Green Gables Heritage Place

Lucy Maud Montgomery grew up in Cavendish and used her cousins' farmhouse as the model for Green Gables in her 1908 novel; the house is furnished to match the descriptions in the book, with the Haunted Wood and Lovers Lane trails running from it. Anne of Green Gables became extraordinarily popular in Japan after a translation was published in 1952, where it is known as Akage no An, red-haired Anne, and it has been on school curricula since; Japanese visitors have made up a substantial share of the site's traffic for decades, and some come specifically to be married nearby. The site is run by Parks Canada.

What you actually see

• The farmhouse - furnished to the descriptions in the 1908 novel.
• The Haunted Wood - the wooded trail from the book, walkable from the house.
• The Japanese connection - decades of visitors from a country that took the book to heart.
• The Montgomery context - the author's own Cavendish upbringing.

When to go

June to September for full opening; the site reduces hours in shoulder months and closes in winter. Cavendish is extremely busy in July and August.

Honest expectations

Montgomery never lived in this house; it was her cousins' and served as a model. Cavendish around it is heavily commercialised with unrelated attractions. Summer crowds are heavy.

Nearby

PEI National Park lies north; Charlottetown is southeast.