Journey to the East(ern Canada) - Prince Edward Island
Jun 24, 2025
12 minute read
While my stay in Moncton was as bare-bones as it gets, my next four nights would take me to the charming little island of Prince Edward Island, PEI for short. Most people tend to overlook this province (alongside the northern provinces and perhaps Newfoundland). Yet, this small community is where I conversed with the most people, both inside and outside the hostel. I really appreciate the close-knit community of a small city or medium town, where people say good morning to each other during walks, and identifying yourself by your city actually feels meaningful. At least that's what I like to imagine the locals here think about their island.
Day 0 - Maritime Bus
Within the Atlantic provinces, the only real shuttle service is Maritime Bus. Two things make them stand out over Flixbus and Orleans Express: they ship mail alongside passengers, and their hub and spoke style network. I imagine since the population of these provinces is sparse and far apart, Maritime Bus couldn't rely on just driving between major cities for their business. In my case, both of my trips to PEI and Nova Scotia stopped in Amherst, as a transfer hub for busses running across borders. Jumping between smaller towns, the bus terminals were usually just parking lots next to VIA stations, or even a gas station like in Amherst.
The quality of the buses themselves swung from brand new interiors, to dust flying out of the seat when sat on. The older buses did the job don't get me wrong, I just miss the legroom and tray table from my previous trips. The drive itself went smoothly, with this wicked view of the big bridge to PEI.
Exiting the Charlottetown bus station, I immediately realize that there is no sidewalk and I have to cross the street. A little foreshadowing of my transit experience. The walk itself was about 20 minutes, still dragging and carrying my broken suitcase, until I reached my hostel. A cozy house, refurbished into a compact living space. I stayed in the attic, where I hit the slanted roof/ceiling at least a dozen times during my stay.
With some time before sunset, I went to explore the walkway around the harbor. The first thing I encountered was the Founder's Food Hall and Market, an old brick warehouse refurbished for multiple vendors and stalls. Spacious lawn with comfy chairs and performers, and even a second floor with sodas and a bar. From all the good-looking options for dinner, yeah there was no competition -- of course I had to try the sushi burrito. What a stupid, yet ingenious idea (that actually tasted alright).
Getting back onto the walk I mentioned two paragraphs ago, strolling through the quiet boardwalk surrounded by natural beauty and sounds felt like a stressful day melting away into tranquility. Watching the sparse crowd of tourists and locals stroll about Confederation Park, watching the bees fly among the colorful flowers, and Fishermen at the port staring off into the horizon, helped slow down my bustling city grindset into one where I no longer feared wasting time getting lost among the land. Charlottetown is a small place, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of PEI one bit.
It also slipped my mind that the Cow's Ice Cream company is from PEI, seeing that they have locations in every town in PEI, but sparsely anywhere else in Canada. I had only been to the one in Banff, but may as well try the ice cream in their hometown. Of course, it was damn good, but surprisingly not the best I had in PEI. Foreshadowing truly is the literacy device of all time.
Day 1 - Charlottetown
I started my morning breakfast by meeting a kind fellow from Quebec who drove me to Saturday's farmer's market, and out of all the farmer's markets I've been to, this one definitely felt the most "farmers". Every booth was a small business run by 1-3 people selling all kinds of locally produced foods, sauces, arts, and whatever else kinds of goods. This was also the busiest place I'd been in, with droves of people and a massive parking lot completely filled. Good options for lunch as well, especially from the ethnic food stalls.
I really did like PEI, which is why I only have two real complaints. I'll address the second complaint on day 2, but my biggest gripe partially with Charlottetown is the absurd amount of cars in the city. For such a small and cozy town, their traffic is proportionally worse than the bigger metropolises I've visited. Almost every intersection had a car waiting on me, and lights took annoyingly long to change just so I could cross a two-lane street with a 10cm bike curb. My biggest shock though was the street parking, which is done diagonally to fit as many cars as possible along every major street where people eat and shop. It's pretty easy to understand why though, every major government and private headquarters is probably in Charlottetown, so all the people living in remote communities need to drive in for their business. Local transit does exist, but from all the Walmart ass sized parking lots at every shopping center, it's clear that all the residents, where the suburbs are still a good half-hour walk away from downtown, rely on driving to get around. How can I blame them when this was the walk I took to get back downtown!
You can see this clearly in the Confederation Mall which was virtually empty, but parking was completely occupied.
Nevertheless, I was gonna explore the entire town in one day on foot. The city itself has a couple of walking routes, which can cover the entire downtown core and Victoria Park before sunset. I started out West to complete the boardwalk that spans all of Charlottetown's coast. Through the multiple neighborhoods I saw, there's a clear pattern of richer residents living further out from the center, and the small condos make way for giant lake houses.
The walk along the boardwalk towards Victoria Park looked perfect. No clouds, a nice breeze, perfect view of the water, quite hot, sunscreen needed. You know you're in a good place when all you wanna do is sit down and stay where you are just a bit longer.
Victoria Park itself was also really nice, with open fields for playgrounds, pitches for various sports, and trails within dense forest that felt like I was back at a national park. It's a nice area to picnic/hang out in, with limited people and a very peaceful environment.
Cutting through the nearby government buildings and back towards the harbor, I then walked along the boardwalk going East towards the city. The scenery here changes from big parks to apartment buildings and service roads, but still along the coast. At this point in time, students are graduating and cruise boats haven't started arriving yet, so many of the tourist buildings aren't open. Although I much prefer the quieter PEI over the rush hour, it's just a vibe of walking alone next to the ocean.
Eventually, the boardwalk ends abruptly, and I have to navigate around private properties to get back to the harbor. From the concrete port to the Founder's market is where most of the foot traffic and activities are. There's this dock area filled with food stalls and a floating patio with benches and swings. Kinda just feeling the vibes, I spent a hefty amount on a lobster roll, the big-name dish in the Maritime. Honestly, I find that the island known for its plentiful seafood industry charges 50% more for seafood dishes while being somehow cheaper in landlocked provinces where all seafood is imported, to be so backward.
Today (June 21), was also National Indigenous Peoples Day. Confederation Park was filled with spectators watching traditional dances and shopping for artisan goods. The First Peoples of North America was a vast collection of tribes connected through shared beliefs about nature and their way of living. Traveling across the provinces let me see a whole swatch of different groups, each with their own language, traditions, and stories of the past. It really helped me emphasize more their struggles and activist movements for treaty rights and preserving the culture.
Day 2 - Cavendish
Since I had other plans today, I couldn't attend the diversity festival in Charlottetown, but wanted to prop up for the good work. Being such a small island with a fraction of Canada's population, they manage to hold yearly diversity festivals celebrating a respectable variety of cultures. Yesterday I caught these people in a photoshoot.
My actual plan was to visit the Northern beaches and parks of Cavendish, an hour's drive across the island. Here's where I really appreciated PEI's and their T3Transit's commitment to improving public transit, because besides the $2 fares, they operate shuttle busses that run throughout all of PEI but are part of the transit network. So for just $2, I could take the bus from downtown to Royalty Crossing Mall, then transfer to a bus that'll take me across the entire island, all in one trip! They also use brand new Maritime busses, the big shuttle busses I rode to get from Moncton to Charlottetown, so seating is beyond comfortable to the point I wonder why they don't use these nice busses in the busier cross provincial routes. Wasn't complaining though, I got a nice sightseeing tour across the farmlands and remote communities.
For anyone who also wants to follow my path, you do have to book these remote buses ahead of time (even though they are virtually empty). Transfers are also done over the radio, so you need to let the bus driver know you want to transfer and they'll tell the other drivers your intentions. It's a very interesting system, and amusingly chaotic to sit right at the front and listen to the radio chatter.
Cavendish, a national park, is known for its beaches, dunes, and a small community of amusement parks and sites. My bus goes through multiple stops along the boardwalk before reaching the main beach, where I got off at the first stop. While I didn't go in myself, the Ripely's Believe it or Not museum showcases a whole bunch of fringe and strange exhibits and is one of four exhibits in this part of Cavendish. Just look at the giant transformer and driftwood statue at the front!
To get to the beach, I had to walk along the busy road, which the government clearly knew since they built a wooden sidewalk to the nearest parking lot and foothold of the national park. Right at the entrance of the main beach is a washroom and cafe, with access to the sands by a short boardwalk. This place is significant because of the sand dunes right behind the beach and is protected for conservation. There is an endangered species of birds that nest in the area, and the tip of the coast is closed off. Physically, the dunes are a big ridge that separates the view of the waters from the parking lot, covered in special foliage not found anywhere else.
The trails themselves are very beginner-friendly and great for biking. In fact, the two other nearby national parks are connected by one long coastal trail and takes the whole day by foot to cross. The main trail goes from the camping site to the end of the sand dunes, across a lake, and onto this vantage point. By jumping the short fence, I climbed along the rock cliffs and got a pleasant view of the coast and the unique wildlife of PEI.
Turning the other way, I enter the Cavendish campsite and cut through towards another trail that loops around the bay. Some nearby signs describe how many of the pine trees were destroyed by a hurricane, and how new conservation efforts involve replacing the old forest with stronger, native trees. Hence why many areas along the trail are filled with logs and dead trees.
I did turn around early, as there were warnings for coyotes in the area. Figured it wasn't worth the risk since I was solo and without any equipment. The forest further into the trail was incredibly dense, so much so that I couldn't see into the treeline. You could film horror movies in those woods.
Oh. It did start raining at this point, and that is when I decided to walk along the beach back to the cafe and washroom. The rocks here were dyed a signature shade of red, and many seashells were buried in the sand. Many shells were also cracked, and I wonder how many red stains were actually blood from unfortunate visitors. When the rain really started to intensify, I appreciated my foresight to bring a jacket, but not a pair of socks when I failed to jump over a stream and ended up walking barefoot along the shell-laced sands.
After using my downtime before my bus to dry off as much as possible, I make it back to Royalty Crossing only to discover that the buses stop running at 5pm on Sundays. Behold, my second complaint! To save you the hassle of learning this the hard way, the buses stop running in the evening, and even earlier on Weekends. There is also no Uber in Charlottetown, so planning your route is important if you don't plan on getting stranded. They apparently have their own ride-share service, but I ended up googling and calling a taxi back to the hostel. It cost $10.25 and only a minor amount of getting soaked while waiting.
Day 3 - Summerside
Today I booked the same service for a shuttle to Summerside. It only operates on the Weekdays, with slightly more frequency. I will say again, that was a very cost-effective way to sightsee rural PEI, especially now that I was traveling down the busier highway.
Summerside itself is the second biggest city in PEI, but still a small town I could walk through in an hour. They have a boardwalk that stretches the entire length of their coast, a cozy little downtown, and a few seafood factories and markets at the ports.
I definitely took my time here, as I wasn't in a rush to explore everything. I really appreciated the "Adirondack" chair spread along the boardwalk, making for a really nice view to relax too. They got these red chairs which are iconic to Canada. They're in basically every sightseeing spot in cities and natural wonders
And finally, a special shout-out is deserved to Holden's Ice Cream, which managed to be the best ice cream at the best price I've ever had! $11 for 4 scoops, all of which were handmade and delicious. Everything sold had taxes prepared, and they even have a loyalty program just because why not at this point. Their backyard was also a gorgeous garden and the perfect place for 4 scoops of ice cream btw. Cow's Ice Cream would probably be half the scoops for close to the same price (with taxes). They even had my favorite soda, with special flavors not imported into my home province, and somehow cheaper too!
I was in a stellar mood after that (and really hungry), so I went to yet another famous seafood shop in Charlottetown. From what I heard from fellow visitors, The Water Prince Corner Shop probably serves the best seafood chowder, lobster rolls, and seafood dishes in the city. I testify to the chowder and my 1 lb lobster dinner, which was just an entire lobster cooked and served on the spot. Very pricy, probably the most expensive food one could get, but for a one-off experience -- simply peak. I took an hour to really enjoy myself.
Day 4 - Off to Halifax
Having already explored most of the city and the food, I finally slowed down a bit and just spent the morning writing at the waterfront. As I've insisted many times already, PEI was a wonderful place to explore. A beautiful island that felt welcoming as a small and interconnected community. If I ever revisit again, I'd rent a SUV and road trip across the whole island. The weather is good for outdoor adventures, and plenty safe enough for me to consider it.
Props up to the birthplace of Canada! The province where the initial Confederation meetings were held and those eternal bragging rights plastered across PEI's monuments.