Earlier than we even received to the beginning of the famed Confederation Path biking route, I had my eye on the lobster shack at Victoria By the Sea. I like biking; this new-to-me exercise has gained me over and I’m excited to discover new locations by bike. Nevertheless, I REALLY love lobster, and the considered spending 6 days biking PEI and with the ability to eat lobster day by day had me over the moon. Prince Edward Island is made for seafood lovers and bikers…and I’m each.
The place is PEI?
Welcome to Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province, situated on the Atlantic coast. It might be small in measurement, nevertheless it’s large in character. Greatest recognized for its pleasant locals, purple sand seashores, potato farms, lobster dinners, and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Inexperienced Gables, PEI can also be a bicycle owner’s dream.
This wasn’t my first time in PEI. I visited just a few years in the past to do a street journey across the island. That’s once I discovered of the superb biking alternatives that the island had. And it’s been on my radar ever since to come back again and see the island at a slower tempo.
Pedaling for Lobster
For those who didn’t know – I like lobster. And particularly, I’m type of obsessive about Canadian Maritimes lobster. My plan was to cycle PEI on a collection of trails that crisscross the island and see the perfect of the fishing villages, farms, and communities whereas consuming as a lot seafood/lobster as I presumably might! I took a 7-day self-guided PEI biking tour with Nice Canadian Trails which specializes within the bucket listing outside adventures of Canada!
On the lookout for extra Canada bucket listing journey concepts – take a look at my expertise on the self-guided East Coast Path hike with Nice Canadian Trails in Newfoundland.
PEI Biking – The entire Necessities
The fantastic thing about self-guided holidays is that Nice Canadian trails maintain all the time-consuming logistics, and also you get the liberty of biking your manner. There are in fact instructed stops – nevertheless it’s finally as much as you so long as you make it to the resort on the finish of the day! Additionally they maintain bike leases and supply an app to simply comply with the route and particulars of the journey.
Bike Rental
It begins with the bike – fortunately Nice Canadian Trails organizes this for you! On the primary day in Charlottetown, I picked up my rental bike for the week. Once I walked into the bike store to get fitted for my tour bike, my eyes almost popped out of my head like a cartoon character. It had the most important stock of bikes and equipment that I’ve seen in the course of the pandemic. There’s been a motorcycle scarcity ever for the reason that pandemic, however you wouldn’t understand it right here; they’d all the things! Not solely did we choose up our bikes, however I used to be additionally ready to decide on our pannier luggage, water bottles, helmets, and different last-minute gear I wanted.
Most individuals get a hybrid bike for the journey, nevertheless, with the shop’s massive stock of bikes and equipment, you may as well simply hire an electrical pedal help bike for the 5-day biking journey. That is nice if somebody in your group is new to biking and desires to experience with extra skilled riders. It means everybody can keep collectively and have a good time!
PEI Bike Trails
There are greater than 310 miles of motorbike trails on this picturesque little island. For my 5 day PEI biking tour, we primarily used the 2 most well-known biking trails in PEI; the Confederation Path and Gulf Shore Parkway. The remainder of the time (which was minimal) we biked alongside quiet nation roads. General, the paths are medium on the subject of hills. The paths are sometimes fairly flat, however you’ll come throughout just a few rolling hills on the backcountry roads often – that’s when the ebike is useful for learners!
Confederation Path
The ‘Confederation Path’ is an outdated rail line reaching from the far west to the far east coast of the island – it’s recognized domestically because the ‘tip-to-tip’ path. We didn’t do the complete factor – nevertheless, we began and ended on the Confederation Path. This completely groomed biking path fabricated from crushed limestone had a slight gradient and plenty of tremendous shade alongside the way in which! It connects a bunch of little cities and is a pleasant approach to traverse the island away from vehicles.
Biking down the Gotthard Move within the Swiss Alps: taking the Tremola Highway much less traveled
Gulf Shore Parkway Biking Path
This cycle path traverses Prince Edward Island Nationwide Park and delivers you proper to essentially the most stunning stretches of shoreline in a car-free lane…perfection! It’s additionally excellent as a result of you may safely cease alongside the path and take within the beautiful views and lupine flowers! The Gulf Shore Parkway connects the seashores of Cavendish to North Rustico to Brackley to Covehead to Stanhope.
5 Days Biking PEI with Nice Canadian Trails
As I packed for this journey, I checked the climate and was greeted with 6 stable days of forecasted rain – a dire outlook. Nevertheless, two days earlier than we began, the forecast began to vary. I noticed a little bit solar poking out of clouds on my climate app. There was hope! Slowly every day there was extra solar within the forecast.
Lesson discovered – plan for the worst, hope for the perfect and chances are you’ll find yourself in between – which is precisely what occurred for my week biking on the island.
The self-guided journey is 7 days in whole – nevertheless, it’s 5 days of biking. And naturally, for me this wasn’t nearly biking, it was additionally about consuming. So every day I ‘lobster-fied’ my day in some way…and it made me so blissful!
Day 1 – Biking Borden Carleton to Stanley Bridge
We rode from Borden Carleton (the place the bridge to New Brunswick is) to the tiny fishing village of Stanley Bridge. It was about 33 miles in whole. We spent the morning on the Confederation Path and the afternoon on the backroads. The Confederation Path took us by means of potato and corn fields, and we had been in a position to see the agricultural lifetime of PEI. After lunch, we hit the gently rolling hills of the north of the island the place the solar confirmed up, and we had stunning blue skies, colourful lupines, and so many bucolic views!
Lobster Rolls and Oysters
As I mentioned – as a lot as this was in regards to the biking, it was additionally about consuming seafood, and it began on our first cease in Kensington the place we loved lobster rolls and native beer. However the perfect seafood cease was pedaling proper into Carr’s Oyster Bar on the finish of the day in Stanley Bridge. Right here I launched my good friend Caroline to the enjoyment of plump scrumptious uncooked oysters. She was a uncooked oyster virgin, so we gave her our greatest recommendation (all the time chew them and benefit from the style) and he or she is now an oyster eater!
Carr’s was situated proper on the water and had some unimaginable fish and chips with PEI potato salad…a staple to any meal on the island!
The place to search out ocean to desk lobster within the Canadian Maritimes
Day 2 -Stanley Bridge to North Rustico
At present on my quest for seafood, health, and mind-blowing views, we arrived on the coast. Wow oh wow these views in the present day had been superb! We began the day at Parks Canada Cavendish Nationwide Park the place we found sand dunes, boardwalks, and nice seashores. Individuals had been already choosing their seaside spots and the entire space was buzzing with an incredible summer season vibe.
We additionally biked into the ‘residence city’ of Anne of Inexperienced Gables – and the fictional city Avonlea primarily based on the PEI city of Cavendish. Only a bit inland from Cavendish Nationwide Park you discover rolling hills of inexperienced (a little bit of a problem on a motorcycle!) and wildflowers dotting the countryside. We stopped on the publish workplace the place you may study extra about AoGG writer and her life rising up…in addition to get a particular postage stamp!
The stretch from Cavendish Nationwide Park to North Rustico was my favourite of the complete journey. The experience alongside the coast was magical and we had loads of alternatives to cease for views of the purple cliffs and Lupines.
That night we stayed in my favourite lodging – little cottages close to the water. This charming resort was a household enterprise that had been working 157 years! I can’t consider that the resort has been within the household for thus many generations – and every continues to maintain it thriving within the altering world of tourism. We parked our bikes exterior of our cottages and soaked up the environment of this lovable property close to the coast!
Native Tip – Lobster Served Chilly
We continued on the Gulf Shores Path for the afternoon to North Rustico…in any other case generally known as my lobster paradise. The lovable city had a colourful energetic fishing wharf lined with lobster traps (all the time a great signal). We street on the wharf straight to the island’s most well-known lobster restaurant – Fisherman’s Wharf Lobster Supper.
I wasn’t ready for the enormity of this place; it seated tons of of individuals and apparently is residence to the longest all-you-can-eat salad bar on the island. I all the time get excited by a great superlative journey cease. I took a seat, placed on my lobster bib, and was able to put again on all of these energy I had burned on the bike.
What number of methods are you able to eat lobster?
“Do you like your entire lobster sizzling or chilly?” the younger waitress requested.
Huh? I had by no means been requested this query earlier than in all of my in depth lobster consuming. After an intensive dialog on the professionals and cons of every – I settled on chilly – the way in which the locals eat it apparently.
It seems chilly PEI lobster is as scrumptious – reminding me that the locals are all the time proper. This iconic lobster restaurant delivered in each manner…and so they transformed me to being a chilly lobster lover! Try my tales in the present day to see my disappearing lobster dinner!
Plus – the longest salad bar additionally included all-you-can-eat desserts. Can I come right here each night time?
Day 3 – Brackley Seaside to Saint Peters Bay
This was the longest day of driving (37 miles) nevertheless it included coastal bikeways, backcountry roads, and the famed Confederation Rail Path. The primary leg alongside the coast was one in every of my favorites, and I even stopped for a little bit refreshing dip on Cable Head seaside which was abandoned at the moment within the morning! Then we joined up with the Confederation Path once more biking by means of boggy wetlands till we reached the tiny city of Saint Andrews for a lunch break.
The second half of our experience was crammed with stunning bridges all the way in which to Saint Peters Bay. Our app advised us that this was thought of essentially the most stunning part of the Confederation Path and I’ve to confess – it was correct. We rode by means of blueberry nation, previous church buildings, and over stunning inlets into Saint Peters Bay proper to our B&B!
Lobster Rolls and Poutine
Within the little city of Saint Andrews, we had been handled to some small-town island attraction. We stopped on the cutest little native bakery run by two sisters. And sure…they’d lobster sandwiches and allowed me to ‘poutine-ize’ my fries! Their lobster sandwich got here served on do-it-yourself white bread which aligned with the entire nostalgic really feel of this little café. In fact, we additionally took some baked items to go…that’s what the panniers are for – proper?
Day 4 – Biking Greenwich Dunes
After which the rains got here…torrential rains. Once I arrived in PEI for this journey the forecast was for rain all day day by day…however then that by no means occurred – the forecasts would change every day to sunny. I used to be beginning to assume that we had been so particular that Mom Nature modified the climate for us and our journey…till in the present day.
However that didn’t cease us! We rode within the rain (among the mentally hardest driving I’ve executed) to go to Greenwich Nationwide Park and the well-known Greenwich Dunes and seaside. We rode so far as we might into the park, locked up our bikes, and took off on foot. This park is beautiful with floating walkways that go over a giant inlet and dunes out to the seaside.
No shock – the seaside was fairly empty on a wet day, however that didn’t cease Caroline from having a swim! We had the place to ourselves!
We biked again into St. Peters Bay and located the native espresso store, Black and White Bakery, to cease in and heat up with some candy treats…as a result of we deserved it after that experience! We walked in a pack of dripping-wet bikers on the lookout for a spot to dry off and reset mentally. As a testomony to the kindness of PEI locals, the espresso store proprietor provided us towels, and heat drinks, and even provided us a experience to our B&B if we wished to get out of the rain.
Take Away Lobster – Sure Please!
After our very moist experience (actually – each a part of me was drenched) – all we wished to do was get residence and dry off and keep inside for the night time. No downside…since we had been staying at a B&B close to St. Peters Bay, it had a kitchen we might entry permitting us to get meals take-away and have an evening ‘in.’
Every little PEI city has an area fish market, that sells recent native lobster and seafood. We stopped at Julio’s Seafood Market in St. Peters to take a look at the recent seafood. We grabbed 3 totally cooked lobsters, threw them in our backpacks and pedaled again to our B&B, and ate them that night time chilly! I advised you I used to be now a chilly lobster convert!
Day 5 – St. Peters Bay to Souris
The ultimate day of biking alongside the Confederation Path was excellent climate! We spent the morning biking alongside the Confederation Path traversing by means of farmland and forests. We arrived within the cute city of Souris. This pleasant city of 1300 individuals has a stunning seaside park with little retailers and naturally a lobster shack. Our remaining resort had essentially the most stunning views of the coast, making the ending a bit bittersweet. That night time we sat on the resort porch ingesting beer watching the sky evolve to pink because the solar went down. An ideal ending. However wait…is it actually excellent till you’ve had lobster dinner?
Lobster + Colville Oysters
This final day was equal elements biking and consuming! Not solely did we cease and have lobster rolls for lunch, however we additionally discovered a improbable ice cream store – Cherry on Prime. We had simply completed 5 days of biking PEI –I wasn’t passing up ice cream. Plus, it was unimaginable to refuse the 2 extraordinarily passionate ladies working on the ice cream store. It was among the finest ice cream flavors I’ve had – all do-it-yourself…even right down to the sprinkles!
Souris is residence to the Colville Oyster Firm, so I had been wanting ahead to recent oysters all day as I pedaled alongside. The Fiddling Fisherman restaurant had excellent water views and loads of recent oysters for a begin to our final lobster dinner. Additionally they provided some new variations on lobster – corresponding to lobster flatbread!
Native Kindness
The islanders appear to like bikers on the island. Very like the theme of Anne of Inexperienced Gables – the complete island neighborhood was welcoming to us. All of them went out of their approach to make us really feel like we had been welcome and belonged.
Nobody exemplified this greater than George our driver. His solely actual duty was to drive us to our drop-off factors and choose us up on the finish – in any case, this was a self-guided tour. Nevertheless he repeatedly went above and past taking the time to share the historical past of the world, cease at chocolate retailers, and checked in on us each day. He cared for us like we had been his ducklings.
The Greatest Time to Bike PEI
I cycled PEI of their shoulder season – June! I believed June could be busy because it’s the start of summer season journey season for many People. Nevertheless, the excessive season in PEI is June and July – that alerts when children are out of faculty within the space.
June is a good time to bike PEI since there aren’t large crowds, busy roads, and the seashores are fairly empty. Plus, that is the time of yr when the lupines bloom which brings the complete countryside to life with shade!
The one draw back to doing all of your PEI biking shoulder season is that implies that not all of the eating places are open in small cities. That is simply solved although by speaking to your transportation individual about what’s open within the city that you just’re staying in that night time and considering forward one or two days. George all the time saved good observe of us and was updated on openings.
What to Pack For Your PEI Biking Tour
Nice Canadian Trails consists of many of the important gear – however there have been a few issues that I introduced additional for the biking journey.
- Sun shades – I take advantage of Tifosi glasses for biking. They make bike glasses for individuals with prescription lenses! Additionally they make common wrap-around biking glasses which are nice for providing you with solar safety from each angle.
- Electrolyte combine in your water bottles – in case you have a favourite it’s nice to convey your individual.
- Helmet – they do present a helmet – however in case you have your individual that you just love that’s all the time most popular.
- For those who use clipless pedals sometimes, then you may request these pedals from the bike retailer, and presto…you might be arrange identical to at residence! Simply convey your footwear!
- Bike helmet mirror for these sections you might be on the street.
- Biking rain gear. Sadly I wanted that I had introduced higher rain gear after that day biking Greenwich Nationwide Park in a downpour. After this journey, I really invested in some good biking rain gear from Gore.
- Plastic luggage or dry luggage for protecting issues dry. The biking packing luggage you get from the bike retailer are waterproof – however if you wish to be additional cautious or need to defend one thing that isn’t packed in a pannier, then convey a few of your individual waterproof luggage too.
Lobster Overload?
I coated 115 miles biking PEI in 5 days and had lobster in some kind day by day! Did I ever get my fill of lobster? No! In truth, in an try and go full circle, as I drove off PEI again to Nova Scotia I ended again at Victoria By the Sea, the place we began our journey, to have one remaining scrumptious, buttery, candy lobster roll.
Biking PEI is the proper approach to expertise the island at a sluggish tempo. It jogged my memory how vital it’s to search out pleasure within the little issues in life; such because the church steeple within the distance that alerts there’s a village close by, the scent of the ocean, the dancing lupines within the wind that fill the roadsides, and naturally, the primary crack of the lobster claw.
How one can Bike Throughout PEI – Nice Canadian Trails Prince Edward Island By Bike
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Disclosure:
I used to be a visitor of Nice Canadian Trails on this journey, nevertheless all opinions expressed listed here are my very own.