We visited Prince Edward Island Canada, in the footsteps of Anne Shirley, the main character of the beloved story, Anne of Green Gables.
Anne of Green Gables related attractions are mainly located in the north part of the Island, Cavendish. It is about 45 minutes away from Charlottetown, the capital of Prince Edward Island. From Charlottetown, the roads were pretty calm until we approached Cavendish. Along the way, I saw beautiful green fields, red sand beaches, white waves and blue ocean, making me feel like I was in Anne’s story.
Our first stop was Anne of Green Gables Museum at Silver Bush. This museum was transformed from the home of the Campbell family since 1776, which was the property of the author of Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maude Montgomery’s uncle. L.M. Montgomery referred to this house as “the wonder castle of my childhood”. She also got married in this house in 1911. The museum preserves the original rooms along with the furniture and displays many of L.M. Montgomery’s items. There is a nice little gift shop in the museum, where I bought a book by L.M. Montgomery, called Pat of Silver Bush. The visitors can also take a carriage ride, like Anne did with Matthew. I was hoping to take a carriage ride, but we arrived at the museum just in time to see the last carriage ride leaving. Oh well, there is always a next time.
The lake on the property, which can be viewed from a window upstairs, is where the “Lake of Shining Waters” in Anne of Green Gables originated from. We walked around the museum and the view was stunning! It is not difficult to picture how L.M. Montgomery came up with the story of Anne of Green Gables with this wonderful view.
Leaving the museum and heading south on Route 20, we came to a spectacular overlook at French River.
Continuing driving south on Route 20, not far away from the Anne of Green Gables Museum, we found L.M. Montgomery’s birthplace. It is a small white house, where the author was born in 1874.
On our way to the Green Gables Heritage Place, we passed by the Avonlea Village, which is an open air area with little shops and restaurants. The name, Avonlea, is the fictitious name that L.M. Montgomery gave to Cavendish. I saw the original schoolhouse that L.M. Montgomery taught in and the historic Presbyterian church built in 1874, which was moved from Long River to Avonlea Village. We quickly got attracted by the Cow’s ice cream when we entered the village. The Cow’s ice cream was really good! I was too happy tasting the ice cream to remember to take pictures of the place!
Our next stop was the Green Gables Heritage Place, where the original image of Green Gables is located. The Green Gables farmhouse was dated mid-19th century. It belonged to the cousins of L.M. Montgomery’s grandfather. The place is set up like a visitor center. There is an abundance of information about L.M. Montgomery and Green Gables. There are green fields surrounding Green Gables farm, just like what I imagine Green Gables would be like. Behind the farmhouse, there are several walking trails that modeled from the scenes in the story: Lover’s Lane, Haunted Wood, and Balsam Hollow.
Back in Charlottetown, where we stayed for our visit to Prince Edward Island, we sampled our favorite Cow’s ice cream, tasted the best ever mussels, viewed spectacular fireworks in Victoria Park, and toured the town on the Harbour Hippo. Charlottetown is a quaint little town. I enjoyed walking down Queen Street, browsed in all these cute little shops, and tried out the tasty seafood (especially mussels!) in different restaurants. We visited Prince Edward Island during Canada Day and there were fireworks in Victoria Park. We were lucky that our Bed and Breakfast, Elmwood Heritage Inn, is only several blocks away from the park. We were able to walk to the park and enjoyed the fireworks without any hassles. Elmwood Heritage Inn is a well-maintained Victoria style house. The breakfast was great and the owner is a great baker!
I saw a “Hippo” passing by while walking on the streets and it looks so cool! We then took a land and sea tour with the Harbour Hippo the next day. The “Hippo” is a boat-bus that drives on land and floats on water (so neat!). It first took us to several landmarks around Charlottetown and then it went into the harbor where we had a nice view of the town from the water. SO COOL!
Prince Edward Island has been on my must-go list and I’m very glad that I finally saw the beautiful island where Anne of Green Gables is set. Now I know why Anne likes it so much and I like it very much too! I will come back again to Prince Edward Island!
Cavendish Prince Edward Island, Canada
Charlottetown Prince Edward Island, Canada
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