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PEI 10 Day Travel Guide

Posted on Oct 9, 2022

Prelude

For a 10 day packing list for September, check out this post. I’ll have an update on how that list worked for me sometime in the future.

💡 I started writing out the entire 10 day travel plan (with commentary) as a single post, except it got really long and I was getting antsy. So like we say a lot in software development... ship early, ship often. I'll start with a very barebones overview for each day, and then slowly trickle out the more detailed commentary for each day, and update this post with links as I publish.

When we mentioned that we were heading to PEI for 10 days, everyone remarked that 10 days is a lot of time to spend in PEI. I don’t know if they were just bad at finding things to do, but we found that 10 days was If you plan on exploring the entire island, you must rent a car. There’s transit (bus) in Charlottetown but that’s about it. Also, book at least two months in advance. When I checked the PEI subreddit, locals were warning tourists that car rentals might be scarce if you wait until the last minute.

Traveling in the “off season”

PEI has a distinct tourist season - June to the first Monday of September. In September, a lot of the most touristy, outside-of-Charlottetown things close after Labour Day. However not all the Google locations reflected those seasonal closures right away. If you’re traveling outside of Charlottetown for the full day, call ahead to a few restaurants in the area, or just pack a meal and snacks. Despite checking websites in advance, we were misled to think that some of the boardwalks (Mariner’s Cove) would still be open albeit with reduced hours, but they were actually closed. Some may be partially open, with a reduced number of shops and restaurants available with the rest closed for the season. We figured what with the Shellfish Festival and the Fall Flavours Culinary Festival both happening in September that more would be open, but sadly that was not the case.

Planning the trip

First, determine what your interests are - food, water sports, bike tours, fishing, hiking and camping, farms, museums, golf, arts and threatre, brewery and winery tours… the list goes on. I had a few primary “MUST-DO"s on my list: eat lobster, eat potatoes, buy cool local soaps, and check out Anne of Green Gables stuff. Secondary “cool if I do, fine if I don’t” were unique museums, hikes, winery and brewery tours, window shopping and checking out lighthouses. My partner only cared about eating lobster, so no compromises were needed!

We started planning our trip early, and preregistered for a couple of events. The locations of those events determined what we were doing that day. Our Downtown trips were determined by when there was free parking (after 6pm on weekdays and all the time on weekends), though there are a few parkades around the area and the prices are extremely reasonable, compared to Downtown Toronto. The downtown is fairly small and walkable, so two full day trips gave us plenty of time to hit up the small shops, try out different restaurants, and attend a few scheduled events.

Additionally, I am obsessed with the idea of farmers markets, and unfortunately most of the ones where I live are on a weekday… when I’m working. So I used this trip as a chance to check out some farmers markets, which often featured crafts, jewelery, knitwear and homemade natural skincare and candles in addition to fresh produce, honey, preserves and jerky and other foods.

So if you’re also into Farmer’s Markets, these are the days they’re open (usually May/June - September).

We stayed at the Hampton by Hilton for the entirety of the trip, which was near a shopping plaza in one direction and the big COWS Creamery in the other, north of Charlottetown. This gave us a few meal options when we failed to find an open restaurant on our day trip, but didn’t want to go all the way to Downtown Charlottetown for a sitdown meal (fast food and TV in the hotel FTW!) Because I wanted to be able to workout without having to find a local gym, I opted for a chain hotel rather than one of those boutique places every travel person raves about… also because I didn’t have 5k to drop on just the hotel for 10 days.

10 day itinerary

Legend:

🦞 Lobster 🥔 Potato 🛍️ Shopping 😋 Food 📸 Scenic🍦 Ice cream 🏛️ Museum 🧼 Soap 🐐 Farm animals 🍷 Alcohol

Travel Day

A Cows Cow greets you at the Charlottetown Airport. Downtown Charlottetown (pedestrian friendly Richmond St) and food from Row House Lobster Co.

  • Pick up rental car and check into hotel
  • Grab a meal downtown (free parking after 6pm), we went to Row House Lobster Co. 🦞

Anne of Green Gables and Cavendish Day

1. Birthplace of LMM 2. Anne of Green Gables Museum 3. Hostetters Viewscape 4. Green Gables Heritage Centre 5. Montgomery Park 6. Site of LMM’s Cavendish Home 7. Cavendish Community Cemetery

Souris Day (Lobster Lovers)

Lobster row from the Lobster Shack, red sand beaches, potato fudge from Oh Fudge!, Souris Lighthouse views, Basin Head Fisheries Museum and lobster and vibes on the Lobster Lovers outing

Central Coastal Farm Day

Fake cow and ground beef at the Milky Way plaza (and lobster supper and dessert). Real cows at Honey Island Wine Company (and lobster supper starters).

Farmer’s Market Day

St Dunstan’s Basilica, Downtown Charlottetown Farmers Market, COWs ice cream and hopping at one of the many cute shops with local goods. Lunch at Datcha at the Founders Food Hall for a taste of French Caribbean food. Dinner at DJ’s Chinese Cuisine for authentic Chinese food and dimsum.

Another Lobster Based Day

Great Canadian Soap Company, Deep Roots Distillery, Richards for lobster rolls and burger, Covehead Harbour Lighthouse and beach, The Soap Drawer (before we headed out) and finishing the day off with another lobster meal at Fisherman’s Wharf

Beach day

Basin Head Provincial Park beach day, followed by food at Red Neils and some insider information from the locals on the tuna boats heading back

Charlottetown Day (arts and culture)

Farmer’s Market, Anne and Gilbert Musical, and more eating and walking around downtown

North Cape Coastal Drive

The Canadian Potato Museum, Bottle Houses and another lighthouse Note: many places were closed for the season, so they aren’t included here :(

Flying out day