The best things to do in PEI are not always the ones on the first page of the tourist brochure. Prince Edward Island has a well-earned reputation built around its beaches, its Anne of Green Gables connection, and its lobster suppers. All of those are genuinely worth doing, and if it is your first visit, you should probably do them all.
However, PEI has more layers than most visitors reach. There are experiences here that locals keep for themselves, places that do not show up on the main search results, and moments that make a trip to the Island feel genuinely memorable rather than simply pleasant.
This guide covers 14 of those experiences. Some are completely off the radar. Others are well-known to locals but consistently missed by visitors. All of them are worth adding to your itinerary the next time you find yourself planning time on the Island.
Save this list before your trip. Share it with anyone who asks for PEI recommendations. And come back to it after you visit, because the best things to do in PEI tend to be the ones you did not plan for.
The Best Things to Do in PEI That Most Visitors Never Find
Prince Edward Island receives hundreds of thousands of visitors every summer. Most of them follow a similar route: Cavendish Beach, Province House in Charlottetown, Green Gables in the national park, and a lobster supper somewhere along the north shore. That route is excellent. It covers the highlights for a reason.
However, the visitors who come back to PEI year after year are rarely the ones who stuck to the main route. They are the ones who turned down a red dirt road on a Tuesday afternoon, found a local restaurant that was not in any guidebook, ate oysters at a farm stand on the south shore, or ended a beach day at a fire pit table with a cold locally brewed beer and live music playing behind them.
In addition, PEI is small enough that covering more ground than the main tourist corridor is genuinely achievable in a single trip. The Island is approximately 225 kilometres long, and no point is more than 40 kilometres from the water. A car and a willingness to explore the side roads will take you somewhere worth going within 20 minutes of anywhere you are staying.
The 14 experiences below are arranged roughly from arrival to departure. Start at the beginning and work your way through. Or pick the ones that match your interests and build a trip around them. Either approach will produce a PEI visit that feels like more than a checklist.
1. Time Your Confederation Bridge Crossing for Sunset
Most people cross the Confederation Bridge in the middle of the day, focused on getting to their accommodation. That is understandable. It is also a missed opportunity.
The 12.9-kilometre bridge over the Northumberland Strait is genuinely impressive at any time of day, but at sunset it is something else entirely. The light over the water, the Island appearing through the haze on the other side, and the sense of arriving somewhere specific rather than somewhere generic: all of that is amplified by the late-day light in a way that a noon crossing cannot match.
If you are arriving in PEI by car, consider timing your departure from New Brunswick to arrive at the bridge in the late afternoon. Cross in the evening light. Stop at Gateway Village on the other side. Start the trip properly.
2. Stop at the Lone Oak Brewery Taproom Before You Unpack
The Lone Oak Brewery Taproom at 103 Abegweit Boulevard in Gateway Village, Borden-Carleton, is three minutes from the Island end of the Confederation Bridge. It is also one of the best ways to start a PEI trip that exists anywhere on the Island.
The taproom is where Lone Oak Brewing began in 2019, and it still carries the energy of a place that was built to mean something to the community around it. Cold locally brewed beer on tap, food from The Abby kitchen, a golf simulator, and live music on Fridays and Saturdays. Furthermore, the taproom’s outdoor patio captures the best of a PEI summer evening in a way that is hard to replicate in any other setting.
Stop before you check into your accommodation. Order a Yankee Gale pale ale and sit on the patio for an hour. The bags can wait. The trip starts better here than it does at any hotel lobby.
3. Eat Oysters Where They Were Grown
PEI oysters are some of the finest in the world, and the Island is one of the very few places where you can eat them within sight of where they were raised. Malpeque Bay, Colville Bay, and the Eastern Shore tidal flats each produce oysters with distinct flavour profiles shaped by the specific water conditions in those areas.
A restaurant oyster and a dockside oyster are different experiences. The distance between the water and the plate matters, and on PEI that distance can be measured in metres rather than kilometres. Ask at your accommodation where the nearest producer offers raw bar service on site. Several PEI oyster farms sell direct to visitors in summer, and eating a just-shucked Malpeque at the edge of the bay is one of the most purely PEI experiences available anywhere on the Island.
| “Eating a PEI oyster at the farm where it was grown is one of those experiences that you realise immediately cannot be replicated anywhere else. Do not leave the Island without doing this.” |
4. Drive the Points East Coastal Drive on a Quiet Day
PEI has three designated scenic routes. Most tourists choose the Blue Heron Drive along the north shore because it connects Charlottetown to Cavendish and covers the main highlights. The Points East Coastal Drive through Kings County is the route that covers the eastern end of the Island, and it is consistently underrated.
The landscape in Kings County is different from the north shore. The communities are smaller and quieter. The roads are narrower and less travelled. The views across the Northumberland Strait from the eastern tip of the Island have a different quality from the Gulf of St. Lawrence views on the north shore. Therefore, driving the Points East route gives you a version of PEI that most visitors never see.
Allow a full day. Stop in Souris for lunch. Continue to Basin Head in the afternoon. Drive back along the coast as the light changes in the early evening. That is a complete PEI day that covers ground that most tourists never reach.
5. Visit Basin Head: The Things to Do in PEI Nobody Tells You About
Basin Head Provincial Park in Kings County is one of the most distinctive beach experiences on Prince Edward Island, and it is consistently overlooked by visitors who stay in the north shore corridor.
The sand at Basin Head has an unusually high silica content, which causes a faint squeaking sound when you walk on it. That characteristic gives Basin Head its unofficial name: the singing sands beach. Beyond the novelty of the sound, the beach itself is wide, clean, and far less crowded than Cavendish. The tidal inlet at Basin Head creates a sheltered, warm swimming area that is particularly well-suited to families with younger children.
In addition, Basin Head is a provincial park, which means there is no national park pass required. Access is free. The drive from Charlottetown takes about 90 minutes, which is the main reason most visitors skip it. That same distance is exactly why it remains one of the best things to do in PEI for anyone willing to make the trip.
6. Spend an Evening at the Lone Oak Beer Garden in Cavendish
The Lone Oak Beer Garden at Avonlea Village in Cavendish is one of the most enjoyable outdoor hospitality experiences on Prince Edward Island. It opened for the 2026 summer season on June 19th and runs through the summer with live music from Thursday to Sunday.
The setup is designed around three distinct seating areas: a covered pergola with over 60 seats and propane heaters for cooler evenings, 40 seats arranged around custom fire pit tables, and 10 interior bar seats. All seating has a clear view of the stage. First-come, first-served. Call ahead at (902) 360-2065 to check availability before making the drive.
A Thursday evening at the Beer Garden, with Taylor Buote and Dennis Dunn playing on the stage and a cold Lone Oak beer in hand, is one of those PEI summer experiences that stays with you long after you have left the Island. Moreover, it is the kind of thing that makes the drive to Cavendish feel like the right decision even on a weeknight.
7. More Things to Do in PEI: Visit Victoria by the Sea
Victoria by the Sea is a small village on PEI’s south shore that manages to be everything the Island is supposed to be without working very hard about it. It is not a tourist attraction. It is simply a place where people live, and where the accumulation of a working harbour, red cliffs, independent local businesses, and a general sense of unhurried life adds up to something worth seeking out.
The Fish Store and Oyster Bar in the village serves fresh seafood with minimal fuss. The Victoria Playhouse is a community theatre that has been running performances for decades. The walk along the waterfront takes about 20 minutes and passes the kind of scenery that appears on PEI postcards for good reason.
Go on a quiet weekday afternoon in July or August. Walk the village on foot. Stay longer than you planned. Victoria by the Sea has that effect on most people who find it.
8. Take the Ferry Instead of the Bridge at Least Once
The Confederation Bridge is the main route into PEI, and crossing it is an experience worth having. However, the ferry from Pictou, Nova Scotia to Wood Islands on PEI’s south shore is a completely different way to arrive on the Island, and it offers something the bridge cannot.
The 75-minute crossing of the Northumberland Strait by boat gives you a different relationship with the water than a bridge crossing does. You are in it rather than over it. The Island appears slowly on the horizon, the red cliffs visible from the water before you have docked. The approach to Wood Islands from the water is one of the most striking ways to see PEI that exists.
Coming in by ferry and leaving by bridge, or vice versa, gives you two different arrivals and departures. The ferry operates seasonally. Check the current schedule at northumberlandferries.com before planning around it.
9. Things to Do in PEI Beyond the Obvious: Drive a Red Dirt Road
PEI’s red clay roads are one of the Island’s most distinctive features, and the best way to experience them is to turn off the main highway and follow one into the interior without a particular destination in mind.
The combination of the red road, the green fields, the blue sky, and the white farmhouses is a composition that appears on every PEI postcard and still manages to be more impressive in person than in photographs. The roads that appear red in the images are genuinely that colour in real life, and they catch the afternoon light in a way that makes even a ten-minute drive feel like a worthwhile detour.
Most rental car agreements are suitable for unpaved roads. Check yours. Then get off the Trans-Canada and spend half an hour driving somewhere you have never been. You will almost certainly end up in a landscape that surprises you.
10. Eat at Fox Meadow in Stratford When Downtown Charlottetown Is Packed
Fox Meadow Restaurant at 167 Kinlock Road in Stratford is one of the most underrated dining experiences in the Charlottetown area. It sits on a golf course, which has led most non-golfers to assume it is not for them. That assumption is wrong.
Fox Meadow is a public restaurant, open to everyone, with no golf membership required. Chef Kim’s kitchen serves a full menu with starters, mains, and desserts. Lone Oak craft beer is on tap. The views from the dining room look out across the fairways. On a Friday evening when downtown Charlottetown is crowded and loud, Fox Meadow across the bridge is a considerably quieter and arguably better dinner.
Call (902) 367-2100 or visit loneoakbrew.com to check hours and make a reservation before you go.
11. Find a Community Lobster Supper
The famous lobster supper venues at New Glasgow and St. Ann’s are both excellent and genuinely worth visiting. However, the most authentic version of the PEI lobster supper tradition happens at church halls and community centres across the Island throughout the summer, often with no significant online presence and no tourist marketing at all.
These events serve the same fresh PEI lobster in a setting that has everything to do with community tradition and nothing to do with tourism. Ask at your accommodation where the nearest one is happening that week. The answer will vary by community and by date, which is part of what makes finding one feel like a genuine discovery.
12. Watch Harness Racing at Red Shores in Charlottetown
Red Shores Racetrack and Casino at the Charlottetown Driving Park is one of those PEI experiences that visitors consistently overlook and locals consistently enjoy. Harness racing has been part of the Island’s culture for well over a century, and watching a live race at Red Shores on a summer evening is a completely different experience from anything else available in the city.
The races are generally free to watch from the rail. The atmosphere is social and relaxed. The horses are genuinely impressive up close. And the setting, in the Charlottetown fairground area with the grandstand lit up in the evening, has a character that is specific to Prince Edward Island in a way that is hard to articulate but immediately obvious when you are there.
13. Star-Gaze from the North Shore After Dark
PEI has very little light pollution once you move away from Charlottetown and Summerside. The north shore beaches after dark offer a stargazing experience that is almost unavailable in most Canadian cities, and the darkness of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the north creates a horizon that allows you to see stars all the way down to the waterline.
The national park beaches at Cavendish and Brackley are accessible after dark. Bring something warm, because even in August the north shore gets cold after the sun goes down. Bring something to sit on. And turn off the phone for at least 20 minutes.
The Milky Way is visible on a clear night in August. So are more shooting stars than most people who have spent their lives in cities have ever seen. It is one of the best things to do in PEI that costs nothing, requires no planning, and produces the kind of memory that a beach photo cannot capture.
14. Leave More Time Than You Think You Need
Finally, and most importantly: give PEI more time than you think it requires. The Island looks small on a map. You can technically see the main attractions in a long weekend. However, the visitors who leave PEI wishing they had more time vastly outnumber the ones who felt they had enough.
The reason is that PEI rewards a slower pace. The things that make it genuinely special, the red roads, the quiet beaches, the community events, the conversations with locals, the particular quality of a summer evening on the Island, none of those are accessible to someone moving through a checklist at speed.
As a result, the most important piece of planning advice for any PEI trip is to build in unscheduled time. Leave a day with nothing fixed. Let the Island show you something it was not asked to show you. The things to do in PEI that you will remember longest are usually the ones you did not plan.
Frequently Asked Questions About Things to Do in PEI
What are the best things to do in PEI?
The best things to do in PEI include visiting Cavendish Beach in Prince Edward Island National Park, touring Province House in Charlottetown, eating fresh lobster at a traditional lobster supper, exploring the singing sands at Basin Head in Kings County, visiting the south shore village of Victoria by the Sea, and spending an evening at the Lone Oak Beer Garden at Avonlea Village in Cavendish.
What is there to do in PEI besides the beaches?
Beyond the beaches, PEI offers Province House and the historic downtown core of Charlottetown, the Anne of Green Gables heritage sites in Cavendish, fresh oyster tasting at Island producers, the Points East Coastal Drive through Kings County, harness racing at Red Shores in Charlottetown, the Victoria Playhouse community theatre, and craft beer experiences at Lone Oak Brewing’s five locations across the Island.
What is the best hidden gem in PEI?
Basin Head Provincial Park in Kings County is one of PEI’s best-kept secrets. Known as the singing sands beach, it features high-silica sand that makes a squeaking sound underfoot, a sheltered tidal inlet perfect for swimming, and far fewer crowds than the national park beaches on the north shore. It is free to access and approximately 90 minutes from Charlottetown.
What are the best things to do in PEI for first-time visitors?
First-time visitors to PEI should prioritise Cavendish Beach, Province House in Charlottetown, a traditional PEI lobster supper, the Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, and the Lone Oak Brewery Taproom at Gateway Village in Borden-Carleton as a first stop after crossing the Confederation Bridge. These experiences together give a strong introduction to what makes Prince Edward Island worth visiting.
How do you get to PEI?
Prince Edward Island is accessible via the Confederation Bridge from Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick, which takes approximately 10 minutes by car. The Northumberland Ferries service also runs seasonally between Pictou, Nova Scotia and Wood Islands, PEI. The crossing takes approximately 75 minutes. PEI also has a regional airport in Charlottetown with connections to major Canadian cities.
Is PEI worth visiting for more than a weekend?
Yes. Most visitors to Prince Edward Island leave wishing they had more time. A long weekend is enough to cover the main highlights, but a full week allows you to explore the beaches, Charlottetown, the eastern and western ends of the Island, and the slower-paced experiences that define what PEI actually is. If only a weekend is possible, plan to come back.