Happy Tuesday friends! Today I wanted to start sharing with y'all some recap posts from the girls trip that I took four years ago through New England, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia (along with some new posts from this time that I never shared also!)! I hope that it encourages you to consider taking a road trip (in part or in whole depending on your circumstances) this fall to these beautiful places in the world.
With the world slowly opening back up to some travel, the places that we went to and explored and the posts that I will be sharing are really good options (especially for those - who like myself) are extremely cautious with health reasons as we were outside and separated away from others so much. I hope that these can be adapted for your own personal needs.
So if you are new around here, four years ago this week I embarked on a road trip with a friend that was a once in a life-time trip throughout New England, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Over this past years I have received thousands of emails asking if I could share the itinerary for the trip that we took and I had organized and I am so excited to share it with y'all! Sometimes when you are planning a trip and want to travel through so many different places it can be hard to figure out the distances between destinations, what is worth seeing, and where to even start.
Overall I was really happy with our itinerary (although we both said we would have added at least one extra day in Nova Scotia if we could!) and I hope it will help those of you in the midst of your own planning. This trip was a dream and a definite once-in-a-lifetime trip and the itinerary just flowed, hit all of the Anne spots on the island (plus allowed us the opportunity to see other sites too) and it was so much fun! I hope that it will be helpful for you. This is a 7-day itinerary but could absolutely be altered for all different time frames:
Day 1: Boston, Massachusetts // Cape Neddick, Maine // Freeport, Maine // Camden, Maine
Ali and I met up on Saturday morning, September 30th in Boston. I had driven in from New York the night before and then picked her up in the morning at the airport as she flew in on an early flight. We had a busy day and we were driving approximately 3 and 1/2 hours north to Camden, Maine with stops in Cape Neddick and Freeport.
Key Things to Do & Where to Stay
I definitely recommend visiting the Cape Neddick Lighthouse and also taking the Maine Schooner Olad Sunset Cruise. Both things were really wonderful and added to our experience in Maine. We stayed at the Lord Camden Inn, which was amazing! You can read more about it HERE! I definitely recommend it for its location and the price in this area.
To read more about our first days adventures, check out my posts below:
// Lord Camden Inn Review //
Day 2: Camden, Maine // St. Andrews-By-The-Sea, New Brunswick //
On Sunday, September 31st, we spent some time walking around and exploring Camden, Maine before heading north (about 4 hours with the border crossing) to St.Andrews-By-The-Sea in New Brunswick.
This day seemed to be filled with a mixture of sweet and lovely adventures. From walking through Camden to exploring a lake we saw in the distance to driving on the ocean floor it was a full and fun day! If you go to St.Andrews-by-the-Sea, I definitely recommend driving across Minister's Island (this is also FREE to do!)! It was an amazing experience! I also recommend eating at Kingsbrae Gardens!
Maine:
St.Andrews-By-The-Sea:
// A Drive Across the Ocean Floor to Minister's Island //
// A Walk through St. Andrews By the Sea //
// Kingsbrae Gardens //
// Purple and White Midi Dress in the Garden //
// The Algonquin Resort Review //
If you are interested in finding out practical information for getting on and off Prince Edward Island click HERE! We went to the Wind & Reef restaurant for dinner (which I definitely recommend!) and stayed at Montgomery Inn at Ingleside which was amazing!
To read more about our adventures from day 3, check out my posts below:
// A Walk through St. Andrews By the Sea //
// Kingsbrae Gardens //
// Purple and White Midi Dress in the Garden //
// The Algonquin Resort Review //
Day 3: St. Andrews-By-The-Sea, New Brunswick //Saint John, New Brunswick// Prince Edward Island
On Monday, October 1st we left St. Andrews-by-the-Sea very early and headed up to Prince Edward Island, with a quick stop in Saint John to visit the stone church and grab some supplies from the famous Saint John's market. We then headed north to the island (taking the confederation bridge to enter) and checked into our adorable and historic inn, before heading to Tingish for dinner. The drive itself took about 4 hours and then an extra 2 for our trip to and from Tingish. It was a full but amazing day!
Key Things to Do & Where to stayIf you are interested in finding out practical information for getting on and off Prince Edward Island click HERE! We went to the Wind & Reef restaurant for dinner (which I definitely recommend!) and stayed at Montgomery Inn at Ingleside which was amazing!
Saint John:
// St. Johns Stone Church //
// St. Johns City Market //
Kensington, Prince Edward Island:
// Practical Information for Getting on and off the Island //
// Confederation Bridge //
// Montgomery Inn at Ingleside //
// A Look Inside Montgomery Inn at Ingleside //
// Senators Suite at Montgomery Inn at Ingleside //
Tingish, Prince Edward Island:
// The North Cape (Tingish) //
// Wind & Reef Restaurant //
To read more about our adventures from day 4, check out my posts below:
We loved seeing Dalvay and had I to do again I probably would have explored this area more since it was so picturesque. We also enjoyed our time in Charlottetown and I would highly recommend eating at Casa Mia Cafe (the food was probably one of my favorite meals of the trip!) and seeing the Anne & Gilbert Musical. A quick note of warning- depending on the time of year you go to Charlottetown the stores do close quite early (most were closed by 6pm!). Another thing to note is that depending on the time of year you go only certain musicals are available so keep that in mind too! There is also a charming bookstore which we loved exploring too!
To read more about our adventures from day 5, check out my posts below:
To read more about our adventures from day 6, check out my posts below:
To read more about our adventures from day 7, check out my posts below:
// Confederation Bridge //
// Montgomery Inn at Ingleside //
// A Look Inside Montgomery Inn at Ingleside //
// Senators Suite at Montgomery Inn at Ingleside //
Tingish, Prince Edward Island:
// The North Cape (Tingish) //
// Wind & Reef Restaurant //
Day 4: All things "Anne of Green Gables"// Prince Edward Island
On Tuesday, October 2nd we headed out to explore all of the "Anne" things we could on the island. It was a full and fun "girly" day and we loved all of the adventures we had!
Key Things to Do & Where to Stay
It truly depends on what you want to see and do in your time on the island. As you can see from the picture map above there are lots of different places that host things related to Anne and L.M. Montgomery on the island. While the island is small, it takes time to get places and you should factor that into your plans. A note to those who may read reviews about disappointing "Anne" experiences: As I said in a post about the Anne of Green Gables Museum... I will be honest that I feel that some of the reviews are pretty accurate and fair. If you go into the PEI looking for information solely from the movie or even the books Anne of Green Gables I think that you may be disappointed with the entire experience.
Many items that are Anne sites cover more about L.M. Montgomery than about things related to Anne or if they were it is definitely only the book. I think that this is important to note ... it didn't change our experience, but I definitely felt it was fair to mention.
It truly depends on what you want to see and do in your time on the island. As you can see from the picture map above there are lots of different places that host things related to Anne and L.M. Montgomery on the island. While the island is small, it takes time to get places and you should factor that into your plans. A note to those who may read reviews about disappointing "Anne" experiences: As I said in a post about the Anne of Green Gables Museum... I will be honest that I feel that some of the reviews are pretty accurate and fair. If you go into the PEI looking for information solely from the movie or even the books Anne of Green Gables I think that you may be disappointed with the entire experience.
Many items that are Anne sites cover more about L.M. Montgomery than about things related to Anne or if they were it is definitely only the book. I think that this is important to note ... it didn't change our experience, but I definitely felt it was fair to mention.
// L.M. Montgomery Birthplace //
// Green Gables Heritage Home //
// Green Gables Heritage Home //
Day 5: Prince Edward Island
On Wednesday, October 3rd we headed out to explore some other parts of the island. We went to Dalvay-by-the-Sea (which was gorgeous!), spent some time in Charlottetown and saw the "Anne and Gilbert" musical (which was phenomenal!).
Key Things to Do & Where to stayWe loved seeing Dalvay and had I to do again I probably would have explored this area more since it was so picturesque. We also enjoyed our time in Charlottetown and I would highly recommend eating at Casa Mia Cafe (the food was probably one of my favorite meals of the trip!) and seeing the Anne & Gilbert Musical. A quick note of warning- depending on the time of year you go to Charlottetown the stores do close quite early (most were closed by 6pm!). Another thing to note is that depending on the time of year you go only certain musicals are available so keep that in mind too! There is also a charming bookstore which we loved exploring too!
// Dalvay By the Sea //
// Charlottetown, PEI //
Day 6: Prince Edward Island//Halifax, Peggy's Cove, Lunenburg, and a drive through Nova Scotia
On Thursday, October 4th we sadly left PEI to start heading home and made our way to Nova Scotia. I will be honest with you and say that I fell in love with Nova Scotia and would love to travel back in the future. It was simply stunning.
We spent the day literally driving through Nova Scotia. Above is the map route that we followed.
Key Things to Do & Where to Stay
One of my favorite parts of driving through Nova Scotia was just seeing all of the beautiful land and places. I said this in my posts but there was just this "wild and free" atmosphere of it that was stunning in a completely different way than any place I had ever seen before.
One of my favorite parts of driving through Nova Scotia was just seeing all of the beautiful land and places. I said this in my posts but there was just this "wild and free" atmosphere of it that was stunning in a completely different way than any place I had ever seen before.
As I said I would definitely love to go back and spend more time. I was so glad though that we visited the Halifax fort, saw Peggy's Cove (an absolute favorite spot!) and the lighthouse. Our drive was long that day (we got up around 3:30 in the morning to catch our ferry and didn't get back to our hotel (after grabbing dinner in Yarmouth) until about 9:30pm, but it was a good and lovely day.
// Halifax Citadel //
// Peggy's Cove //
// Lunenburg //
Day 7: Yarmouth, Nova Scotia // Portland, Maine// Boston, Massachusetts.
On Friday, October 5th we took the CAT ferry ride from Nova Scotia to Portland, Maine and then drove down to stay at a hotel right outside of Boston (where Ali had a flight the next day and I drove home on Saturday). The ferry ride was a practical suggestion and one that allowed us to make the circle and I was glad that we chose to do it. A must see is definitely the Portland Head Light house and the weather was beautiful as we saw it in the late afternoon. That evening we grabbed some take out food and then watched a movie. It was a relaxing travel day and a beautiful one due to the ferry ride.
Key Things to Do & Where to Stay
The CAT Ferry is a wonderful option for those who want to make the loop as we did.
The CAT Ferry is a wonderful option for those who want to make the loop as we did.
I hope that this was helpful and answers your questions! Please let me know if I can answer anything else specifically!
Happy Tuesday friends! I hope that your week has started off well!
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