PEI ferry ride duration to NS & accommodations in PEI
 

anyone can tell me how long is the ferry ride from PEI to Caribou, NS?

also, can someone recommend an inexpensive place to stay in PEI? most searches yields me B&Bs with a min of $135... is that the norm?

help!
thanks! :)

The ferry crossing itself takes about 75 minutes. To that you need to add time waiting in line before the ferry sails and time spent unloading. The ferry company says to arrive no less than 30 minutes before sailing if you have a reservation and no less than 45 minutes if you do not. Depending on the time of year, day of the week, and time of day you want to cross, you might have to wait for more than one ferry if you don't have a reservation (for example, during the day on a summer Fri/Sat/Sun).

You pay the toll when you leave PEI. There is no toll to cross from NS to PEI (and hence you cannot make a one-way NS-to-PEI reservation). You CAN make a one-way PEI-to-NS reservation, because you are paying for that one.

The website is www.ferries.ca

Price of accommodations will depend on time of year you visit and how many people you have/beds you need.

For inexpensive lodging try

the University of Prince Edward Island (http://conference.upei.ca/accommodations)

Holland College (http://www.hollandcollege.com/summer...contact-us.php)

bbcanada.com (sort of laborious, as you have to wade through all the listings individually)

searching at tripadvisor.com for Prince Edward Island Hotels (you can put in the dates you are searching for). Tripadvisor has tabs for hotels, B&Bs, "specialty lodging" (hostels, cabins, and such), and "vacation rentals" (mostly houses, and mostly expensive). There are quite a few options that are less than $135 a night, and even many less than $100 a night, but I can't vouch for the quality of any individual property. As a rule, places n Charlottetown seem to me to be more expensive that places on other parts of the island.

If you are looking to visit this summer, reserve lodging as soon as you can.

Thanks so much for your response :)

I think reservations are only if you are going both ways on the ferry. No problem with lineups usually. PEI is expensive for accommodations. If you can get $135 a night - take it!

Just make sure to read the schedule correctly - we were just there trying to go from Caribou to PEI and I stupidly misread it, noting the times from PEI to Caribou and what a surprise, there was no ferry when I thought there was supposed to be one!