SOME HOT SPOTS THAT GET YOU TO PEI

Prince Edward Island is a destination unto itself and you may just want to get there as quickly as possible. After all, there are beautiful beaches, stunning scenery, great pubs and restaurants and little towns to explore and enjoy once you arrive.  If that's the case, then just zip down the highways, stop for a couple of nights and voila, you are there.

But, supposing you're one who wishes to visit other fun and entertaining spots along the way to PEI. Perhaps you have a hankering for a long slow drive with stops along the way where you can spend a few hours, a day or even a couple of days before reaching your ultimate destination, PEI.  Can anyone recommend some good places to spend some time between southeastern Ontario and PEI? Well, here I am to do just that.

There are a few routes to choose from; you can pass through Quebec, New Brunswick and/or Nova Scotia or you can choose to go through New  York, Vermont,  New Hampshire, Maine into New Brunswick and PEI. Whichever route you choose, I'm here to point out some nice spots for you to see along the way that are tried and true by us. No options is right, it simply depends on what you want to see along the way. I am taking you through Quebec, into New Brunswick and onto the Confederation Bridge to PEI this go around. Enjoy.

Taking the Canada Route: Because we are in an RV and take our home along with us, we tend to stay outside of cities. This allows us to be near a city without having to maneuver through city streets but we get to visit the cities. For us, our first stop has always been in Levis, Quebec. We have stayed at a particularly nice RV Park called Camping Transit Link to Camping Transit Here a couple of times and would not hesitate to go back there. We liked this place a lot and it was close enough to the actual town of Levis that getting to shops for food was easy. Levis, itself, is an interesting town with interesting architecture, great restaurants and more. Click Here for Information about Levis Should you be driving without an RV and decide to stay in Levis, you can take a ferry to fabulous Quebec City.  Click Here for Information about the Ferry

I would suggest, though, if you are not camping or in an RV you really would want to make Quebec City a stop. It's been said visiting Quebec City is the next best thing to actually going to Europe. If you can't afford Europe go to Quebec City and pretend. Link to Quebec City Tourism Site . I can not even begin to extol the virtues of spending time in this city. There is just too much to see, too much to do, too many options of where to stay and too much excellent food to talk about. Let's not even talk about the amount of Canadian history wrapped up in one great package called Quebec City. I would heartily recommend staying in the old city, within the walls, and taking the time to walk around and slowly enjoy everything it has to offer.

These pictures of the old city were taken on a summer trip to Quebec about six years ago but I can assure you, nothing has changed.

You will want to spend some time in Kamouraska, Quebec while you're at it, You will understand why it is named one of the 20 most beautiful towns in the Province. It's peaceful, colourful, well maintained and just really pretty. We were unfortunate with our visit as there are no RV parks in that area so we were unable to visit the town at our leisure. We did drive in, pulling the RV but there was no place that would allow us to park the RV and get out to tour. We ended up double parking, Erik at the wheel, while I ran into one of their many gourmet shops to pick up smoked salmon, coquille st jacques and other goodies. There are lots of little boutiques, chocolatiers, fish and seafood stores, and tons of little cafes. Here are some photos of Kamouraska and a link to their website.
Link to Kamouraska Here.

We were truly disappointed that we couldn't spend more time there. Driving around this lovely little town pulling an RV was not nearly enough time but, I must say, the salmon and coquilles st jacques was well worth the risk of getting a parking ticket.

New Brunswick has a pretty good highway system that allows for easy travel through the Province to get to PEI but don't be in too much of a hurry. New Brunswick offers some really nice places that merit a visit before you cross over to the red sands of PEI.  We have stayed in a number of places in New Brunswick over the years including Grand Falls, Nacawic, Fredericton,  St. John, St. Andrews and St. Stephen..

Grand Falls is a town just inside the border from Quebec where a good friend of ours lives. It's a small town of about 5,700 and is home to Ron Turcotte the famous Canadian jockey who rode Secretariat to the triple crown in 1973. He had an impressive career until a riding accident left him a paraplegic. The town of Grand Falls has a beautiful bronze statue of Ron Turcotte front and centre in the town square.

These are the falls of Grand Falls. Pretty impressive.

Fredericton is the capital of NB. For having a small population of only about 58,000 people, you will find lots of history, markets, art and good eating whether you favour pubs, family restaurants or fine dining. One of our favourite restaurants anywhere is a restaurant called Brewbakers that we have been to a few times. It is world class. Click to see Brewbakers Restaurant website.

Nackawic Click for information about Nackawic. Have you ever discovered a little jewel in the middle of nowhere and wondered why more people haven't discovered it or why there aren't thousands of people exploring your little jewel. Well, that's Nackawic. We found the most lovely RV park called Sunset View Campground that enchanted us. Very few sites, each row elevated for unobstructed views of the gorgeous St. John River and a swimming pool that no one but us was using. There was something about this little RV park that really took our fancy and we would not hesitate in recommending it to anyone who wants to get off the beaten path.

The Pool at Sunset View Campground. We swam after dark when no one was looking.

St. John is Canada's oldest incorporated city, historic and sits on the Bay of Fundy across from Digby, NS. It's an interesting city with plenty to see and do. Open six days a week and selling everything from soup to nuts and, of course, fresh seafood the St. John City Market is a good way to spend a day. If you are a history buff there is no shortage of ways to immerse yourself in the history of the region. St. John is an exceedingly interesting city and pretty to boot.

The market

St. John, New Brunswick

St. Andrews and St. Stephen kind of go together as they are so close geographically and offer much the same thing to tourists. Sun, sand, lobster. St. Andrews is bustling with experiences with lobster rolls, fine dining, seaside camping and luxury accommodations. There's fishing, whale watching and golfing all nearby. Our RV Park was almost in the  heart of downtown St. Andrews and sat right on the ocean. It was divine. Click here to see our RV Park Walks along the beach, walking distance to the downtown area and beautiful scenery. One of the highlights of our stay in this beautiful spot was discovering they have a music room where locals come on a regular basis and play their instruments. There was a piano on site and Erik got the opportunity to jam with an incredible Maritime fiddler and a couple of guitarists.

Close to St. Andrews is St. Stephen and the home to Ganong Brothers Chocolates. This place is amazing. Anyone who knows me or Erik will know that anything chocolate is amazing in our world. Here is a link to their website Ganong and below are pictures I took inside this old time candy store. Anyone recognize the chicken bones?

Beautiful, huh?

Our little sampling of delicious chocolates.

Once you've been around NB to your heart's content and are ready for PEI you are now ready to experience the Confederation Bridge, that incredible feat of engineering Information about Confederation Bridge. It's surreal crossing the bridge, summer or winter.

Confederation Bridge

We've also done the trip via the US and through Nova Scotia and have some tips for you travellers who would prefer an alternate route than the one described here. Want to know some good places to visit in Nova Scotia? Well, look no further than my next blog which will be coming soon,  very soon.