Prince Edward Island
The CouchSurfing Wiki, an informal workspace which anyone can edit.
| Canada | Canada pages | Cities | Other links |
|
Calgary • Edmonton • Kitchener-Waterloo • Moncton • Montreal • Niagara Falls • Ottawa • Quebec • Saint-Jean-Port-Joli • Toronto • Vancouver • Victoria • Winnipeg |
| ||||||||||||||||
Prince Edward Island is a province of Canada. Its capital is Charlottetown. Prince Edward Island is a strange case for couchsurfing. It receives many thousands of visitors every year, so much so that its population doubles in summertime. To counter this, budget travel in PEI is almost unheard of. There was a hostel some years ago but it is since closed, as a sign of how many budget travelers make their way here, though recently a new hostel had opened in Charlottetown This is all to say that the couchsurfing presence on Prince Edward Island is capable of meeting the demand by budget travelers.
Couchsurfing Events in Prince Edward Island
Expect no great regularity for formal meetups in PEI. Many members offer informal meetups. Post in the groups if you are interested in a specific event, some members may join you or at least offer advice on where to go.
Couchsurfing and Transportation Tips
Prince Edward Island, much like the rest of the Maritimes and Canada as a whole, offers challenges for internal travel. The intercity buses are infrequent and inner city buses are also not a viable option. The cities and major towns themselves are all easily walkable, however, when venturing past them transportation is much more limited, and surfers may find themselves at the mercy of their hosts for seeing more of the province. In summer time there are shuttles which run from Charlottetown to Cavendish, aimed specifically at tourists otherwise stuck in Charlottetown. However, it is best to inquire with hosts if they are able to show you around the province at all. Many hosts understand the limitations of transport in the province and will try and help out, offering rides or pickups.
What to See and Do
As can be expected by the lack of transportation, what you see and do will be dependent on whether or not you have a car. There are ways to circumvent this. As mentioned previously, the national park is accessible by shuttle buses in the summer. Also if you are on a bicycle there are many bike only paths across the province and with some careful planning, camping and couchsurfing should be able to get you past the problem of accomodation. If you do have some sort of transportation, aside from the touristy area around Cavendish, it is worth considering the following:
-The beaches on the south shore are generally muddy with shallow waters. This is because the Northumberland straight has very large tides. If you are looking for beaches the north shore is best, however, the eastern shore is also worth a look. The beach at Panmure Island is considered by many locals to be the best non-touristy beach on the island.
-The cities and large towns are not worth much time. Charlottetown is compact and easily covered in a day, the other towns require even less time. It is worth noting that with a lack of a specific local cuisine (save for fried seafood) that the Prince Edward Island is known for its prominent Lebanese community. There are many fine Lebanese restaurants around Charlottetown which are worth exploring.
-You might be underwhelmed by some of the National Historic Sites, Fort Ahmerst is mostly just the earthen groundworks where the fort used to stand and Ardgowan inside of Charlottetown serves more as an administrative building than as a site itself.
-One of the best known provincial parks in the province is Brudenell. If you can make your way here it is worth it for the the natural setting. It is one of the few places in PEI, where an island is accessible at low tide tide but cut off at high tide.
