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An unspoilt island of rolling farmland, red cliffs, dazzling white lighthouses, golden sand dunes and shining lakes - Prince Edward Island is a different type of Canadian adventure. PEI, as it's known, is one of the three Maritime provinces on Canada's east coast, and at just 139 miles long and 40 miles wide it's the country's smallest and only island province.

Generations of people know Prince Edward Island as the home of Anne of Green Gables. But although Anne is the star of the book, PEI is her gorgeous co-star, with luscious descriptions that make you want to walk through the woods or sit on the sparkling lakeshore yourself. But there's more to Prince Edward Island than just Green Gables, with a beautiful coastline, delicious food and a fascinating history to discover. So here are my 12 essential things to do in PEI.

This post has been produced in collaboration with Canada Keep Exploring.

12 things to do in Prince Edward Island

1. Go lighthouse spotting

You can't get a more classic Maritime Canada view than a white and red lighthouse set among the sand dunes, and PEI has 63 lighthouses to choose from. Whether round or square, plain or striped, tall or short, wood or brick, they were all built around the island's coastline from the mid-19th century to protect passing ships from the treacherous seas. Not many of them are used for navigation now, but they're still looked after by local conservation groups.

Each lighthouse has its own story to tell. Point Prim is PEI's first and oldest lighthouse, and is one of only a few round brick lighthouses on the island. Cape Bear had a Marconi wireless station where the first distress signal from the Titanic was heard. East Point has been moved twice after the coast eroded. And you can stay the night in the West Point lighthouse.

2. Find Anne at Green Gables

For over 100 years, children around the world have grown with stories of red-haired Anne of Green Gables, the 11-year-old orphan girl who's sent to live with a middle-aged brother and sister by accident when they'd asked for a boy to come and help on their farm. Visiting the Green Gables Heritage Place on PEI's north shore is like walking right into a chapter of the book, with its white clapboard house, green shutters and an old carriage parked outside.

In real life the house belonged to author Lucy Maud Montgomery's cousins, a brother and sister who inspired the characters of Matthew and Marilla. But the interiors have been recreated from the stories, right down to Anne's bedroom in the east gable with her beloved puff-sleeved dress hanging up. You almost expect to see her come walking in from the Haunted Wood.

Read more: On the trail of Anne of Green Gables in Prince Edward Island

3. Discover the story of Confederation

Prince Edward Island might be small, but it played a major role in the history of Canada. It was in the island's capital Charlottetown that the Fathers of Confederation - representatives from the British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario - met in Province House in September 1864 for the Charlottetown Conference, which led to the formation of Canada.

You can find out more in a replica of the original Confederation Chamber (which is currently temporarily relocated to the Confederation Arts Center while Province House is being renovated) and you'll also see the Confederation Players out and about in Charlottetown during the summer, costumed guides who can tell you all about what life was like in 1860s PEI.

4. See red sandstone cliffs

As you travel around Prince Edward Island you'll see flashes of its unusual bright red soil. It gets its colour from the high amounts of iron in the island's sandstone which oxidises and rusts when it comes in contact with the air. As well as being great for farming the sandstone makes for some gorgeous views, especially when it contrasts with the island's green fields or blue waters.

Along the north shore of the island you can see red sandstone cliffs in Prince Edward Island National Park, with weird and wonderful rock formations which glow at sunset. You'll also find more stunning sandstone scenery in Argyle Shore Provincial Park and at Cape Tryon.

5. Eat all the seafood

Prince Edward Island is famous across Canada and beyond for its seafood, with some of the juiciest oysters, silkiest lobster and tastiest clams and mussels around. Sit on the waterfront with a buttery lobster roll piled high with fresh meat and just a dash of lemon and you'll see why. Seafood's available all over the island - from high-end restaurants to simple waterfront stalls.

Some of PEI's top seafood spots include New Glasgow Lobster Supper, Richard's Fresh Seafood and The Lobster Barn Pub and Eatery. If you really love your seafood, then autumn's the best time to visit for September's PEI International Shellfish Festival, with tastings, music, cooking demos and a record attempt for the world's longest lobster roll. And if you want to catch your own, you can try digging for clams and shucking oysters or join a fishing expedition.

6. Walk the boardwalks

An evening walk along the boardwalk, breathing in the smell of the sea, was one of my favourite things to do in Prince Edward Island. At Greenwich in Prince Edward Island National Park there's a 2.5km-long boardwalk with a floating section that takes you over marshland, passing grasslands and the area's protected parabolic sand dunes on its way to the ocean.

Or you can join the parade of joggers, walkers and cyclists in Charlottetown's Victoria Park, where there's a boardwalk which runs along the edge of the park and on past the remains of a historic fort, alongside lines of boats to Peake's Wharf and the harbour.

7. Ice cream heaven at Cows Creamery

Whatever the time of year, eating a cone of Cows is a Prince Edward Island must-do - ice cream so tasty it's been voted the best in Canada. Cows Creamery started in PEI and opened their first store in Cavendish in 1983. Since then they've expanded across the country as well as now having six stores around the island, including their main HQ just outside Charlottetown where you can take a tour to see how it's made and pick up one of their trademark cow pun t-shirts.

Cows ice cream is extra creamy, made using a secret recipe with milk from PEI cows and fresh local ingredients and served in handmade waffle cones. There are over 30 different flavours, including seasonal specials - my favourites were Wowie Cowie (vanilla ice cream with toffee, chocolate flakes and moo crunch) and PEI Apple Crisp (apple ice cream with apple crumble).

8. Cycle (or snowmobile) the Confederation Trail

Prince Edward Island's Confederation Trail is a 270-mile-long former railway line that makes up the island's portion of Canada's Great Trail - the world's longest recreational trail. It stretches from Tignish at one tip of the island to Elmira at the other, with branches connecting it to Charlottetown, the Confederation Bridge and some of the island's beachside towns.

The route's gentle gradients make it perfect for walking or cycling, however fit you are, and there are lots of beautiful views along the way. The Confederation Trail runs though a mixture of farms, wetlands, forests, meadows and lakes, with plenty of little villages to stop off in. You can hire a bike (or ebike) in Charlottetown in summer and try out geocaching, with over 1600 geocache sites along the trail. Or in winter the trail is transformed into a snowmobile route.

Read more: 3 reasons to visit Prince Edward Island

9. Have a drink on Victoria Row

Victoria Row - aka The Row - is one of Charlottetown's prettiest streets with its Victorian red brick buildings, cobbled streets and shady trees. The street is lined with a mix of bars and restaurants, coffee shops, galleries and independent shops selling art, antiques and gifts - and of course there are few Anne of Green Gables goodies in there too.

From May to October Victoria Row is pedestrianised, so you can grab a table outside for a sunset drink on a summer's evening while you listen to street musicians, or head up to the rooftop patio bar at Fishies on the Roof for views out over the city's rooftops.

Read more: Things to do in Charlottetown: A weekend itinerary

10. Hit the beach

If you fancy a day at the beach, Prince Edward Island has 500 miles worth of beaches to choose from, ranging from white sand to red, and with some of the warmest waters north of Florida. One of the island's most famous is the Singing Sands in Basin Head Provincial Park, which gets its name from the high-silica-content sand which squeaks when you walk on it.

Head to Prince Edward Island National Park for Cavendish Beach with its 37-mile stretch of red sand or quieter Greenwich Beach with its golden sand dunes. Or Brackley Beach is only a 25-minute drive outside of Charlottetown and is home to the quirky Dunes Gallery. There are so many beaches on the island though that it's easy to pack a picnic and find your own stretch of beach away from everyone else - you can camp by the beach in some Provincial Parks too.

11. Go mouse spotting in Charlottetown

When you're walking around the streets of Charlottetown, keep yours eyes out for the mini bronze mouse statues hidden around the city. They're based on Eckhart the Mouse - a curious mouse with a long tail - who's a character from local PEI author David Weale's book The True Meaning of Crumbfest. It's a great game if you're visiting with kids, and you can download a PDF with clues on where to find them along with some historical details about the places along the route (I only managed to find six so you'll probably do better than me!).

12. Feast your way around the island

There's more to PEI's food than just seafood - it's been nicknamed Canada's Food Island for all its amazing local produce. You can do a taster of some of the delicious local flavours at the weekly Charlottetown Farmers' Market, which takes place every Saturday plus on Wednesdays in the summer. As well as food and drink there are also art, craft and gift stalls.

Or you can tour some of Prince Edward Island's food and drink producers as you travel around the island. There's the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company for jam and chutney (their raspberry and Champagne jam is amazing), Rossignol Winery for fruit and maple wines, the PEI Brewing Company for craft beer and Island Chocolates for amazing handmade chocolates. And don't miss the bizarre-sounding chocolate-covered potato chips - a local speciality.

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12 of the best things to do in Prince Edward Island, Canada - On the Luce travel blog

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An unspoilt island of rolling farmland, red cliffs, dazzling white lighthouses, golden sand dunes and shining lakes - Prince Edward Island is a different type of Canadian adventure. PEI, as it's known, is one of the three Maritime provinces on Canada's east coast, and at just 139 miles long and 40 miles wide it's the country's smallest and only island province.

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Study this source and compare it to the CRAAP rubric.  What would its score be, and why?  Describe it, according to the information that is available on the webpage.

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Abou t-France.com - the connoisseur's guide to France

Discover Nice - a guide for visitors

Nice, showing location of main sites. The area covered by this map is just over 3 km (2 miles) across.

A bit of history

Way back in the 18th century, a fashion developed among the English aristocracy and the new class of wealthy merchants and factory owners, to vist Italy and see the great sites of the ancient classical world.
One of the easiest ways for travellers to get to Italy on their "Grand Tour", as it was called, was to cross France to Marseilles, then take a boat along the coast. Among the stopping places on this sea journey was the small port of Nice;the coast here had an exceptionally mild climate, and it was not long before some English visitors took to the idea of wintering in this idyllic spot between the Alps and the Mediterranean. In an age when modern central heating had not been invented, It was so much more pleasant to stay in Nice than return to a cold damp English winter. Mediterranean tourism had begun.
By 1820 there was a sizeable British colony in Nice; and in 1822, during a bad winter, the Rev. Lewis Way decided to employ local workmen to build a fine walkway along beside the beach. Locals called it the "Promenade des Anglais" the Promenade of the English, a seaside esplande that was thus, apart from hotels and inns, France's first custom-built piece of tourism infrastructure. In 1864, the railway arrived, making Nice far more accessible from Paris and northern Europe. And Nice has never looked back.

Eastern end of the beach at Nice - the sea at Nice attracts swimmers and bathers for about seven months of the year.

Since then, Nice, with its wonderful climate, has continued to attract wealthy visitors, and more recently mass tourism, from all over Europe and the world. Russians were among the early visitors, and since the nineteenth century Nice has been home or second home to many Russians. Nice's Russian Orthodox cathedral, which is now the property of the Russian Federation, is one of the city's fine buildings, and the largest Russian orthodox cathedral in western Europe.
In the days when the early English tourists began visiting Nice, the city was not part of France, but part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which covered an area that is now mostly in Italy. It was not until the signing of the Treaty of Turin in 1860 that the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice were ceded to France.
Consequently, Nice and its area have a culture and traditions that have much in common with those of Italy. While the city's many fine restaurants and hotels serve the best food in the French tradition, local specialities in and around Nice have a distinctly Italian and Mediterranean flavour; Pissaladière is a kind of onion pizza with anchovies; and Nice ravioli, or ravioles, need little introduction. Another local speciality, " les farcis", litterally "stuffed things", are vegetables, notably aubergines or courgettes (zucchini), stuffed with a meat rice and herb mix. Socca, known in Italy as Farinata, is a seasoned pancake made from chick-pea flour and olive oil. As a seaport, Nice is also a town known for its seafood, including dishes with the classic Mediterranean fish red mullet ( rouget) and sea bream ( dorade).

Tourist attractions in and around Nice

The number one tourist attraction in Nice is quite clearly the sea. With 7 kilometres of beach along the Promenade des Anglais, Nice has one of the longest and most famous beaches of the French Riviera. It's worth noting however that the beach is made of small pebbles, not sand - which does not seem to have deterred the millions of bathers who come here each year.

Entrance to the old port.

To the west of the old city is "Castle Hill" - La colline du château, whose former fortress was demolished three hundred years ago. Today Castle Hill is a park filled with luxuriant Mediterranean trees and shrubs, separating the beach to the west from the old port, le vieux port, to the east. The old port is nowadays a yachting marina, where visitors can come and admirethe luxury yachts of the super-rich. A warm evening wander round the old port can be an unusual experience, with the underwater floodlights on some yachts shining through the clear blue water.
The old city of Nice arcs round inland from "Castle Hill", from the Promenade des Anglais to the old port. Most of the historic quarter, including the famed flower market, is just behind the east end of the beach. Entering the old city, one moves from the open spaces of the Promenade des Anglais into the narrow streets of a traditional north Mediterranean city. As in Italy, the narrow streets are flanked by tall houses, up to five stories high, and painted in warm colours, reds, yellows and ochre. In many places restaurants spill out of the old buildings, their chairs and tables half covering the streets where vehicles could not pass easily even if they were allowed to. In warm weather, the aromas of Mediterranean cooking drifting out from the kitchens can be a mouth-watering experience. Even if Nice had nothing in the way of museums and monuments, it would be a place whose charms would be enough to satisfy many of its visitors.

Restaurants spill out into the narrow streets in the heart of old Nice.

But Nice does have museums and monuments. Until recently many of them were free; sadly charges have now been introduced.
Best of these is the Musée Matisse: to get there take bus 15 from stop Deloye Dubouchage, near the hotel Crillon). Located in a villa, the Matisse Museum has a great collection of works spanning the artist's lifetime.
Half way up to the Matisse Museum, the bus route takes you past another great museum, the Chagall Museum, on the Boulevard de Cimiez. The collection comprises some 400 works by Chagall, including the series of 17 of Chagall's great biblical paintings.
Even closer to the old city is the MAMAC, or Museum of modern art and contemporary art, a French and American modern art museum, with works by Yves Klein, Niki de Saint Phalle, Andy Warhol, Roy Liechtenstein, and many others. This museum is located just 100 metres from the Place Garibaldi.

Nice's Russian orthodox cathedral.

For those with more classic tastes, the Nice Fine Arts Museum, the Musée des Beaux arts , has a collection of French and European art from the 16th to the 20th century, with works by Van Loo, Fragonard, Corot, Daubigny, Boudin, Monet, Sisley and Raoul Dufy, to name a few.
Nice's other very popular site is the Russian orthodox cathedral, a classic Russian building that might look more in place in Moscow or Saint Petersburg.

In the area - the Cote d'Azur

The French Riviera

Nice is well connected to the Riviera coast and to the Alpine hinterland by public transport. The train line runs along the coast, and the Nice urban bus network spreads well beyond the city limits. Tickets are cheap.
One easy trip that can be well recommended is to take bus line 81 just four or five kilometres east along the coast to Villefranche sur Mer.This is a delightful small old seaside town, hemmed in between mountains and sea, with narrow streets and small beaches. Then continue to the next seaside village of Beaulieu sur mer. Within walking distance of Beaulieu is Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, the most exclusive of Nice's suburbs, on a rocky peninsula.

House and gardens of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild.
There is a footpath along the water's edge from Beaulieu to Saint Jean; and at Saint Jean, garden lovers should climb the hill to visit the exquisite house and famous gardens of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild.
To the west of Nice, a popular place to visit is Cannes, famous for its film festival. It is easily reached by train - which is also the best way to get to Monte Carlo, fifteen kilometres east of Nice.
For a day-trip into the mountains, the narrow-gauge Chemin de Fer de Provence will take you from Nice to Annot and back. The metre-gauge railway leaves from a small station about 400 metres north of the main train station, following up the valley of the river Var, through dramatic scenery and into the foothills of the Alps. Trains continue from Annot as far as Digne - but that is a two day trip.

Click here for more on visiting the French Riviera

Access - getting to Nice :

With its well-served airport, Nice is an excellent choice for a long weekend break or a short visit at any time of the year

By plane - Nice airport: the busiest international airport in France outside Paris. Served by many carriers from all over France and Europe and even by Air France from the USA.

By train: direct TGV service from Paris (over 6 hours), Lille, Lyon and Marseille. For timetables and online tickets (France and Europe), see .

By road : Nice is over 12 hours drive from Calais, and over 9 hours from Paris.

Text and photos copyright © About-France.com 2003 - 2019
Except - Plan of Nice, developed from an open-source original from openstreetmap.org.
St. Nicholas Cathedral: creative commons photo by Unacerilla

Photo top of page: view from Castle hill over the roofs of old Nice, to the famous Baie des Anges, or Bay of the Angels.

Nice accommodation

A selection of carefully chosen hotels in Nice.

These hotels are conveniently sited in or near the city centre, and all have goodwrite-ups. Click links for details and to book at best rates .

Five stars: ★★★★★
The Hotel Negresco Iconic hotel located on the Promenade des Anglais, facing the sea, a home from home for the wealthy and glitterati of Europe and America for more than a hunderd years.

Three stars ★★★
Recommended ...
The Hotel les Cigales Between the station and the sea, 300 metres in from the Promenade des Anglais. Small classic hotel, 19 rooms, with air con and wifi. No car parking, but bicycles available for rent .

Hotel Cresp One of a small number of hotels in the old city; a 19th century building 100 yards from the sea front and close to the market. Rooms are on the 3rd floor, with access by lift / elevator.

Lots more three-star hotels
Click here for more three star hotels in Nice

Click here for two star hotels in Nice

Backpacker hostel
Recommended ...
Villa St. Exupery beach hostel
Four minutes from the beach. Has a range of dormitory and private room accommodation. Open to all.

Key tourist information for Nice :

Region: Provence - Alpes - Cote d'Azur
Nearby cities: Cannes, Monte Carlo
Niceis on the French riviera, a short distance from the Italian border

Urban area Population 950,000Main sites: The sea front, called the Promenade des Anglais; the old port; the old city and flower market, the Matisse and Chagall museums.

Nearby attractions: The attractions of the French Riviera, Saint Paul de Vence, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Grasse - home of the French perfume industry

Box of red mullet in the fish market

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Visiting Nice - a short visitor guide to the city

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Abou t-France.com - the connoisseur's guide to France Discover Nice - a guide for visitors Nice, showing location of main sites. The area covered by this map is just over 3 km (2 miles) across.

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Geographically small but culturally rich, Florence - two hours northwest of Rome - is home to some of the greatest art and architecture in the world. Florence offers visitors a brimming bucket list of masterpieces, topped by Michelangelo's David, Botticelli's Birth of Venus, and Brunelleschi's heavenly dome. With more historic churches, masterpiece chapels, palaces large and small, and a surprising range of museums, the city is blessed with a wealth of cultural riches.

After Rome fell, Europe wallowed in centuries of relative darkness, with little learning, commerce, or travel. Then, around 1400, there was a Renaissance - a rebirth of the culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Starting in Florence, it swept across Europe. Wealthy merchant and banking families - like the Medici, who ruled Florence for generations - showed their civic pride by commissioning great art.

With the Renaissance, artists rediscovered the beauty of nature and the human body, expressing the optimism of this new age. The ultimate representation of this: Michelangelo's David. Poised at the end of a long, nave-like hall in Florence's Accademia Gallery, David is the god of human triumph. Clothed only in confidence, his toes gripping the pedestal, David sizes up the giant, as if to say, "I can take this guy." The statue was an apt symbol, inspiring Florentines to tackle their Goliaths.

Until 1873, David stood not in the Accademia, but outside Palazzo Vecchio, the former Medici palace and now Florence's city hall. A replica David marks the spot where the original once stood. With goony eyes and a pigeon-dropping wig, this David seems dumbfounded, as tourists picnic at his feet and policewomen clip-clop by on horseback.

Next door to the palace were the Medicis' uffizi - offices. Now these offices, as the Uffizi Gallery, hold the finest collection of Italian paintings anywhere, sweeping through art history from the 12th through 17th century, with works by Botticelli, Raphael, Giotto, Titian, Da Vinci, and Michelangelo. In the long, arcaded courtyard, a permanent line of tourists waits to buy tickets ( advance reservations are a must to avoid these lines).

A highlight of the Uffizi is Venus de' Medici. Revered as the epitome of beauty, Venus is a Roman copy of a 2,000-year-old Greek statue that went missing. In the 18th and 19th centuries, wealthy children of Europe's aristocrats made the pilgrimage to the Uffizi to complete their classical education, where they swooned in ecstasy before the cold beauty of this goddess of love.

Classical statues like this clearly inspired Sandro Botticelli, my favorite Florentine painter. According to myth, Venus was born from the foam of a wave. In Botticelli's Birth of Venus, this fragile, newborn beauty with flyaway hair floats ashore on a clam shell while flowers tumble in slow motion. For me, the Birth of Venus represents the purest expression of Renaissance beauty.

In Florence, art treasures are everywhere you turn. The small, uncrowded Bargello features the best collection of Florentine sculpture anywhere, including works by Michelangelo, Donatello, and Ghiberti. And hiding out at the underrated Duomo Museum are Michelangelo's Pietà, the centerpiece he designed for his own tomb, and Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise panels. Revolutionary in their realism and three-dimensionality, these panels were created in response to a citywide competition to build new doors for the Baptistery, an event that some say kicked off the Renaissance.

Across the street from the Duomo Museum is Florence's famous cathedral. Boasting the first great dome built in Europe in more than a thousand years, the Duomo marked the start of the architectural Renaissance (later inspiring domes from the Vatican to the American Capitol). Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, the immense dome - taller than a football field on end - rose in rings. First, he created part of the big white ribs, then filled in the space with interlocking bricks. When one ring was complete and self-supporting, he moved the scaffolding up and built another.

Today, the artistic legacy lives on in Florence's Oltrarno neighborhood, home to small artisan shops with handmade furniture, jewelry, leather items, shoes, and pottery. Craftsmen bind books and make marbled paper. Antique pieces are refurbished by people who've become curators of the dying techniques of gilding, engraving, etching, enameling, mosaics, and repoussé metal work. If you want to see a slice of today's Florence, this is the place to go.

At the end of the day, I like to unwind at one of my favorite hotels in town, Loggiato dei Serviti, a stately former monastery. From my bedroom I can see the Accademia across the way. The courtyard in between is gravelly with broken columns and stones set up for students to carve. Like creative woodpeckers, I hear the happy pecking and chirping of chisels gaining confidence, cutting through the stone. Hundreds of years after the Renaissance, it's comforting to know that the spirit of creation remains alive and well in Florence.

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Florence: The Cultural Capital of Europe

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Geographically small but culturally rich, Florence - two hours northwest of Rome - is home to some of the greatest art and architecture in the world. Florence offers visitors a brimming bucket list of masterpieces, topped by Michelangelo's David, Botticelli's Birth of Venus, and Brunelleschi's heavenly dome.

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Study this source and compare it to the CRAAP rubric.  What would its score be, and why?  Describe it, according to the information that is available on the webpage.