3 Best Sights in Central Coastal Drive, Prince Edward Island

Green Gables, ½ km (¼ mile) west of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Cavendish Home, is the green-and-white 19th-century farmhouse that served as the inspiration for the Cuthbert place in Anne of Green Gables. The house, outbuildings, and grounds, all of which belonged to cousins of the author's grandfather, re-create some of the settings found in the book. The same goes for short walking trails dubbed the Haunted Wood and Lovers Lane/Balsam Hollow. If you're well acquainted with the novel, you'll spy lots of evocative details on-site (say, a broken slate or amethyst brooch). An audiovisual presentation on Montgomery's life shares space with a café in the barn nearby. This National Historic Site has been part of Prince Edward Island National Park since 1937 and hosts daily events throughout July and August such as guided tours, puppet shows, and old-fashioned games.

This was once home to Lucy Maud Montgomery's aunt and uncle. The writer also lived here for a time and was married in the parlor in 1911—in fact, that room serves as a wedding venue for modern-day couples. Inside the house, which is still owned by Montgomery descendants, are mementos such as photographs and a quilt Montgomery worked on. The site includes a gift shop jam-packed with licensed Anne of Green Gables goodies, and there is a Matthew Cuthbert look-alike on hand to take visitors on buggy rides around the pastoral 110-acre property. Trips for up to five passengers cost C$75 for a half-hour, C$125 for one hour.

The cottage-y white house with green trim overlooking New London Harbour, 11 km (7 miles) southwest of Cavendish, is where the Anne author was born in 1874, and the interior has been furnished with antiques to conjure up that era. Among memorabilia on display are a replica of Montgomery's wedding gown and personal scrapbooks filled with many of her poems and stories.