PEI - Bike Rentals

[Estelle]

Just getting started planning a Sept 2008 cruise to Canada. PEI looks like a good choice to do some cycling - RCCL offers a too expensive 1/2 day bike trip - does anyone out there have suggestions for a rental shop located in Charlottetown? On the web I've seen some nice itneraries and shops to outfit you but they all would require renting a car to get there - which we can certainly do, if necessary.

 

Thanks in advance!

[MonaCD]

These two shops are in Charlottetown and if not within walking distance, just a quick cab ride from the port. I've never personally dealt with either but both have good reputations.

 

http://www.smoothcycle.com/ and http://www.macqueens.com/

[Estelle]

Thanks for info. I did see Smooth Cycle and they looked great but according to their website they are closed on Sundays and that's when we will be in port. I'll check with them anyway.

 

I appreciate any other info on PEI you can offer.

[MonaCD]

You're only here for a few hours so I guess there is a limited amount of things you can do. If you want to bike, there's a good trail system through out the province, back in the early 90's they took the trains off the Island and replaced the railbeds with hiking/biking trails that go from one end of the Island to the other. You could do a nice tour around the city in the few hours you're here. There's a boardwalk that goes along the water front from the port where you'll dock out to a park which you can bike or walk if you are interested in doing something like that.

 

If you're an Anne of Green Gables fan, the author of the books was from here and the stories are based here so we have everything "Anne" here.

 

If the weather doesn't co-operate for cycling, there are brochures with self guided walking tours you can take, lots of historical places to visit and plenty of great restaurants. In September most tourist type things start shutting down but I'm sure there will be enough available to keep you occupied.

 

The Department of Tourism has an excellent webite here http://www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide/ and the city of Charlottetown has one here http://www.city.charlottetown.pe.ca/ Here's ther page that references the trails throughout the city http://www.city.charlottetown.pe.ca/residents/trails.cfm

[Estelle]

Thanks so much for the info. The biggest problem is how limited the time is on a one day visit!

 

I'd like to do something active like biking but we will stick closer to Charlottetown if the weather doesn't cooperate.

 

I did love the Anne of Green Gables series when I was a girl (it's the name:) ) but I don't know how much my husband would enjoy that!

 

Is arriving on a Sunday a problem?

[MonaCD]

NJ is only about a day's drive away so if you see what you like you can come back and spend more time vacationing here.

 

Arriving on Sunday shouldn't be a problem. It will be a bit quieter around town, which is a good thing. We only started having Sunday shopping here last May, the stores don't open til noon and not all stores will open on Sunday. Like I said before, being September all the tourist type stuff may not be open as the seasonal staff will be back to school But most tourism operators recognize we do have a shoulder season and the cruise ships are a big part of the tourist industry for Charlottetown.