Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is small enough to drive across in an afternoon and gentle in a way the rest of Atlantic Canada is not: low rolling farmland in an intense green, cut by soil and cliffs of a deep iron red, with beaches of red and white sand and no hills to speak of. It is best known internationally for Anne of Green Gables, written here and set here, with the farmhouse that inspired it preserved and visited by readers from around the world, particularly from Japan. The food is the other reason to come: Malpeque oysters, lobster suppers served in church halls and community centres, and potatoes that the island builds an identity around. The Confederation Trail runs the length of the island on an old railway bed, flat and easy cycling.

History

The island, Epekwitk or Abegweit, land cradled on the waves, is part of Mi'kma'ki, the Mi'kmaw homeland, in the district of Epekwitk aq Piktuk, and Mi'kmaw legend says that Glooscap made it as his favourite island. Jacques Cartier was the first known European to see it, France claimed it in 1604 as Île Saint-Jean, part of Acadia, and it passed to Britain in 1763; it became a separate colony in 1769 and in 1798 was renamed after Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, father of the future Queen Victoria (Wikipedia, Prince Edward Island).

Highlights

• The red cliffs and beaches - iron-red sandstone against green fields and blue sea.
• Green Gables - the farmhouse behind the novels, at Cavendish.
• Lobster suppers and Malpeque oysters - the island's food, often in community halls.
• The Confederation Trail - flat cycling the length of the island on an old rail bed.

When to go

June to October is the season, with July and August warmest and busiest and September lovely and quieter; much of the island's tourism shuts down from November to May. Lobster season runs in spring and again in autumn depending on the zone.

Practical notes

It is genuinely seasonal, and outside summer many restaurants, inns and attractions simply close. Cavendish around Green Gables has grown a strip of commercial attractions that jars with the books. The water is cold, though warmer than elsewhere in Atlantic Canada. It is small, and three or four days covers it comfortably.

Nearby

The Confederation Bridge links to New Brunswick; Nova Scotia is a ferry ride southeast.