Cycling through Prince Edward Island, Canada's Smallest Province by Barb Sligl

Start with a big breakfast. Hop on a bike and cruise through gently sloping fields. Stop for a snapshot of wildflowers on the side of the road. Pedal onwards. Break for a picnic lunch atop a cliff overlooking the surf below. Bike into a pretty village. Chat with beaming locals who cheer you on (everyone loves a touring cyclist). Coast up the driveway of a historic seaside inn. Smell the salty air, sit back on the porch and raise weary legs (pleasurably fatigued, of course). Finish with dinner, banter, twilight, stars.

And that’s just leg one.

This is bike touring, possibly the best way to explore any given region that’s laced with country roads and dotted with picturesque villages. It could be the Loire Valley in France, the Rhine in Germany, or here: the idyllic isle of Prince Edward Island.

PEI is Canada’s smallest province; its population is just 138,000. But that life in miniature is what gives this place the look and feel of a diorama. The landscape is the archetypal background of pastoral paintings and dreams. And dream vacations.

The pace is slow; the people are friendly; the atmosphere is welcoming. And the bike is the perfect fit for the Island’s recreational lifestyle. PEI really is a dream for cyclists, where no spot is further than 16 km from the sea and undulations of the landscape evoke the moniker the “gentle isle” (PEI’s highest point is only 400 feet above sea level).

The best way to bike PEI may be “tip to tip,” from Tignish on the west end of the province to Elmira on the east, along the Confederation Trail (PEI’s portion of the TransCanada Trail) as it follows an abandoned railway route that dips in and out of farmland, forests and villages for 350 km. The heaviest traffic you’ll tackle on the trail may be some ruffed grouse crossing your path.

Sweeping vistas of cultivated fields and brick-red soil unfold (“the million-acre farm” is one of PEI’s nicknames) as you pedal through the green foliage of summer’s potato fields (PEI’s primary cash crop). You’ll also ride past some beloved Canadiana: the Anne of Green Gables fictional homestead (where it’s easy to imagine Marilla Cuthbert shelling peas on the porch).

If you don’t want to miss anything, take a guided tour of the trail. A small sample of a six-day tip-to-tip itinerary: bike the scenic coastal road to Kildare Cape, where Jacques Cartier once said “the fairest land ‘tis possible to see!”; have breakfast overlooking Cascumpeque Bay and Northport Harbour; take a side trip to MacAusland’s Woolen Mill (still in operation); enjoy dinner in Bayside, on oyster-rich Malpeque Bay; ride past the Acadian village of Wellington on a fiery path bordered with yellow, purple and orange wildflowers; shop and dine in Charlottetown; bike along Hillsbourough River, a Canadian Heritage River; cross three rivers on old railway trestles; and take a stroll (or better yet, swim) at the seemingly endless sand-dune beach near Greenwich in PEI National Park.

And a bonus: in PEI you get to pedal without doing much physical grunt work—it’s simply not that hard to bike the Island. Of course, the charming milieu does take your mind off any labour in getting from point A to B. Every side view reveals a fresh take on pastures, rivers and tucked-away cottages. And every (little!) climb is rewarded with a fresh vantage point—a valley unfolding around you, a distant village on the horizon and, of course, a coast downhill.

Another pay-off is the great grub. Cycling all day means there’s no guilt in refuelling with buckets of mussels, juicy lobster, fresh scallops, creamy chowder (complete with a PEI potato or two)—all the famous Island fare.

But nothing beats the wind on your skin as you breathe in sea air and coast through emerald countryside. The contrast of red soil, blue sea and verdant green doesn’t get tired. And seeing your panniers covered in the Island’s signature red dust is like a rite of passage. On to leg two…