Prince Edward Island, Canada: Where Literary Settings Come to Life

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Prince Edward Island

Mar 07, 2026, 10:00 ET

Prince Edward Island invites travelers to step into the settings of beloved classic and contemporary novels

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE, March 7, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- "Readaways" are all the rage, with book clubs, TikTok's BookTok community and a cultural shift toward analog hobbies all powering the trend. Prince Edward Island (PEI) holds so much for the literary traveler, there's no need to stuff a suitcase with books. In this Atlantic Canada province, vacationing bibliophiles find fiction and nonfiction blurring as they step into real-life settings they've come to know through the pages of classic and contemporary novels. Against a coastal backdrop of white sand beaches, red sandstone cliffs and wildflower fields in kaleidoscopic bloom, everyone is invited to be a main character.

Anne's World

Island author L.M. Montgomery didn't have tourism promotion as her goal when she published Anne of Green Gables in 1908, but this enduring story's enchanting setting has drawn countless visitors to Canada's smallest province. There's more Anne than ever for fans, with summer-long stagings of Anne of Green Gables - The Musical, presented by Confederation Centre of the Arts at the Charlottetown Festival, and Anne & Gilbert, The Musical at Charlottetown's Florence Simmons Performance Hall.

An Anne-themed itinerary wouldn't be complete without a visit to Montgomery's birthplace in New London and her final resting place in Cavendish, not far from Green Gables Heritage Place, a replica farmstead and landscape that inspired the beloved novel's setting. Renewal of the Canada Strong Pass for 2026 means admission to the historic home, tucked within Prince Edward Island National Park, is free from June 19 through September 7, 2026. The Anne of Green Gables Museum in Park Corner, on the shores of the Lake of Shining Waters, is another storybook stop.

Lodging properties with literary ties make a PEI escape all the more immersive. Montgomery Inn at Ingleside was built in 1877 by Montgomery's paternal grandfather. Dalvay by the Sea "played" the White Sands Hotel in the 1987 film Anne of Avonlea. And Kindred Spirits Inn & Cottages, which neighbors Green Gables Heritage Place, takes its name from Anne Shirley's words for her dearest friend, Diana Barry.

A Prophetic Title

Since Canadian author Carley Fortune's This Summer will be Different debuted in May of 2024, Prince Edward Island has seen a new wave of literary tourists who want to experience places namedropped in the book. Going behind the scenes on a self-guided tour of COWS Creamery, and scouring markets for their pink-labeled Sea Salt Cultured Butter oft-mentioned in the book, brings a delicious new dimension to ink on a page. At Malpeque Oyster Barn in Malpeque Bay, where protagonist Lucy "Bee" Ashby first met shucker and love interest Felix "Wolf" Clark, diners can dream of their own meet-cute.

With visitation to PEI surging along with book sales, romantic drives to see the colliding of the tides at North Cape are on the rise. Readers can rent a North Shore beach house or stay at the Inn at Bay Fortune, which both get nods in the novel, the latter for its summertime Fireworks Feast, a unique farm-to-fire-to-fork culinary odyssey. On an island, serendipity can lead to settings that feel straight out of this love story, like Little Dutch Flower Farm, Point Prim Lighthouse, and Island Lavender Distillery.

Four Days for Storytellers

For the second year, readers and writers will gather in PEI for the Cavendish Literary Festival as autumn transforms this land of imagination. From September 24-27, workshops and conversations designed to inspire the next generation of storytellers might just prove life-changing for aspiring authors.

For more information on Prince Edward Island, visit https://www.tourismpei.com/.

About Atlantic Canada Agreement on Tourism (ACAT):

This press release has been made possible through funding provided by the Atlantic Canada Agreement on Tourism (ACAT). ACAT is a nine-member pan-Atlantic initiative comprising the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the four Atlantic Canada Tourism Industry Associations, and the four Provincial Departments responsible for tourism.

For more information on the four provinces, visit these websites or follow on social media:

Prince Edward Island

Web: www.tourismpei.com

Instagram: @tourismpei

Facebook: @tourismpei

New Brunswick

Web: www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca

Instagram: @DestinationNB

Facebook: @ExploreNB

Nova Scotia

Web: www.novascotia.com

Instagram: @VisitNovaScotia