The Royal Visit to PEI
 

We are planning a 9 day NS and PEI trip and our PEI portion coincides with the Royal visit to Charlottetown. I have nothing against the Royal Couple but have no desire to see them or get caught in crowds who are there to see them or to miss attractions that might be off limits due to their whereabouts. Do you think their visit will cause some chaos infringing on what we can do or see? We can adjust our loop to be there on different days, do you think that is advisable?

Yes, I am sure there will be crowds to see the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. It will be organized chaos. They will be in P.E.I. two days:
•Charlottetown, from July 3 to July 4
•Summerside on July 4
Itinerary details have not been released yet but perhaps you can arrange your P.E.I. portion to avoid the two cities on the days above.

Thanks so much. I think we will stay somewhere other than Charlottetown on PEI on July 3 and then in Charlottetown on July 4. We plan to do our Charlottetown sight seeing on the morning of July 5 so it should all work out.

I think that you'll be hard pressed to avoid the tour, particularly on July 4, as they will be all over the island that day.

As this is the only Maritime Provinces stop on the tour, I expect that there will be great numbers coming over to the island from Nova Scotia and NB.

If you have any flexibility, I would stay away from 3-5 July.

Here's the official itinerary, announced today:

http://www.royaltour.gc.ca/itiner/it...4-2011-eng.cfm

I was thinking of staying in Summerside on the 3rd while they are in Charlottetown and then Charlottetown on the 4th when they are in Summerside. But, we could rearrange our loop over to the CT and do that first and then hit PEI after they have left. Do you think that would be better?

I would rearrange your visit to PEI for after they have left. There will most likely be road closures, security cordons and the like. Add to that an influx of visitors clogging those roads that are open will make it difficult for you to get around the island.

Thanks so much for the warnings. We've rearranged our loop and will do the CT first so we won't arrive in PEI until July 6. I appreciate all your advice.

Abby, Good idea. Go to PEI after Will & Kate have left. I remember years ago when we were in Antigua, we wanted to do a day trip to Barbuda. We were told we could not b/c "The island was closed". What? Why? Because Lady Di was there!

While I do not expect that they will "close" PEI (quite the contrary), you can expect that the presence of Will & Kate will dramatically alter the PEI experience.

Ocean ((H))

oh, one more thing...Friday, July 1st is a Canadian Holiday. Canada Day. So everything will be busier that day & some businesses will be closed. Maybe you already know that.

Yes, thanks. We're from Vancouver. :)