Prince Edward Island travel guide: the gentle island, priced fairly
PEI for travellers: the bridge toll you pay leaving, red-sand national park beaches, Green Gables, the lowest speed limit in Canada, and how short the season is.
4 min read 6 sections 3 questions answered
Canada's smallest province is a 280 km sandstone crescent of red roads, green fields and beaches warmer than anyone expects this far north. You can drive tip to tip in three hours; the point is to take five days.
- Sales tax
- 15% HST on most purchases
- Road report
- PEI 511
- Getting on
- Confederation Bridge or the Wood Islands ferry
- Getting off
- That is when you pay: toll and fare are charged leaving
- Top speed limit
- 90 km/h, the lowest in Canada
- Season
- Much of the island trades only June to September
Getting on, around and off
- The Confederation Bridge (13 km, about ten minutes) and the Wood Islands ferry both collect only when you leave, so the classic loop uses one each way and pays once.
- PEI 511 covers the roads, and the bridge posts wind restrictions that occasionally hold high-sided vehicles.
- Island driving is rural and slow by design: low limits, farm equipment, and red clay side roads that photograph better than they drain.
- Cyclists get the whole island: the tip-to-tip Confederation Trail runs 273 km of crushed stone on an old rail bed.
What it costs
| Cost | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sales tax | 15% HST | One combined rate, added at the till |
| Hotel tax on top | About 3% | Tourism levy in some municipalities, Charlottetown included |
| Confederation Bridge | $20 per car, leaving only | Cut from about $50 in August 2025; arriving is free |
| Wood Islands ferry | Halved in August 2025, charged leaving | Reserve in July and August or expect a wait |
| Provincial campsite | $30 to $45 a night | National park sites at Cavendish, Brackley and Stanhope book earlier |
| Green Gables Heritage Place | About $9 per adult | A Parks Canada site, so passes apply |
Checked August 2026 on the operators' own pages. Bridge and ferry rates changed sharply in 2025, so confirm before budgeting.
Fire bans and camping
Open fires outside campgrounds need a provincial burning permit, and daily fire-weather restrictions apply in dry stretches; campground rules are posted on site and the national fire map covers the island at a glance. Camping splits three ways: PEI's provincial parks, a busy private campground scene, and PEI National Park, whose campgrounds sit right behind the dunes. There is effectively no free or Crown land camping here, so arrive with a booking.
Rules and practicalities
| Category | On Prince Edward Island |
|---|---|
| Top speed limit | 90 km/h, the lowest maximum in Canada, and enforced |
| Tolls | The bridge and the ferry, both charged only on the way off the island |
| Alcohol | 19. PEI Liquor stores, the government retailer |
| Cannabis | 19. PEI Cannabis, also government run |
| Time zone | Atlantic, one hour ahead of Toronto |
| Seasonality | Many restaurants, tours and beaches operate June to September only |
| Beaches | Supervised national park beaches have lifeguards in July and August; the rest do not |
| Emergency | 911 island-wide with good coverage |
When to go
| Season | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| May to June | Empty beaches, lupins in mid June, low rates | Cold water and many businesses still shut |
| July to August | The warmest salt water in Canada, lobster suppers, festivals | Cavendish crowds and peak accommodation prices |
| September to early October | Warm sea, harvest season, thin crowds | Attractions close from mid September onward |
| Late October to April | Very low prices, quiet coastal walks | Most of the island is closed; ferry runs a reduced schedule |
The stops worth planning around
- PEI National Park: 60 km of dunes, red cliffs and swimmable beaches; Greenwich's floating boardwalk is the underrated half.
- Green Gables and Cavendish: the farmhouse, Lucy Maud Montgomery's landscape, and the summer crowds that love both.
- Charlottetown: Confederation's birthplace, harbour patios and the Anne musical, running every summer for decades.
- Points East: lighthouses at East Point and Souris, Basin Head's singing sand, and quiet beaches past the tour-bus radius.
- North Cape to West Point: the red-cliff sunset coast, wind farms and the island's emptiest roads.
- The wharves: Malpeque oysters, Victoria-by-the-Sea, and lobster suppers in church halls.
Location: Green Gables, Cavendish
Location: Greenwich dunes, PEI National Park
The official pages
- PEI 511 Road conditions and the bridge status. https://511.gov.pe.ca
- Confederation Bridge Tolls and wind restrictions for the crossing. https://www.confederationbridge.com
- Northumberland Ferries The Wood Islands to Nova Scotia sailing. https://www.ferries.ca
- PEI provincial parks Park info and campground reservations. https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/topic/provincial-parks
- Tourism PEI The provincial tourism site. https://www.tourismpei.com
Common questions
- How much is the Confederation Bridge toll?
- Twenty dollars for a regular car, charged only when leaving Prince Edward Island, since arriving is free. The rate was cut from about fifty dollars in August 2025 and Wood Islands ferry fares were halved at the same time, so the bridge-one-way, ferry-the-other loop has never been cheaper. Checked August 2026.
- How many days do you need on PEI?
- Three days covers Cavendish, the national park beaches and Charlottetown at holiday pace. Five days adds the Points East lighthouses and the western capes, and cyclists riding the full Confederation Trail or the Island Walk plan a week or more.
- Is the water actually warm enough to swim on PEI?
- Yes, comfortably by Canadian standards. The shallow Gulf of St. Lawrence pushes past 20 degrees by late July, some of the warmest salt water in the country, and the supervised national park beaches at Brackley and Cavendish are genuinely swimmable from July through early September.
Tip
PEI is the easy middle act of the Maritimes loop: bridge on from New Brunswick, ferry off toward Cape Breton.