Charlottetown, Canada, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)

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Birthplace of ConfederationIsland capitalOyster country

Top 10 Things To Do in Charlottetown

Country

Canada

Best months

Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep

Population

38,809

Language

English

Budget / day

C$140–260

Quick answer

Charlottetown is a capital of about 39,000 people, and everything a visitor comes for sits in six blocks of Confederation-era brick between Province House and the harbour. Give the first day to the walk: Great George Street down to Peake's Wharf, the Confederation Centre stage in the evening, oysters after. Give the second to red sand and water, either the national park beaches or Cavendish.

Best of Charlottetown

▶ Video guide

This is the smallest of Canada's ten provincial capitals and it does not pretend otherwise. Nothing downtown is more than a fifteen-minute walk from anything else, and the one building the city is famous for has been behind scaffolding since 2015. What it has instead is a summer that runs at full volume from late June to September.

The 10 best things to do in Charlottetown

Confederation Centre of the Arts

Theatre· 145 Richmond St, Charlottetown, PE C1A 1J1

The national memorial to the Fathers of Confederation is not a monument, it is a working theatre, and it is the reason the city fills every summer. The Charlottetown Festival runs from late June into September, and the Anne production has played every summer since 1965, which is a Guinness record. The complex also holds the art gallery.

Time3 hrs

CostTicketed shows

Best atEvening

TipBook the Anne matinee rather than the evening show if you also want a wharf dinner

Official site Map

Great George Street

Historic street· Great George St, Charlottetown, PE

Six blocks running uphill from the water to Province House, and the route the delegates walked after landing at Peake's Quay in 1864. It was designated a national historic district in 1990, and the Confederation-era houses hold a consistent scale the whole way up. Walk it from the bottom, in the direction the delegates did.

Time45 min

CostFree

Best atMorning

TipStart at Peake's Wharf and climb

Parks Canada record Map

Peake's Wharf and Confederation Landing

Waterfront· 1 Great George St, Charlottetown, PE

The working end of the harbour, at the foot of Great George Street where the 1864 delegates came ashore. Today it is craft shops, patios and the departure dock for harbour and sunset sailings from June to September. Confederation Landing Park spreads east as lawn and boardwalk. Cruise ships tie up here from May to November.

Time2 hrs

CostFree to walk, tours ticketed

Best atLate afternoon

TipCheck the cruise schedule before booking a boat tour

Port Charlottetown Map

Province House National Historic Site

Landmark· 165 Richmond St, Charlottetown, PE C1A 1J1

The sandstone building at the top of Great George Street is where the Charlottetown Conference sat in September 1864, and it is still the seat of the provincial legislature. It is also closed: Parks Canada shut it in 2015 for a conservation project and the reopening is expected in autumn 2026. Check before you plan around it.

Time20 min outside

CostFree

Best atAny time

TipDo not build a day around the interior until Parks Canada says the doors are open

Parks Canada Map

Victoria Row

Pedestrian street· Richmond St, Charlottetown, PE

A block of Richmond Street beside the Confederation Centre that closes to cars for the summer and turns into the city's outdoor room: cobbles, patios down both sides, and live music most evenings. The council made the late patio hours permanent. It is the fastest way to understand how the town spends a July night.

Time1 hr

CostFree

Best atEvening

TipBuskers work the row between sets on the patios

Downtown Charlottetown Map

St. Dunstan's Basilica

Church· 45 Great George St, Charlottetown, PE

The mother church of the Roman Catholic diocese of Prince Edward Island, and the tallest thing on a low skyline: the twin spires are visible from the harbour and most streets between. The present building is early twentieth-century High Victorian Gothic, and its interior is the one genuinely soaring room in the city.

Time30 min

CostFree

Best atMidday

TipCheck the parish site for the Mass schedule first

Parish site Map

Victoria Park and the boardwalk

Park· Victoria Park, Charlottetown, PE

The city's green edge, on the point where the harbour meets the strait. The land was set aside in 1789 and passed to the city in stages from 1873. The 1.2 kilometre boardwalk runs the shoreline past Battery Point, about twenty minutes at a walking pace. Behind it are ball fields, a pool and the white bulk of Government House.

Time1 hr

CostFree

Best atSunset

TipStart at Beaconsfield Historic House on Kent Street

City of Charlottetown Map

Beaconsfield Historic House

Historic house· 2 Kent St, Charlottetown, PE C1A 1M6

Built in 1877 for the shipbuilder James Peake to a design by William Critchlow Harris, and kept close to its original state by the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation. It is the best surviving picture of what shipping money bought in a colonial capital, and the guides tell the rest of the Peake story, which ends in bankruptcy.

Time1 hr

Cost$12 + HST

Best atMorning

TipThe Carriage House behind the main building runs lectures and concerts through the season

Museum site Map

Founders' Food Hall & Market

Food hall· 6 Prince St, Charlottetown, PE

The old Founders' Hall building on the waterfront, reopened as an indoor market: Island kitchens and globally minded ones side by side, a cafe, a full bar and stalls of souvenirs. The mezzanine and the patio both look over the harbour. The reliable answer on a wet afternoon or a day the Saturday market is closed.

Time1 hr

CostFree entry

Best atLunch

TipIt is a two-minute walk from Peake's Wharf

Official site Map

COWS Creamery

Factory tour· 397 Capital Dr, Charlottetown, PE

The Island ice cream brand makes everything at one plant ten minutes from downtown, and the self-guided factory tour is free: a walkway over the production floor, a cheese cave and a taste of the Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar. Unashamedly commercial, and the clearest explanation of how a province of 175,000 exports a dairy brand.

Time1 hr

CostFree

Best atAfternoon

TipGo for the cheddar rather than the cone

Official site Map

8 of the 10, mapped

Charlottetown · 8 spots

AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Charlottetown travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Charlottetown?+

Two full days. One covers the downtown on foot, Great George Street to the wharf with a show in the evening, and the second buys the north shore: a national park beach in the morning and Green Gables or Cavendish in the afternoon. A third day gets you Greenwich or the Points East drive to Basin Head.

Can you go inside Province House?+

Not yet. Parks Canada closed it to visitors in 2015 for a conservation project and expects to reopen it in the autumn of 2026, so check the Parks Canada page before you plan around it. In the meantime the Story of Confederation exhibit and the Province House film sit in the Confederation Centre's Upper Foyer, next door.

When is the best time to visit Charlottetown?+

Late June to late September. The Charlottetown Festival runs from the end of June, surfguards are on the national park beaches from 27 June to 1 September in 2026, and August is the warmest month with an average high near 22C. September brings the Shellfish Festival and the harvest events, and thinner crowds with them.

Do you need a car in Charlottetown?+

Not for the city, which is walkable end to end in twenty minutes. You need one for everything else: the closest national park beach is 21 kilometres out, Cavendish is 38, and Basin Head is 80. T3 Transit covers the city and the airport, but not the shore.

How do you get to Prince Edward Island?+

Three ways. Fly into Charlottetown Airport, 8 kilometres from downtown. Drive the Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick, free coming on and $20 for a car leaving. Or take the Northumberland Ferries crossing from Caribou, Nova Scotia to Wood Islands, 75 minutes, seasonal from spring into December.

Beyond the top 10

Best historic sites in Charlottetown

Five more buildings and grounds that carry the Confederation story past Province House.

All 5 historic sites →

Rochford Square

All Souls' Chapel at St. Peter's Cathedral

National Historic Site

Built in 1888 in Island sandstone to a William Critchlow Harris design, and a national historic site since 1990. High Victorian Gothic on a small scale.

Cathedral site Map

Victoria Park

Government House (Fanningbank)

Tours in Jul and Aug

The Lieutenant Governor's official residence, finished in 1834 on land set aside in 1789. Guided tours run in July and August; the grounds are open daily.

Map

Palmers Lane

Ardgowan National Historic Site

Grounds only

The cottage William Henry Pope lived in while he argued for Confederation and attended the conference as a Father of it. The house is closed; the gardens are yours.

Parks Canada record Map

Queen at Kent

Charlottetown City Hall

Exterior, 1888

The oldest municipal hall on the Island, built in 1888 in the Romanesque Revival the century liked for civic work. The ground floor once held a firehall.

Map

Prince Street

St. Paul's Anglican Church

Island sandstone

A large Gothic Revival church in Island sandstone a block off Grafton Street. The entrance faces one way and the spire another, so it reads differently from each side.

Map

Where to eat

Best restaurants in Charlottetown

Six kitchens for oysters, lobster and the Island beef in between.

All 6 restaurants →

Sydney Street

Claddagh Oyster House

Seafood

The Sydney Street room that made this a restaurant street, open more than 35 years, and the standing answer for oysters shucked to order.

Official site Map

Water Street

Water Prince Corner Shop

Lobster pound

A blue clapboard corner shop and lobster pound two streets from the wharf, family run, with the lobster roll most Islanders will name first.

Map

Queen Street

Sims Corner Steakhouse & Oyster Bar

Steak and oysters

Aged and cut in house, with an oyster bar and a long wine list. The one downtown table that is about beef rather than shellfish.

Official site Map

Grafton Street

The Pilot House

Pub kitchen

Straightforward pub cooking a block from the Confederation Centre, which makes it the sane option when a show lets out and Victoria Row is three deep.

Map

Fitzroy Street

Slaymaker & Nichols Gastro House

Gastro house

A gastro house and small inn on Fitzroy Street, a block up from the Queen Street crowds, cooking Island produce with more ambition than the room lets on.

Official site Map

Pownal Street

Salt & Sol

Waterfront dining

The restaurant at the Charlottetown Yacht Club on Pownal Street, which puts a seafood menu directly over the water. The best sightline in town.

Official site Map

After dark

Best bars and breweries in Charlottetown

Four places to drink Island beer, one of them upstairs from the oysters.

All 4 bars and breweries →

Sydney Street

Gahan House Pub & Brewery

Brewpub

The brewpub in the middle of the historic downtown, brewing on Sydney Street and pouring its own across a full pub menu. The default first pint, and the easiest to find.

Official site Map

Allen Street

Upstreet Craft Brewing

Taproom

A working brewery and taproom on Allen Street, north of the downtown grid and worth the fifteen-minute walk. The room fills with locals rather than cruise passengers.

Official site Map

Kensington Road

PEI Brewing Company

Brewery and venue

The largest of the city breweries, out on Kensington Road with a hall that doubles as a concert venue. Check what is booked before you go.

Map

Sydney Street

Olde Dublin Pub

Irish pub

Upstairs from Claddagh at the same address, running since 1985, and the usual place to wait out a table downstairs. Live music through the summer.

Map

On stage

Best arts and theatre in Charlottetown

Four rooms for theatre, music and art, none more than five minutes apart.

All 4 arts and theatre →

Richmond Street

Confederation Centre Art Gallery

Gallery

The gallery wing of the Confederation Centre, showing Canadian art alongside the permanent collection. The serious visual art in town, under the Festival roof.

Official site Map

Queen Street

The Guild

140 seats

A 140-seat black box theatre and gallery on the Queen and Richmond corner, programmed with the local work the big stage does not carry.

Official site Map

Great George Street

The Mack

Small theatre

The MacKenzie Theatre on Great George Street, small and close, used for concerts and productions that suit an intimate room.

Map

Great George Street

Baba's Lounge

Live music

Upstairs from Cedar's Eatery on Great George Street, with live music most nights. The city's music scene is largely a list of people who played here first.

Map

Red sand

Best beaches in Charlottetown

Four beaches within a 40-minute drive, three of them inside the national park.

All 4 beaches →

PEI National Park

Brackley Beach

21 km, supervised

Twenty-one kilometres north on Route 15, and the closest of the national park beaches: wide, dune-backed and the easiest to reach without planning a day around it.

Parks Canada Map

PEI National Park

Stanhope Beach

21 km, supervised

Twenty-one kilometres northeast, quieter than Brackley on the same stretch of shore, with a boardwalk behind the dunes. Supervised through the season.

Parks Canada Map

PEI National Park

Cavendish Beach

38 km, supervised

Thirty-eight kilometres northwest, under the red sandstone cliffs that put the Island on postcards, and the busiest sand on PEI in August. Pair it with Green Gables.

Parks Canada Map

Stratford

Tea Hill Provincial Park

15 min drive

Fifteen minutes out through Stratford, on the harbour side rather than the north shore: a small park with a beach and warm shallow water at high tide.

Map

Take it home

Best shopping and markets in Charlottetown

Four places to spend, from sixty market stalls to a bookshop that has been there since 1972.

All 4 shopping and markets →

Belvedere Avenue

Charlottetown Farmers' Market

Sat 9am to 2pm

Sixty farm, craft and prepared-food vendors on Belvedere Avenue, Saturdays year-round and Wednesdays in summer. The best hour for understanding what the Island grows.

Official site Map

Richmond Street

Northern Watters Knitwear & Tartan Shop

Knitwear

Sweaters knitted in house from British wool, plus the work of more than 250 Canadian artisans. The souvenir likely to outlast the trip.

Official site Map

Queen Street

Bookmark

Independent bookshop

An independent bookshop on Queen Street trading since 1972, strong on Atlantic Canadian writing, with games, puzzles and stationery filling the rest of the room.

Map

Queen Street

The Anne of Green Gables Store

Gift shop

Queen Street, and exactly what it says: dolls, books, prints, straw hats with red braids attached. Either the reason you came or the thing you walk past twice.

Map

Out of town

Best day trips in Charlottetown

Six drives from the capital, none of them over an hour and a quarter.

All 6 day trips →

Cavendish

Green Gables Heritage Place, Cavendish

40 min drive

The farmhouse that gave Lucy Maud Montgomery her setting, 40 minutes north and run by Parks Canada. The Haunted Wood and Balsam Hollow trails are behind it.

Parks Canada Map

Greenwich

Greenwich, Prince Edward Island National Park

50 min drive

Fifty minutes east for the largest dunes on the Island, including a rare parabolic system, reached by a floating boardwalk across a pond. The best walk in the park.

Tourism PEI Map

South shore

Victoria-by-the-Sea

30 min drive

A grid of nine blocks on the south shore, half an hour west. A working wharf, a playhouse, chocolate makers and lunch, which is the whole afternoon.

Tourism PEI Map

Point Prim

Point Prim Lighthouse

40 min drive

Forty minutes southeast down a long spit of red road: the oldest lighthouse on PEI and the only circular brick one in Canada. Climb it, then eat oysters.

Map

Points East

Basin Head Provincial Park

1 hr 15 drive

Eighty kilometres northeast, about an hour and a quarter along the Points East Coastal Drive, for the Singing Sands: silica fine enough to squeak underfoot.

Tourism PEI Map

Borden-Carleton

Confederation Bridge and Borden-Carleton

50 min drive

Twelve point nine kilometres over the Northumberland Strait, about ten minutes to drive and fifty from the city. The toll is charged only on the way off.

Official site Map

What's on

Festivals & annual events in Charlottetown (2026)

The dates the city plans its year around, February to New Year.

Feb

Jack Frost Winterfest

Four days over the Islander Day weekend, with ice slides, tube runs, sleigh rides and ice sculptures.

Jun

Festival of Small Halls

Two weeks of music in more than 40 community halls across the Island. Most are a drive from the capital, and that is the point.

Jun–Sep

The Charlottetown Festival

The Confederation Centre season: Anne of Green Gables, The Musical from late June, and a second production alongside it.

Aug

Old Home Week

The Island's agricultural fair in August: livestock, midway, harness racing and the Gold Cup Parade. Around 90,000 attend.

Sep

PEI International Shellfish Festival

Four days on the Charlottetown Event Grounds in September: oyster shucking, chowder competitions and a very large tent.

Sep–Oct

Fall Flavours Food & Drink Festival

Two weeks of harvest events across the Island: chef dinners, lobster boils and shore excursions. Book the signature ones ahead.

Oct

Prince Edward Island Marathon

The 5K and 10K go on the Saturday, the marathon, half and 16K on the Sunday, finishing in the city.

Nov–Jan

Charlottetown Christmas Festival

Six weeks of markets, lights and hot chocolate in the historic downtown. The Victorian Christmas Market is the centrepiece.

Getting around

Charlottetown transport & airports

Getting to an island, and getting around once you are on it.

YYG

Airport

Charlottetown Airport sits 8 kilometres north of downtown, about 15 minutes by car. Car rental desks are in the terminal, which matters here: the beaches are not walkable.

Airport site

12.9 km

Confederation Bridge

The fixed link to New Brunswick lands at Borden-Carleton, about 50 minutes from the city, and takes ten minutes to cross. The toll is charged only when you leave.

Bridge site

75 min

Ferry

Northumberland Ferries sails between Wood Islands and Caribou, Nova Scotia, a 75-minute crossing that runs from spring into December. The faster route to Cape Breton.

Ferry site

Buses and coaches

T3 Transit runs the city routes, including the airport link. Maritime Bus, headquartered here, runs the coaches off-Island to Summerside, Moncton and Halifax.

T3 Transit Maritime Bus

Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Charlottetown, Canada

What the water and the red soil put on the table.

Lobster roll

Cold-picked lobster on a buttered bun, best at a lobster pound where the price tracks the season.

Malpeque oysters

Named for the bay on the north shore, sweet and briny, and voted among the world's best in 1900.

PEI blue mussels

The Island produces about 80 percent of Canada's cultivated mussels. Steamed in wine, served by the pound.

Seafood chowder

Thicker than the New England version and heavier on potato. Every pub has one and the differences are real.

Lobster supper

A family-style sitting: chowder, mussels, rolls and a whole lobster, run by church halls in the country.

PEI potatoes

The red soil grows the crop the province is named for. Look for fish cakes on breakfast menus.

COWS ice cream

Made at the plant outside town and sold at the wharf. Wowie Cowie is the flavour they argue about least.

Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar

Aged in the cheese cave at COWS Creamery and handed out in slivers on the tour. Hard to find off the Island.

Charlottetown fact sheet

Charlottetown at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.

Country

Canada

Region

Prince Edward Island

Population

38,809 in the city (2021 census)

Founded

Named for Queen Charlotte, incorporated as a city in 1855

Nickname

Birthplace of Confederation

Language

English

Currency

Canadian dollar (CAD)

Time zone

UTC-4 Atlantic, UTC-3 in summer

Calling code

+1 902

Airports

Charlottetown (YYG), 8 km north

Power

120V, 60Hz, plug types A and B

Emergency

911

Ideal length

2 days, 3 with a beach and Cavendish day

Getting around

Walk the downtown grid, rent a car for the beaches and Cavendish, T3 Transit for the airport and the suburbs

Tourism board

Official site

Interesting facts

The Charlottetown Conference sat in September 1864. Prince Edward Island hosted the talks that made the country and joined in 1873.
The city is named for Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who married George III at seventeen and was queen consort for 57 years.
Anne of Green Gables, The Musical has played the Confederation Centre stage since 1965 and holds a Guinness record for it.
Province House, the building the 1864 conference met in, has been closed since 2015. Parks Canada expects to reopen it in autumn 2026.
At 38,809 people in the 2021 census, Charlottetown is the least populous of Canada's ten provincial capitals.

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