One Week in Prince Edward Island

What You Should Know Before Going On A Prince Edward Island Tour

Best Time of Year to Visit Prince Edward Island

If you ask an islander what the best time to visit their precious Prince Edward Island is, they’ll almost certainly say, “Anytime!” While this gives some flexibility to your PEI tour planning, let’s narrow it down a bit. 

If you’re hoping to vacation in Prince Edward Island during warm weather, to take advantage of swimming, hiking, cycling and more, head to the island in July and August. Want to tee off? Aim for September, the peak season for PEI golf tours. 

Prince Edward Island food tours are best planned from late August to early October to take advantage of events celebrating the cuisine of the island. Hyper-local seafood is, of course, the star of the show, including an annual shellfish festival in Charlottetown in September. 

Don’t be afraid to consider a winter vacation in PEI - with the colder weather come hot events, like the WinterDine festival, promoting local chefs, and the Jack Frost WinterFest Festival in February. 

Getting to Prince Edward Island

How do you get to Prince Edward Island? It’s a valid question for a tiny little maritime province. However, there are actually several easy ways to arrive on PEI, by land, sea and sky. 

Fly to Charlottetown PEI to start your island vacation from Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa or Toronto. With a central island location, the Charlottetown Airport is perfectly placed as a home base for your PEI guided tour. 

Considering a self-drive tour of PEI? The island is perfectly shaped for a circuit tour. Drive onto the Northumberland ferry at Caribou, Nova Scotia, and arrive in Wood Islands on Prince Edward Island. The crossing takes approximately 75 minutes. From here, you can cruise into Charlottetown, on to Red Sands Shore and Green Gables Shore, then finish up with a drive along the North Cape Coastal Drive before departing the island on the Confederation Bridge. 

If you’re taking the ferry, keep in mind that the boats run between May and late December. Check with your PEI tour operator for the latest schedules and fare information. 

Or, drive to and from Prince Edward Island along the magnificent eight-mile Confederation Bridge - it takes approximately 10 minutes. This engineering marvel connects Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick. Take a moment before meeting up with your guided tour, or embarking on your self-driving tour, and stop at the Gateway Village visitor center. 

Weather in PEI 

With four distinct seasons, Prince Edward Island vacations demand that you pay attention to the expected weather and dress and pack appropriately. Thanks to ample sun and rain across all seasons, the growing season is delightfully long on the island - a bonus for farmers and for your farm-to-table dining tastes. 

Believe it or not, there isn’t nearly as much fog on PEI as there is on the other Maritime Provinces - actually about one-third as many gray days at Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The surrounding waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Northumberland Strait keep the summers warm and the winters tolerable. 

Spring on Prince Edward Island is a lovely time for a vacation as the ground and water warm up and everything is in bloom. For hotter weather, schedule your guided PEI tour for summer - it’s warm enough to want to swim at the island’s bountiful beaches, yet rarely humid due to persistent breezes. 

Plan a fall Maritime Province vacation for Technicolor leaf colors - leaf-peeping tours are super popular during these months, as the mercury starts to drop. And then on to winter, when brilliantly blue skies set off glistening white snow, making the whole island look like a winter wonderland. 

What to Pack for a PEI Vacation 

What you will choose to pack for your Prince Edward Island guided tour will depend on your chosen season of travel. Summer versus winter will have fairly obvious differences in what you bring, but those in-between seasons of spring and fall can be tricky. One word: layers. 

Here’s a starter packing list for your Prince Edward Island tour (these items would also apply to other Maritime Province trips, including Nova Scotia and New Brunswick):

• Comfortable walking shoes 
• Non-cotton layers (t-shirt and long-sleeve)
• Waterproof jacket
• Casual pants for around town
• Hiking pants
• Sweatshirts or sweaters
• Hiking socks
• Hat (sun and warm weather)
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses 
• Insect repellent
• Bathing suit and flip flops (summer) 
• Baby wipes (especially useful after eating all that fish and chips!)
• Camera or smart phone
• Daypack
• Reusable water bottle
• Hiking poles

Popular Tour Routes on Prince Edward Island

You might be tempted to look for a Prince Edward Island tour that visits the entire island, considering its small size. If you have a couple weeks, go for it. If you’re pressed for time, you can still have an immersive PEI experience. Some of the most popular PEI tour routes include:

1. North Cape Coastal Drive

Highlights include introductions to Acadian and native Mi’kmaq cultures, The West Point Lighthouse, seaside villages and Summerside, Prince Edward Island’s second-largest city. Walk through houses made of glass bottles, take in an authentic Acadian music show, stop at the Canadian Potato Museum and take a swim at Cedar Dunes Provincial Park.

Prince Edward Island nature tours include Black Marsh Nature Trail, Kildare Capes and its red cliffs and Lennox Island, where you can pick blueberries and learn about Mi’kmaq traditions from local experts. And lastly, don’t miss one of the best tastes of PEI, the island’s famous Malpeque Oysters. 

2. Central Coastal Drive

The sandstone cliffs that line Northumberland Strait are the top sight of this stunning PEI ocean drive along the northern side of the island. Choose from a Red Sands Shore region tour or a Green Gables Shore tour. Take an iconic photo from the Confederation Bridge from the North Carleton scenic lookout.

Swim at Chelton Beach provincial Park. Visit French River fishing village and head off-the-beaten-path in PEI to the Cape Tryon Lighthouse. Play golf in Cavendish. Channel your inner Anne at Green Gables Heritage Place - one of the top sightseeing attractions in Prince Edward Island. Marvel at the red cliffs and sand dunes of Prince Edward Island National Park.

Go fishing in North Rustico. And take a guided tour of historic Charlottetown, Birthplace of Confederation. Learn about PEI history from your tour guide at Skmaqn – Port-la-Joye – Fort Amherst National Historic Site. 

3. Red Sands Shore

Red Sands Shore tours showcase one of the most iconic sights of Prince Edward Island, its red beaches and cliffs. After arriving on the island over the Confederation Bridge, head to North Carleton for a picture-perfect view of this marvelous feat of engineering.

Visit Victoria-by-the-Sea, one of PEI’s prettiest village and brimming with galleries, art studios, theaters, restaurants and more. Look for guided PEI tours that include drives along the Scenic Heritage Roads, unpaved roads that take you back in time and into the depths of the island. 

4. Green Gables Shore

Whether or not you’re an Anna of Green Gables devotee, the Green Gables Shore is a top tour location on Prince Edward Island. You’ll find an incredible landscape punctuated by white-sand beaches, verdant farmland and red sandstone cliffs. Much of the coastline here is protected as part of PEI National Park.

There is a multitude of golf courses in Green Gables Shore - more than 11, actually, as well as family-friendly Cavendish with amusement parks and mini-golf. Adventure travelers in PEI enjoy tours of North Rustico, where there is ample opportunity for deep-sea fishing, canoeing and kayaking. 

5. Points East Coastal Drive

Nearly 300 miles of Prince Edward Island sightseeing attractions await along this charming drive. Life slows down here - take the time to drink in the views and breathe in the ocean air. Along this popular route, there are 13 golf courses, 12 provincial parks, a national park, 50 beaches, 6 lighthouses, 6 Scenic Heritage Roads, 34 historical and cultural sites and more than 100 restaurants.

Learn about PEI history at Orwell Corner Historic Village or Roma at Three Rivers National Historic Site. Visit PEI’s oldest lighthouse, Point Prim Lighthouse. Visit the lighthouse that received some of the Titanic’s very first distress calls - Cape Bear Lighthouse (keep an eye out for seals and porpoises, just off shore!).

Snap photographs of PEI’s prettiest landscapes, including coastal cliffs, beaches, farmland and rivers, near Murray Harbour. Don’t miss the popular white-sand beach on PEI, on Panmure Island. Connect to the famous Confederation Trail from the boardwalk along the Montague waterfront.

And be sure to wiggle your toes in the most famous beach sand in Prince Edward Island - at Basin Head Provincial Park. It’s called “singing sands” for a reason! Experience the parabolic dune system at Greenwich in PEI National Park and take a guided tour of East Point Lighthouse. 

Who Will Enjoy Traveling to PEI?

Anyone who enjoys beautiful landscapes, vast ocean views, history, cuisine, outdoor adventure and Anne of Green Gables (though not a requirement) will find much to love on a Prince Edward Island guided tour. 

History buffs can tour original family homesteads, including Orwell Corner Historic Village, the famous Anne of Green Gables Heritage Place and the MacPhail Homestead. 

Outdoor adventure enthusiasts traveling to PEI can canoe, hike, bike, swim, kayak, fish and more along protected trails, at white-sand beaches and within Prince Edward Island National Park.

Gastronomy tours of Prince Edward Island celebrate the maritime province’s abundant fresh seafood and farm fare. Gourmets call this “Canada’s Food Island” and for good reason. Feast on everything from lobster and oysters to vegetables and dairy products fresh from the farm - perhaps even a farm your PEI cycling tour passed earlier that day! 

Prince Edward Island is incredibly family-friendly with its countless beaches, sand dunes and cool red sandstone cliffs. What kid won’t want to dig in red sand?