Exploring PEI: Final Thoughts on My Island Walk

I had a fabulous time during my “not quite” Island Walk. Sure, I wish I could have actually followed the route I’d planned and done that part of the Island Walk properly but one can’t control nature and I had a lovely multi-day walk regardless. It was super relaxing exploring the beaches and red dirt roads, and following new my “create your own adventure” route allowed me to see PEI. I highly recommend visiting PEI and if you’re a walker/hiker, doing the Island Walk (or portions of it like I did if you don’t have 32 days to complete the entire route). And yes, I plan to go back! I really want to walk the Confederation Trail, the little bits I saw just reinforced my desire to walk it end to end.

There are more links in this post than I would normally do as I will be linking to each place I recommend (the first time I mention them only) so you can check them out if you’re interested.

Places I stayed that I recommend?

I would recommend staying at any/all of the places I stayed as all were great. They were all friendly, clean and perfectly located for walking the Island Walk, or in the case of the two in Charlottetown, perfectly located for exploring the city (and the Island Walk). Here’s where I stayed:

• The Hotel on Pownal (Charlottetown) – centrally located downtown Charlottetown, friendly staff
• Bishop’s Rest (Mount Stewart) – fabulous dinner (extra), loved the Loft Suite, just off the Confederation Trail/Island Walk
• Points East Coastal Inn (St. Peter’s) – friendly & helpful, fabulous breakfast, right on the Confederation Trail/Island Walk
• Sirens Beach Motel (North Lake) – friendly, have a “walkers” package, just off the Island Walk route
• Lane’s Riverhouse Inn (Montague) – right on the Confederation Trail, downtown Montague
• Prince Street Suites (Charlottetown) – centrally located, quiet, friendly

They were all different but all places I would stay again. But I want to give an extra shout out to Points East Coastal Inn (delicious breakfasts and driving me to a beach) and Siren’s Beach Motel (accommodating a change to the drop off/pick up schedule). Both provided exceptional service, checked in with me during my stay, and went above and beyond my expectations. I would highly recommend both and both are on the Island Walk route.

Places I ate that I recommend?

While I did have a few disappointing meals, including one place in Charlottetown with bad service (I was almost finished my fish & chips before I got my pint, and it was the wrong beer!), I also had some great meals and service. If you’re ever in PEI, I’d recommend eating at the following places:

• North Lake Boat House (North Lake) – as I mentioned before, in earlier posts, I ate here several times (4 breakfasts, 3 dinners) and I can’t recommend them enough. Great food and super friendly service.
• The Chip Shack (Charlottetown) – I had their french fries and they were great! Plus the location rocks.
• Hop Yard (Charlottetown) – loved their take on kimchi pancakes, who knew feta goes so well with kimchi. I’m definitely adding it the next time I make kimchi pancakes. They also have a good selection of beer and great service.
• Cows Creamery (Charlottetown) – delicious ice cream
• Bishop’s Rest (Mount Stewart) – you can order dinner at this B&B and it’s definitely worth it. I loved their seafood chowder.

Breweries I recommend

Both Charlottetown and Montague had some good places to drink beer. Although I certainly didn’t have a chance to check out them all, of the ones I did visit, I’d recommend:

• Gahan House (Charlottetown)
• Bogside Brewing (Montague)
• Copper Bottom Brewing (Montague)

Best walking days

North Lake to East Point Lighthouse – I had never walked so far on a beach, or I suspect several connected beaches, and it was very peaceful to walk to the sound of the surf. It was also a lovely day which certainly helped. And I saw several seals! Even the road walking on the way back was quiet and it was neat watching the potato harvest.

North Lake to Bothwell – this was all road walking but even the paved sections were quiet so it was nice walking. And the red dirt road I walked was lovely, quiet and full of fall colour. Plus Bothwell Beach at the end is gorgeous! And if you need supplies, the Bothwell General Store has a decent selection of groceries.

Confederation Trail around Montague – while I didn’t get to walk the entire section from Cardigan to Montague, the small part I did was lovely and super relaxing. There was tons of fall colour (the most I saw during my trip) and the leaves were gently falling during my walk which made it that much more lovely. I’d read beforehand that it was a beautiful stretch of walking and it didn’t disappoint.

General advice/thoughts

When to go: When I return to PEI to do the Confederation Trail, I plan to go in June unless PEI’s tourism season expands. October was lovely but so many places were closed already. And while I didn’t go there for museums or tourist attractions; several restaurants and cafes I would have loved to eat at were also closed. Some I expected from my research but others were a disappointing surprise. I had several conversations with proprietors about the subject while there so it’s something to think about when planning when to visit.

Washrooms: They were sometimes an issue, or rather the lack of them on the route. This was exacerbated in October when more places were closed. If I were to offer one piece of advice to the Island Walk organizers, it would be to make sure there were at least one washroom per section (not including the start/end points), even if it’s a porta-potty.

Rural bus system: I was very thankful for new rural bus system. It’s inexpensive – only $2 per trip – and very helpful for a solo traveler who wanted to walk certain sections of the Island Walk without a car or spending too much on transfers. Yes, you need to book in advance, it only runs Monday-Friday and only a couple times a day, but you can certainly plan around their schedule and at only $2, it’s worth it.

Walk to the airport: You can walk to the airport! Charlottetown airport is about 7km from downtown Charlottetown and a section of the Confederation Trail goes right by it (you have to walk the last 1/2km or so on a road). I walked it on my last day to catch my flight back to Toronto and it was the perfect way to end my trip.

It’s not inexpensive: While it may change as the Island Walk becomes more popular and established – it iss a new walk and the infrastructure is still growing – currently, it’s not a cheap walk, especially for a solo walker. Most of the accommodations are B&Bs, inns, hotels, etc. There are campgrounds, but for those who don’t want to camp (and carry all the gear), budget $120-$180/night as a solo traveler. Most of my trip budget went to accommodations and was more than double what I spent on accommodations on my last walk in Scotland (or my next one, where I also will be staying solo at B&Bs mostly). Of course, if you have a walking partner, it’s more affordable as costs are halved but still pricier than many other walks.

The guidebook: One of the organizers behind the Island Walk wrote a guidebook. While it’s an easy read and good for getting an overview of the Walk, it’s more an account of his experience completing the first walk around the newly created Island Walk route. Still worth buying for the story but the website (link in the first paragraph) has more practical info on the route and accommodations. But perhaps I’m just used to the Cicerone guides, which are much more detailed and often include OS maps.

The website & Facebook group: Both are very useful in planning your walk. The website has info on the route, each section and accommodation partners (which aren’t always the only options), as well as stories from others who’ve walked it or sections of it. The Facebook group is a great place to ask questions and gather info.

Final Thoughts

It was relaxing, fun and definitely worth the trip to PEI for my last walking vacation, if more expensive than other walks. Was my experience different due to the storm and closures? Definitely. But I’m still glad I went and I’d recommend it. The Island Walk is a new long distance walk that showcases beautiful PEI countryside and I can only imagine that it will only get better, and hopefully cheaper, as the infrastructure improves. Good walking, friendly people, lovely scenery, and fresh seafood… all some of my favourite things.

Have you done the Island Walk? Would you like to?