increased, shortened or dropped off. I am not to fussed about Toronto (I have been there) but Mrs and MissM have not. No need to go to Quebec as we were there a couple of years ago.

Any advice appreciated from others that have been to these locations.
 
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Portland is a lovely little city and if you stay downtown near the harbour there are lots of bars and restaurants there.

I would recommend a drive out to Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse and if you like shopping Freeport is full of outlet stores. There's also some beautiful drives out to the mountains. The drive down the coast to Portsmouth is stunning and there are lots of little side roads of to places like Kennebunkport - lots of money around there
 
We spent 4 nights on PEI and so had 3 full days plus another 1/2 day. There is plenty to see and do - even without being too interested in 'Anne'. We really only saw the eastern half of the island. I think this is about the minimum time I would have spent there. Another full day would have been better.

Nova Scotia is much bigger - and often slower to drive around. We actually spent 11 nights there and only scratched the surface.

Just for the Southern Part:-

We didn't get to Yarmouth so I have nothing to offer about it. You could head north on either the west or east coast. With you limited time I would use the eastern route so you could stop in at Lunenburg & Peggy's Harbour on the way up. You will need to remember, as I said above, that the driving is very slow.

As regards other particular spots. See below :-

Halifax can probably been done in a day itself - we spent 3 nights there as it was the end of our trip and we did drives both south, to Peggys Cove , and north from there.

However we also stopped a couple of nights in Wolfville, which is in lovely scenery - the Annopolis Valley - and full of wineries and has a lot of history nearby at Grand Pre relating to the Acadia's and their 'problems' with the British. You can also drive to Halls Harbour where you can see the full tidal movements of the Bay of Fundy - we went at both low and high

Lunenburg is another lovely and colourful town. We only spent a few hours there and shortchanged it.

Peggy's Cove is an easy drive to/ from Halifax - but get there as early as possible to beat the tour buses. If possible use the coast road though Mahone Bay and stick to the coast as much as possible. Again, very slow going but some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. ( If you watch the TV Films of Jesse Stone" starring Tom Selleck you will see the scenery as it is not filmed in the supposed setting of Maine but around Mahone Bay etc.

Annapolis Royal is also a very historic town with a fort that changed hands between the British and French plus an historic graveyard with night tours - not a ghost tour but a history tour by lamplight with an Acadian descendant.

Now to the north.

Sydney on Cape Breton Island - just drive past it. It is an old mining town struggling to come to grips with its loss of work. There are interesting things there but not suitable for your time restraints.

Louisbourg, near Sydney, has a great reconstructed French Fortress full of re-enactors and artisans. Again, I think you could ignore it with your time constraints.( As an aside, we did stop there for 2 nights to visit the fortress and partake in " The Beggars Banquet" a show with lobster meals, dressing up and entertainment with old French songs. We know that the songs, at least were genuine, as we shared a table with a young woman bought up in the French countryside and she said that they were the songs song at the traditional village fairs of her childhood. All round a bit of tosh but fun.

Then you move onto the Cabot Trail. It was bit overcast when we did it but still some great views. The Skyline Trail was well worth the walk. we spent a night each at the start and end of the northern half of the trail.


Sorry to be so loquacious but you will have to choose your destinations carefully. Even driving virtually non-stop it is a full days drive just to get from Yarmouth to Charlettetown. So I guess what i am saying is that you either need more time or will have to be very strict on what you decide to visit.

Personally I would be inclined to cut a day out of Montreal. Vancouver I just don't know so will not comment.
 
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A lot of restaurants and attractions closed the day after Labor Day !!! For us it was last Monday - 2nd Sept. It doesnt matter if the weather is nice and people are out and about, the end of the "season" means ... THE END OF THE SEASON - so plan accordingly - we leave tomorrow.
Make sure you get a car with GPS, as some of the road signs are easy to miss - hidden behind big bushy trees, etc so you can easily miss a turn off.
 
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