PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Sheltered PEI, joined to the mainland by Confederation Bridge, is Canada’s smallest province, tucked into the protection of the Gulf of St Lawrence. Seaside towns Murray Harbour and Georgetown offer some of the best seafood in Canada and are fronted by harbours filled with fishing boats above which seagulls swirl. Graceful provincial capital Charlottetown, with its elegant historic homes and pocket-sized parks, sits on a fine harbour between two rivers. Head along Green Gables Shore for some of the island’s best scenery, including the fabulous sand dunes and rust-red cliffs of PEI National Park. Green fields and meadows of purple wildflowers meet blue ocean and blustery white-sand beaches. You can also visit the farmhouse and author’s home associated with the 1908 novel of an optimistic red-haired orphan, Anne of Green Gables, which brought PEI to international fame. Half this island province is covered in farmland. Turn inland and you’ll find a pretty, rolling landscape dotted with red barns, white homesteads and championship golf courses. Sedate and friendly towns have an underlying flavour of Celtic culture thanks to PEI’S Scottish immigrant history. This is a place to unwind, get lost down country lanes and be pleasantly diverted in quaint villages such as Victoria. Life is lived at a slow pace in the Maritime Provinces, and you may wish you’d lingered longer.