a 3-Day PEI itinerary: what to eat, see, and skip
lobster, lighthouses, and low-stress adventure (with recs and map!)
A bonus post! This didn’t fit in with my posting schedule, but I wanted to share the full itinerary of what Max and I did while in PEI over the May long weekend. Enjoy!
I love the East Coast. I love the people, the food, the ocean. It feels so welcoming and laid back, and such a different pace from Toronto. When I was in university, I thought I might want to go to medical school at Memorial in Newfoundland because I just loved the idea of being out there for years. My love of the East coast has remained, my motivation to go to medical school clearly did not.
This Victoria Day weekend, my partner Max and I decided to take a trip to Prince Edward Island together. My goal: see the sights, eat some seafood, hear some live music. His goal: eat as much lobster as humanly possible.
FYI this is a long post, so I recommend reading it on substack.com instead of in your email (if that’s where you’re reading it from right now).
the trip deets
We were gone from Friday to Monday of the long weekend. We arrived in Charlottetown, PEI at 11AM Friday, and left for Toronto at 12:30PM on Monday, giving us ~3 days on the island, and this was definitely enough time to see and experience a lot. We rented a car (a necessity, imo) from Enterprise at the airport for about $280 total.
We flew on Flair Air, round trip from Pearson Airport to Charlottetown for $300 each. This did not include a carry on, so we travelled with just our personal items (see last week’s newsletter for more on that). We stayed at the Fairholm Inn in downtown Charlottetown for just under $450 for the weekend. It’s a bed & breakfast made up of a few different historic homes in the span of one block in downtown Charlottetown. We chose the king suite with a fireplace, and we booked directly through their website so breakfast was included each day.
The weather for our trip hovered between 8-15℃ and was mostly cloudy, with a few sunny breaks and a few rain showers. If you want to see how I packed for this weather, check out last week’s post!
the itinerary at a glance
Here’s what we actually did during our time in PEI. Some of this was more exciting than others, and I’ll get into the details and what was really exceptional, what was worth it and what we might skip next time below.
Day 1:
Arrive in Charlottetown at 11AM, check into Fairholm Inn
Explore downtown Charlottetown; eat our first lobsters from Lobster on the Wharf seafood market
Stop by Cow’s Creamery at the waterfront for some classic PEI ice cream, and grab a lobster roll and fries from The Chip Shack
30 min drive to Victoria-by-the-sea, enjoy the harbour front and watching the lobster fishermen come in with their haul for the day
Head to the Charlottetown Street Feast for some drinks and live music
Enjoy a lobster supper at Water Prince Corner Store
Head to the Churchill Arms for a pint before heading to bed
Day 2:
Breakfast at the Inn at 9:45AM
Start the Points East coastal drive going clockwise- first stop is Julio’s Oyster Express for freshly cooked lobsters and an oyster tasting experience by Julio himself (a serious highlight of this trip!)
Drive another 20 minutes to Naufrage to watch the lobster boats come in and enjoy some ice cream from the Snack Shack
Head to Greenwich Park for an easy, beautiful 1hr-long hike to the red sand dunes
Drive to East Point lighthouse to enjoy the views from PEI’s easternmost point
Stop at Basin Head Provincial Park (sadly still closed this time of the year, with no access to the river or beach)
Round out the drive by stopping at Treena’s Takeout for a lobster roll and watch the ferry depart for Nova Scotia (the best lobster rolls we had this trip!)
Back in Charlottetown, head to the Street Feast again to enjoy a drink and some live music
Grab a lobster roll and scallops from Sea Rocket for late dinner
Finish off the evening at Gahan House brewery for a couple of beers
Day 3:
Breakfast at the Inn at 9:45AM
Start the day in Summerside (~45 min drive), explore Spinnaker’s Landing (not much is open until June, skip if you’re going before then!)
Get some lobsters from JMK Fish Mart (IMO the best value of all the fish markets)
Head to the Anne of Green Gables Museum to see where L. M. Montgomery grew up (this is not the Anne of Green Gables house lol- had I known this, I would have skipped this)
Drive to Thunder Cove and walk the red sand beach
Head to the actual Anne of Green Gables house and explore the area
Drive to North Rustico, stop at Doiron fish market for more lobster (the most expensive per pound of all the fish markets), Cricker’s Creamery for ice cream, and Rustico Bay Wool Sweater Co.
Finish the drive at New Glasgow Lobster Supper for, you guessed it, a lobster supper (so much food, excellent value)
Round out the evening back in Charlottetown at the Olde Dublin Pub for a pint
Day 4:
Breakfast at the Inn at 9:45AM
Head to the airport to catch your 12:30PM flight!
Day 1: Charlottetown and Victoria-by-the-sea
Once we got off the plane into the impossibly small Charlottetown airport (we deplaned directly onto the tarmac lol), we headed to pick up our rental car. We headed from the airport to our bed & breakfast, which was about a 10 minute drive, and checked in to the Fairholm Inn. We were checked into our room by Jake, a local to Charlottetown who took the time to give us some of his personal recommendations.
Once we were settled in, we walked down to Charlottetown’s harbour front and through the main street of stores and restaurants. It really struck me just how small it was (population: 39,000), but it was very quaint. We went to Founder’s Food Hall & Market, then stopped in at Lobster on the Wharf for our first taste of East Coast seafood for the trip. We din’t go to the restaurant, but instead went to their seafood market, where you could buy cooked lobster by the pound ($13/lb here). They were also selling a lobster cracker tool kit, so we bought one of those and got to work on the lobsters on a picnic table just outside the store.
After our snack(?), we walked along the waterfront and stumbled across a Cow’s Creamery, so we had to stop in for some ice cream. Then Max was on a lobster roll (haha, get it?) so we grabbed one to share from The Chip Shack. We wanted to try the infamous Dave’s Lobster, but it was still closed for the season. We continued up Queen St (the main shopping strip) back to our inn, stopping in at a few different cute shops along the way. It was still pretty early at this point, so we decided to get back in our car and head out to Victoria-by-the-sea, a small, coastal town about 30 minutes west of Charlottetown.
When we arrived in Victoria, we noticed pretty quickly that things are not really open yet in PEI. We knew that the May long weekend was kind of the beginning of the tourism season, but we didn’t quite understand what that meant- a lot of things in PEI are not open except in June, July and August. Victoria had maybe two restaurants and one store in its main strip that were open while we were there, so we decided to just walk along the harbour front and take in those classic, rustic, East Coast views.
When we got back to Charlottetown, the Street Feast street festival was going on, which was a one-block street festival with live music, drinks and food from the establishments along the block. We listened to some live music and drank some vodka sodas from Craft Beer Corner which came in really interesting flavours (orange creamsicle and “Charlottetown sling”).
For dinner, we took Jake up on one of his recommendations and went to Water Prince Corner Shop for a traditional lobster supper. This was our first of two lobster suppers, and the more “upscale” of the two. This one included: mussels or seafood chowder, a whole cooked lobster (price varies by size), and a side of potato (fries, baked or salad). For one 1lb supper and one 1.5lb supper, this meal ran us ~$160. The seafood chowder and biscuit was an absolute standout here- I’m not a fan of biscuits usually but this one won me over.
To round off our first day in PEI, we found a pub that was playing the Leafs game (the Churchill Arms) and watched them beat the Panthers to make it through to game 7 while enjoying some craft beers. This seems like a lot to do in a half day, but I can’t stress enough just how small Charlottetown, and PEI in general, is. We were moving at a very leisurely pace and were able to easily cover this much ground.
Day 2: Points East coastal drive
On our second day in PEI, we started with breakfast at the Inn, which was a sit-down breakfast and included in our stay. The breakfast was surprisingly good (I never expect much from included breakfast), but this was as good as, if not better, than some breakfast places in Toronto. The potatoes were incredible (maybe its the PEI potatoes?) and the eggs were super creamy.
We then hopped in the car and headed along the Points East coastal drive, that as the name suggests, takes you along the coast of the Eastern side of the island. We went clockwise (kind of, we didn’t exactly follow the coastal drive map above), and our first stop was Julio’s Oyster Express & Seafood Market.
As I mentioned at the top, Max’s goal for this trip was to each as much lobster as possible, so he started his day with 5(!!!!) cooked lobsters from Julio’s, which he ate on a picnic table out back. Then, we went back into the store and Julio himself gave us an exceptional tasting experience of 4 different oyster varietals from around Prince Edward Island. We learned where they came from, how they were cultivated, why some taste saltier than others (it has to do with the time of day they were harvested!) and so much more. I would highly recommend making this stop if you’re heading out this way.
After fuelling up on seafood, we made our way to the town of Naufrage at the suggestion of Julio, to watch the lobster fishermen bring in their hauls from the morning. We also got ice cream from the Snack Shack, which was shockingly good for a place that didn’t specialize in ice cream, and saw a bald eagle on the beach! It was huge in real life, and so close to us. A really cool experience.
Then we headed backwards a little bit to get to Greenwich Park, a beautiful National Park along the northern coast of PEI. We hiked the Greenwich Dunes trail, a 4.6 km return trail thats marked as “moderate” but is actually a very easy, very flat trail with beautiful views of the dunes, and that leads you right to the beach.
After our hike, we made our way to the Easternmost point of the island to check out the views of the East Point lighthouse. There really wasn’t much around, and the store in the lighthouse was still just opening up for the season, but we spent some time enjoying the sights and we saw a den of baby foxes! After the lighthouse, we made a stop at Basin Head Provincial Park, but unfortunately it was still closed for the season, and the pathways leading down to the river and beach were roped off.
By this point, we had done quite a bit of driving (each place we stopped at is about 30 min- 1 hour apart from each other), and we were getting a bit hungry. We got back in the car and headed to our final stop on the drive- Treena’s Takeout at Wood Island. It’s basically in the ferry terminal, with nothing else around except a few picnic tables. We ordered our lobster rolls and sat at one of those tables to watch the ferry departing for Nova Scotia. The sun started coming out, the lobster rolls were FULL of lobster, and overall it was a great way to end the drive (almost- we still had to get back to Charlottetown).
Back in Charlottetown, the Street Feast was still going on so we grabbed a drink and listened to some more live music (a pop cover band this time) before making our way to Sea Rocket for a late dinner. Max had (yet another) lobster roll, and I got their kale Caesar salad with scallops. Both were super good, if a bit on the pricier side (this is a more upscale restaurant). Then, as per usual, we found our way to a pub for a pint. This time we tried Gahan House, a microbrewery with a lot of really good beer and cider options.
Day 3: Central coastal drive
On our final full day in PEI, we sort of followed yet another popular coastal drive, this time in the centre of the island. We once again started with breakfast at the Inn, which was just as good as the day before. Then, we set off for our first stop of the day: Summerside.
Summerside is the second largest city in the province (with a population of 16,000), and we wanted to check it out to see Spinnaker’s Landing, a little market by the water, and to go to a couple more fish markets so Max could get his lobster fix. Unfortunately, the curse of nothing being open in May struck again, as Spinnaker’s Landing was completely closed except for one store. We left and drove to JMK Fish Mart to get Max his first lobster of the day, and we really enjoyed this spot. The workers were friendly, the lobster was the cheapest we encountered (~$10/lb), and they had had a seating area inside. It was sort of a fish market/restaurant hybrid, and they served up hot cooked mussels, lobster rolls and more in addition to cooked and raw seafood to go.
After lunch, we made our way to the Anne of Green Gables Museum. Here’s where I made a mistake in my research: I thought this was the Anne of Green Gables House (it is not), and was really confused when I pulled up old childhood photos of me in front of the Anne of Green Gables house that really looked nothing like this one. We realized after paying for a ticket and walking around the museum that there is, in fact, another Anne of Green Gables site. All of that aside, if you are generally a Lucy Maud Montgomery fan, the Museum was actually the home she grew up in and contained a lot of artifacts from her life. The tickets were cheap ($9), but another hot tip that we didn’t know: If you go to the Anne of Green Gables House first, you can buy a combo ticket that gets you access to both the House and Museum for $12. Since we did it the other way around, we paid $9 for the Museum and an additional $7.25 for the House.
In between the Anne of Green Gables stops, we made our way to Thunder Cove. This used to be home to the infamous Teacup Rock, but it was destroyed by tropical storm Fiona. We knew that going in, and Thunder Cove was still a nice stop with a long stretch of red sand beach and cliffs to walk along. Once we had our fill of beach walking, we made our way to the Anne of Green Gables House.
The House is a National Historic Site protected by the government of Canada. It’s the house that L. M. Montgomery’s cousins lived in, and the one she based Anne of Green Gables on. On the grounds, you can go into the house, the barn, and check out the information centre and tearoom. There’s also a trail through the woods that you can walk in about 15 minutes. Again, if you’re a big Anne fan, this is the spot for you (even if you’re not, it’s worth the $7 admission price).
Next, we got back in the car and drove to North Rustico on the north shore of the island. We stopped at Doiron Fish Market for yet another lobster for Max (if you’re keeping track, he’s had 15.5 lbs of lobster at this point in the trip). Doiron was definitely more expensive than JMK (~$14/lb) and didn’t have the same indoor seating arrangement. I got ice cream from Cricker’s Creamery around the corner, and we sat in a park to have our snack. Then we perused the Rustico Bay Wool Sweater Co., a cute little store stocked full of sweaters, socks, hats and mitts made of all different kinds of yarn.
We had one final stop to make on this drive: a traditional lobster supper joint called New Glasgow Lobster Suppers. At 5:30PM, the parking lot was already full (where we all these people during the day??) and the overflow lots were already in use. New Glasgow is as traditional as it gets: a huge room full of family-style banquet tables. You pay for your dinner up front at the hostess stand (it’s more like a reception desk), and you’re given tickets that correspond to the dinner you chose. They have non-lobster options, but that’s not why you go. I got the 1lb dinner, Max got the 1.5lb, and in total it was $135 (not including tip, which is cash only, at the table).
The real kicker here is everything that’s included in your dinner price: fresh baked buns, seafood chowder, an entire bucket of steamed mussels, three types of salad (garden, coleslaw, potato), your lobster, and finally, choice of dessert (we both got the lemon meringue pie, made in house, with an absolutely insane meringue on top). You’re also allowed seconds of anything except the lobster if you want it (I don’t know how anyone can do this, but I applaud you if you can). This is a PEI establishment! They even tie on your plastic lobster bib for you when you sit down!
Now that we were basically rolling out of the restaurant, we got back in the car and drove back to Charlottetown in time to find a pub with a TV so we could watch the Leafs lose spectacularly in game 7. Aside from the tragic loss, we had a great time at the Olde Dublin Pub, where the game was being played on a projector screen.
Day 4: Back to reality
The next morning, we packed up our backpacks and made our way to the dining room for one final breakfast at the Inn. After checking out, we returned our car to the airport and got on our flight back to Toronto at 12:30PM.
This was a really long post, but I wanted to give as much detail as I could about what we did, saw and ate in PEI. It was a really relaxing, slow-paced trip, and 3 days was the perfect amount of time. I think if we were to do it again, I would wait until July or August to really experience PEI at it’s prime. A lot of the heavy hitter seafood shacks (like Richard’s and Dave’s), as well as a lot of stores and restaurants, weren’t open for the season yet. We also really wanted to go on some sort of fishing or clamming adventure, but again, none of them were operational in May.
Overall, PEI is well worth a long weekend trip! It’s easy to get around, the locals are incredibly friendly, and if you like seafood, you can definitely get your fix here. The natural views and wildlife were beautiful, I only wish I got to see it in full force. I guess that just means we will have to go back!
You can check out my list of places to see in PEI here, which includes places we went to and a bunch that we didn’t get to this time around.
See you next thursday!
jules