An Anne of Green Gables Pilgrimage to Prince Edward Island

Finally planning your own Anne of Green Gables pilgrimage to the promise land, aka Prince Edward Island? Here are all the stops you’ll want to make!

If you know anything about me, you know that Anne Shirley is one of my absolute favorite fictional heroines of all time. I first read about her as a middle schooler (so right about her age in the first book), and I immediately felt this kinship with her dreamy imagination and dramatic emotions. I could probably even draw parallels to my own adopted status with hers, though my story is much happier than hers.

As anyone who’s read and loved the Anne series will know, Prince Edward Island plays a huge role in the books. In fact, when you start getting into LM Montgomery’s (Maud) other books, you realize PEI plays a role in them as well and even when Maud was away, her heart was here.

Naturally, I’ve wanted to visit the island she wrote so fondly about since I first read those books nearly 20 years ago, and last summer I finally had the chance!! My friend, Alyshia, and I planned a road trip from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia. We spent about 4-5 days in PEI, and I packed it with as much Anne-related visits as I could! Check it all out below.

What to Read & Watch Before Your Trip

Now, if you’re unfamiliar with Lucy Maud Montgomery or just want a refresher before you go, here’s how:

Read The Anne of Green Gables Book Series

I would say there are eight books in the series with three bonus ones I haven’t personally read:

Anne of Green Gables – The book that started it all and introduces us to Anne Shirley. If you only read on of the books, it has to be this one. Part of why I think so many readers fall in love with PEI is because we’re learning about the island right along with Anne, who comes from New Brunswick. It covers her life from ages 11-16.
Anne of Avonlea – This one covers Anne from ages 16-18 when she’s a teacher in Avonlea and shows her as a new adult. It also shows her developing friendship with Gilbert Blythe, who was her enemy the first book.
Anne of the Island – A shift away from PEI to Nova Scotia for her university years (ages 18-22). This is my personal favorite Anne book of the series and probably the one most focused on Anne after Green Gables. Also, obviously, she realizes her feelings for Gilbert by the end!
Anne of Windy Poplars – This is a skip if you don’t have time, and I skip it on re-readings. Montgomery wrote it much later because readers wanted more Anne novels. It takes place in Summerside over three years (22-25) and is about her life as a principal while Gilbert is in medical school.
Anne’s House of Dreams – Set over two years (25-27), this one is about Anne and Gil’s newlywed life in the village of Glen St. Mary (“100km from Avonlea”). I love this book because it gives us Leslie Moore and Owen Ford and Miss Cornelia Bryant but when I reread it, I was kind of shocked at how little of it was actually about Anne and Gilbert.
Anne of Ingleside – This is another one you could potentially skip because it was also written well after the original run of the books. It takes place 7 years after the last book at the Blythes’ second home, Ingleside (ages 34-40), and despite the name is largely about her children. There’s a bit at the end of her and Gil but it’s more about giving all of her kids except Shirley an individual story.
Rainbow Valley – This one is purely about the Blythe children over two years (Anne’s 40-42). It’s very cute but definitely more for children than anything else!
Rilla of Ingleside – Funny enough, this is actually one of my favorite books of all time. It’s focused on the youngest Blythe, Rilla, as she grows up during World War (15-19) and is very different from the rest of the series. Just a warning, you will cry.

The bonus ones include both Chronicles of Avonlea and The Blythes are Quoted, which are more short stories with Anne and Gil interwoven.

Montgomery pulled from a lot of real life places in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia (and to a less extent Ontario) to bring her fictional PEI to life, so it’s fun to piece it all together when you start planning your visit!

Watch the Sullivan “Anne” series

The two most faithful and well done adaptions of the books are Kevin Sullivan’s Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea. Avonlea is a slight departure from the books but still has mostly the same plot. Megan Follows IS Anne Shirley and Jonathan Crombie (RIP) IS Gilbert Blythe. The first movie in particular is absolute perfection.

You can buy both through his specific streaming service, GazeboTV. There are two more movies that don’t follow the books at all as well as the series “The Road to Avonlea” and just a bunch of other programs for a Montgomery lover!

Netflix of “Anne with an E”

“Anne with an E” runs for three seasons and very much a departure of the source material while expanding Anne’s world beyond her corner of Avonlea. I’m not going to lie; I didn’t love it at first. It has a grittier feeling than the Sullivan movies that feels less escapist. However, it ultimately really captures the feeling of the books, and Amybeth Mcnulty actually captures Anne so well. I feel like Megan Follows is a comfort Anne while Amybeth is a realistic Anne if that makes sense?

Either way, it may not follow the books but it captures the spirit while giving a more realistic look at what was going on during the late 1800s PEI. I was deeply upset when it was cancelled after three seasons!!! However, it does wrap up things nicely, so you won’t be left hanging.

LM Montgomery’s Other Novels

Montgomery wrote a bunch of other novels set in Prince Edward Island!! I also haven’t read most of these but I might just do a fall read through since I own most of the books now:

Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, Emily’s Quest
Pat of Silver Bush & Mistress Pat
The Story Girl & The Golden Road
Kilmeny of the Orchard
The Blue Castle
Magic for Marigold
A Tangled Web
Jane of Lantern Hill

She also has a ton of short stories and short story collections!

Listen to Anne & Gilbert the Musical Soundtrack

And finally, to complete your pre-trip Anne of Green Gables inspiration, listen to the musical soundtracks! I’ve always been quite partial to the “Anne & Gilbert” musical, so I love listening to that one on repeat. I have the CD, but it’s also on iTunes and Amazon music. Not on Spotify :(!

The Anne of Green Gables Guide to Prince Edward Island

Alright, now that you’ve been duly inspired by Anne Shirley, here’s the guide of where to go on your pilgrimage!

Cavendish

Cavendish is the place you’ll want to start your trip off in Prince Edward Island. In the novels, it’s called Avonlea and is located almost the exact opposite side of the island from Confederation Bridge and Charlottetown.

Avonlea is the heart of PEI through all eight books even after Anne moves away. I think part of why readers fall in love with the settings is because we learn about them through the eyes of 11-year-old Anne. Up until that point she’s lived a pretty dire life as an unwanted orphan in Nova Scotia, only finding solace in her imagination. Reading the first chapter as Matthew takes her from the train station to Green Gables in his carriage is like witnessing someone who’s only known black and white discover technicolor.

In real life, Montgomery grew up in Cavendish. She came here after her mother died and her father moved to the North-West Territories (now Saskatchewan). You can match a lot of places described in the early novels with places in Cavendish, and it’s become the main starting point for any Anne pilgrimage!

Green Gables Heritage Place

The very first place to go is the Green Gables Heritage Place. Before Anne fame, the farmstead belonged to the Macneill family, specifically cousins of Montgomery’s grandfather. She grew up a short walk away with her grandparents and pulled a lot of Green Gables inspiration from the surrounding scenery.

There’s a lot of different places that make up the heritage place. You’ll enter through the visitor center where you can see more of Montgomery’s history in Cavendish as well as just how massive Anne’s global impact is. Then you’ll get to the actual house where you can tour inside!

Lovers’ Lane & Haunted Woods

Surrounding the property is where Montgomery got her inspiration for Lover’s Lane and the Haunted Woods. Nowadays they’re lovely trails you can use to wander around like she did, and if you follow one of them, you can walk to the next few spots on this list.

“Lover’s Lane opened out below the orchard at Green Gables and stretched far up into the woods to the end of the Cuthbert farm…Anne had named it Lover’s Lane before she had been a month at Green Gables.”

“A haunted wood is so very romantic, Marilla. We chose the spruce grove because it’s so gloomy. Oh, we have imagined the most harrowing things.”

Montgomery Park

Across the street from the main Green Gables home is a really charming spot called Montgomery Park. You can read a bit more about Maud’s relationship to Cavendish, see her statue, and just enjoy the weather for a bit.

Site of LM Montgomery’s Cavendish Home

Behind Montgomery Park sits the Site of LM Montgomery’s Cavendish Home. This is the actual home where Maud was raised by her grandparents. It’s pretty much just the foundations with a little gift shop, so if you’re in a rush or the weather is bad don’t feel like you have to go.

Burial Site of LM Montgomery

On our way back to the parking lot, we stopped into Cavendish Cemetery to pay our respects at LM Montgomery’s gravestone. It’s very pretty, and I feel like she’d appreciate how nicely its been kept as well as the little offerings fans leave!

Avonlea Village

While still in Cavendish, drive over to the very cute Avonlea Village. Yes, it’s pretty much just one big tourist spot with shops and restaurants that are all either Anne-themed or tied to PEI. I say still go, grab some ice cream from Cow’s, and pop into the stores. I found some nice artwork here.

Just note it’s closed from mid-September to June, so plan accordingly!

Fake Lake of Shining Waters

If you look on a map, you’ll see a huge body of water called the Lake of Shining Waters. In the book, this is one of our early tastes of Anne’s imagination, so it always sticks out! Just note that this is not the real lake that inspired Montgomery, but it’s still very pretty and worth roaming around especially at golden hour.

Cavendish Cliffs

And to round off your time in Cavendish, check out the Cavendish Cliffs! It’s the same parking lot as the fake Lake of Shining Waters so easy to just walk over to the walkway and admire the red sandstone coastline. Maud would often come out here with her family.

Park Corner

Anne of Green Gables Museum

The next stop on your pilgrimage should be to Park Corner, and the main reason is to visit the Anne of Green Gables Museum. It belonged to LM Montgomery’s relatives, the Campbell family, and she spent a lot of time here as well. The home was built by her Uncle John and Aunt Annie Campbell and later on her cousins would call her Aunt Maud. She once referred to the home as “the wonder castle of my childhood,” and it inspired other books she wrote. She even married in the foyer here in 1911!

When you visit, the property is divided between the house, which is the museum you can walk through, the gift shop next door, and the outdoors which include a cute Matthew’s carriage ride and…

The Real Lake of Shining Waters!

Below them was a pond, looking almost like a river so long and winding was it. A bridge spanned it midway and from there to its lower end, where an amber-hued belt of sand-hills shut it in from the dark blue gulf beyond, the water was a glory of many shifting hues—the most spiritual shadings of crocus and rose and ethereal green, with other elusive tintings for which no name has ever been found. Above the bridge the pond ran up into fringing groves of fir and maple and lay all darkly translucent in their wavering shadows. Here and there a wild plum leaned out from the bank like a white-clad girl tiptoeing to her own reflection…

“That’s Barry’s pond,” said Matthew.

“Oh, I don’t like that name, either. I shall call it—let me see—the Lake of Shining Waters. Yes, that is the right name for it.”

The Anne Museum has the actual Lake of Shining Waters, and when you’re inside you’ll find a letter Maud wrote to make it official. It’s so peaceful here; if you can bring some lunch and enjoy it sitting around the outdoors.

Montgomery Inn

Nearly right next door to the museum area is the charming Montgomery Inn. This home was owned by Maud’s grandfather and is the inspiration for Anne and Gil’s first home in Anne’s House of Dreams. Bonus: you can stay here!

The first glimpse of her new home was a delight to eye and spirit—it looked so like a big, creamy seashell stranded on the harbor shore.

Tyne Valley

Bideford Parsonage Museum

This one might just be my favorite stop on this list and not just because I loved the sunny exterior and our super adorable tour guide! Maud lived at the Bideford Parsonage Museum during her first teaching assignment, and the local community did a ton to both save the building and restore it to what it would’ve been like during her stay.

I found the tour to be so fun because our guide had little anecdotes of passed down gossip and they did a lot of work to show what life would’ve been like for Maud while she was away from her family and teaching on her own. The rules of conduct for teacher gave me a good chuckle!

Charlottetown

Since Charlottetown is the capital of PEI, you’re probably going to wind up here regardless! It’s a fun little town with lots of shopping, restaurants, and entertainment going on. We went because we had tickets to the Anne & Gilbert musical. As far as Anne-related things go:

The Anne of Green Gables Store

This is a dedicated souvenir store to all things Anne on Queen Street. I will say by the time we got here, there wasn’t anything I wanted that I hadn’t already gotten at other shops in the places above. However, if it’s one of your first stops, you’ll find quite a lot!

Anne of Green Gables Musical

So not to confuse you but there are two Anne musicals that happen during the summer. The Anne of Green Gables m usical covers the first book and takes place at the Confederation of Centre of the Arts. The center actually has a lot going on including a whole art gallery, so if you plan on seeing this musical, it might be worth it to see what else there is to do here before or after your show.

Anne & Gilbert Musical

Now, my friend, Alyshia was very patient with my desire to do as much Anne and Maud-related things while on PEI. However, even I knew scheduling two different musicals in the span of five days was going to be a little too much lol. So I decided to choose one or the other, and since I’ve had “Mr. Blythe” stuck in my head since at least 2006 and Anne of the Island is one of my favorites in the series, I immediately picked the Anne & Gilbert Musical. It was just as good as I was hoping, and, yes, I did buy the CD and listen to for a good chunk of my drive home to PA!!

The nice thing too is that this musical runs until mid-October!

PRO TIP: If you want to see this musical, I recommend buying the Anne of Green Gables package. It includes tickets as well as entrance to Green Gable Heritage Place, the Anne Museum, the site of Maud’s Cavendish Home, and her birthplace (which we didn’t get to).

Other Places I didn’t Visit

Believe it or not, we did do other things in PEI and thus didn’t make it to every stop on the list!! Here’s a few I’d like to see on a revisit:

French River – apparently this little town was the inspiration for Glen St. Mary
Lower Bedeque School – where Maud taught and fell in love
LM Montgomery’s Birthplace – located in New London
Kensington Railway Station – inspiration for where Matthew picks Anne up. It’s also now a pub, so you can plan to eat here.

Bonus: Inspiration in Halifax

Kingsport [Halifax] is a quaint old town, harking back to early Colonial days, and wrapped in its ancient atmosphere, as some fine old dame in garments fashioned like those of her youth. Here and there it sprouts out into modernity, but at heart it is still unspoiled; it is full of curious relics, and haloed by the romance of many legends of the past. – Anne of the Island Ch IV

Dalhousie University

In Anne of the Island, Anne finally gets to attend Redmond College in Nova Scotia. Maud pulled from her experiences at Dalhousie University in Halifax, and they even have a little plaque for her in the Forrest Building.

Old Burying Grounds

Known as Old St. John’s Cemetery in the book, the Old Burying Grounds is a rather small, romantic cemetery right in Halifax. I can see where Maud pulled her descriptions of it!

Point Pleasant Park

Another spot that’s referenced in the book, especially the old Martello tower, is Point Pleasant Park. Apparently Maud would come here if she felt homesick and the more bustling world of Halifax was too much!