Happy Wednesday friends! I am excited to spend the next couple of weeks sharing with y'all some recap posts from the girls trip that I took four years ago through New England, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia (along with some new posts from this time that I never shared also!)! I hope that it encourages you to consider taking a road trip (in part or in whole depending on your circumstances) this fall to these beautiful places in the world.
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Happy Thursday friends! Today I am so excited to share with y'all 6 important things you must know if you are planning to take a similar road trip like we did on Prince Edward Island (PEI)! These are in no particular order, but are all really important! I hope that these tips help you as you travel throughout this amazing Canadian Province!
1. There Are Only Two Ways to Drive On and Off The Island
There are only two ways to get onto Prince Edward Island if you don't fly or cruise into Charlottetown. One way is the Confederation Bridge and the other way is the Ferry. I wrote a ton about this on the blog and I hope that these posts are helpful to y'all!
Some additional posts about this:
// Confederation Bridge //
2. There is NO Charge for Getting on the Island, but You Do Have to Pay to Leave
No matter how you choose to get on the island you don't have to pay- but you will have to pay when you leave. The cost for both the bridge and the ferry are comparable- both cost approximately $50. Because we were going in a loop (starting in New England, going through New Brunswick to get to Prince Edward Island we drove across the bridge to get on the island and then took the ferry to get to Nova Scotia when we were leaving).
Some additional posts about this:
// Confederation Bridge //
3. Certain Roads Are Not All Finished and End Without Warning
One thing that we quickly learned in our adventures was that you could be driving, following the GPS and suddenly the paved road that you were on would turn to gravel or dirt ... or end. (Like the picture above shows!)
Sometimes you literally ended up in a farmer's field (like I mention in #6)! One time when this happened we were on a road that suddenly turned into dirt and ROUGH rocks and we literally couldn't go backwards. We were bumping along afraid the car was going to break (literally!) when we all of a sudden were back on a paved road!
We ended up finding out from the friendly farmer that came over to chat with us that the GPS didn't know that the road was now private property and the road for that stretch wasn't paved because he opted to not pay taxes. According to him, this is a general and common thing across certain parts of PEI.
My best advice is to understand this and get clear directions from locals if you are trying to go some place a bit "off the grid" (including some of the "Anne Places").
4. Getting to All of the "Anne Places" Can Be An Adventure Because of #3
I always wondered why on most Canadian Cruise Itineraries the only "Anne Places" that they visited were the Anne of Green Gables Museum and the Green Gables Heritage Home. The reason I discovered is really simple. Getting to all of the "Anne Places" (due to the roads) is impossible for buses. We saw buses struggle even in the two mentioned places above just because those roads were really narrow.
If you are looking to explore all things "Anne" on the Island, you will want your own car and should plan a road trip on the Island. (Especially if you are planning to get to the Anne and Diana Lighthouse!)
Some additional posts about this:
// Dalvay By the Sea //
5. People On PEI Consider Going From One End of the Island to Another "A Long Trip"
One of the things that heard a lot was how "incredible" it was that we were going to explore different parts of the island (that were more than 20 minutes away). For the people that we interacted with this was something that just isn't done on the island much. I am not sure if it is just a coincidence of who we ended up talking to, but we heard this from our hosts, a person at the restaurant in Charlottetown, our waitress in Tignish, a cashier at Walmart, a gas station attendant, and a couple of other people that we chatted with.
Y'all know that on trips I like to see as much as possible (you never know when or if you will be able to travel back to a place again) so driving an hour to see a different part of the island wasn't an extreme thing to me... especially after we were taking a long road trip. But be prepared that if you choose to do the same thing you may encounter some concerned wisdom. *smiles*
Some additional posts about this:
// The North Cape (Tingish) //
// Wind & Reef Restaurant //
// A Lighthouse Adventure //
// Charlottetown, PEI //
6. Cell Phone Service
Overall, I found cell service on the island to be better than I expected (and had been warned about prior to the trip). If you have Canadian Service on your phone you will be fine overall, but will encounter some "dead spaces" as you can imagine. I said this several times throughout my posts on our time in Prince Edward Island, but we found the people in PEI to be incredibly helpful and going out of their way to help if it was needed (even when we accidentally ended up driving through a farmers rocky field. Hahaha!)
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and read this post today. I hope that all of the posts about our one week adventure through New England, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia has inspired you to plan your own road trip in the coming years!
If you are curious about the specific details of the road trip that we took throughout New England, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia or if you are planning a similar road trip (or just want to see and dream about visiting the beauty!) I hope the information below is helpful. You can read all of the posts from the trip by clicking on the links below:
MAINE:
Camden: // Lord Camden Inn Review // Maroon Swing Dress & Boots //
// A Walk Through Downtown Camden Maine // Maine Schooner Olad Sunset Cruise //
// A Walk Through Downtown Camden Maine // Maine Schooner Olad Sunset Cruise //
Cape Neddick: // Cape Neddick Lighthouse //
General: // A Drive Through Beautiful Maine and a Lesson to Never Stop Exploring //
Portland: // Ferry Ride from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Portland, Maine //
NEW BRUNSWICK:
St. Andrews By the Sea: // A Drive Across the Ocean Floor to Minister's Island //
// A Walk through St. Andrews By the Sea // Kingsbrae Gardens //
// Purple and White Midi Dress in the Garden // The Algonquin Resort Review //
// A Walk through St. Andrews By the Sea // Kingsbrae Gardens //
// Purple and White Midi Dress in the Garden // The Algonquin Resort Review //
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND:
All Things "Anne": // Anne of Green Gables Museum // L.M. Montgomery Birthplace //
// Green Gables Heritage Home // Green Gables Walking Trails // Dalvay By the Sea //
// Montgomery Inn at Ingleside // A Look Inside Montgomery Inn at Ingleside //
// Senators Suite at Montgomery Inn at Ingleside // Anne & Gilbert the Musical //
// Green Gables Heritage Home // Green Gables Walking Trails // Dalvay By the Sea //
// Montgomery Inn at Ingleside // A Look Inside Montgomery Inn at Ingleside //
// Senators Suite at Montgomery Inn at Ingleside // Anne & Gilbert the Musical //
// The North Cape (Tingish) // Wind & Reef Restaurant // A Lighthouse Adventure //
// A Walk on the Beach Beside the Rugged Cliffs // Charlottetown, PEI //
// Sunrise Ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia //
NOVA SCOTIA:
General: // A Drive Through Stunning Nova Scotia // Sunrise Ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia //
// Ferry Ride from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Portland, Maine //
Halifax: // Halifax Citadel //
Lunenburg: // Lunenburg //
// Ferry Ride from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Portland, Maine //
Halifax: // Halifax Citadel //
Lunenburg: // Lunenburg //
Peggy's Cove: // Peggy's Cove // Peggy's Cove Lighthouse //
PS- Our time on PEI was lovely and have made some of the most beautiful watercolor prints that are now available in my new Etsy Shop, December Lane! If you love this area of the world and are interested in purchasing these prints for your home or office head on over to the shop by clicking HERE!
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