Charlottetown

Standing amid its tranquil tangle of streets, it might be hard to imagine that small and charming Charlottetown played an important part in the making of Canada. Sample the best of the town’s farm-to-table cuisine before hitting the road. Cross the pastoral setting for Anne of Green Gables, whisking past red-rock cliffs, sweeping sand dunes, saltwater wetlands and the iconic lighthouses overlooking it all.

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Visit Charlottetown: get started

Make Charlottetown your starting point for exploring Prince Edward Island! Stay in the best Charlottetown hotels and visit historic Canadian landmarks such as Province House, Government House and Confederation Landing. Other things to see on PEI? The Green Gables Heritage Place, the Prince Edward Island National Park, Cavendish Beach and Basin Head Beach!

CHARLOTTETOWN TRAVEL GUIDE

DESTINATION FACTS

LANGUAGES

Officially English and French

WHAT TO EAT

Locally sourced oysters and mussels (at fall’s Prince Edward Island International Shellfish Festival!), lobster (during peak lobster season from April to June), island-grown potatoes and more fresh produce from the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market Coop or the farmer-owned Riverview Country Market.

WHAT TO BRING BACK

Anne of Green Gables chocolates or Anne-related souvenirs from the Anne of Green Gables store, Maritime Madness hot sauce, award-winning craft beers from the PEI Brewing Company and a “Honourary Islander” tee from the Kent Street Market.

FUN FACT

While Charlottetown was named for Queen Charlotte, King George III’s wife, the island itself has gone through a few names. The Mi’kmaq called it Epekwitk (meaning “cradled in waves”), the French then referred to it as Île Saint-Jean and when the British took control, they switched from St. John’s Island to the tentative New Ireland before settling on Prince Edward Island in honour of Queen Victoria’s father, the Duke of Kent.