Pratt

So, George, when you flew, did you bring your bike, or rent up there?

Tourist in MSN

Not sure if you are talking to GeorgeBaby or to me (my name is George)?

I brought my bike (S&S coupled), most of the bike is in the black bag, the two panniers are my carry on and my personal item, the orange backpack was also checked. My S&S bike and the S&S Backpack case weigh over 50 pounds, thus a few bike parts were in my orange backpack, and my rear rack will not fit in teh S&S case with the frame and wheels so that is in the orange backpack. I wore the helmet onto the plane, I did not want baggage handlers having a chance to crack it.



I flew into and out of Halifax, NS. I had trouble finding a good flight from Madison WI to Halifax, so I took a bus to Ohare in Chicago and flew Air Canada.

GeorgeBaby

And, I, too, flew with a coupled bike https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/...pic_id=2058374

Pratt

Spoke to a nice gentleman at ViaRail today and he said that it is possible to take my bike on a train between Montreal and Moncton. Moncton is almost at the causeway, or ferry to PEI, so that could simplify things a lot. Montreal is a very pleasant ride from Burlington, where I can leave the truck at our daughter's house. Apparently, the current system is that bikes can be transported between manned stations. Last summer, I took the train, with bike, from Montreal to Chambord, at Lac Saint Jean. The Chambord station was unmanned, but the bike could be loaded and off loaded there anyway. He also admitted, what many already know, that the website leaves a lot to be desired.

axolotl

A friend & I did that. We flew to les iles-de-la-Madeleines, and later took a ferry to Souris on the east end of PEI. We toured on the 2/3 eastern part of PEI in a loop and flew home from Charlottetown. We both really liked the Madeleines (more than PEI to be honest), but the Madeleines are typically extremely windy, as it was for us. We stayed in a B&B on a central island (ile du Havre aux Maisons) and did a day ride to the north end of the archipelago and back, and a day loop around the southern islands and back. We also did a pleasant day hike on ile d'Entree. You have to take a ferry to that island, and it's beautful place for walking. There are virtually no roads on Ile d'Entree and 80% of the island is devoted to pasture land that humans are permitted to wander on.

On PEI, we biked on both the north coast and the Confederation trail. When we returned to Charlottetown heading eastward, we decided to try roads instead of the Confederation trail. In the central part of PEI, the roads were surprisingly hilly and we wished we had remained on the bike trail to return to Charlottetown. Our trip was in early September and we had great weather except for our first day on PEI.

Tourist in MSN

Moncton is not far from the Confederation Bridge. I camped at Murray Beach Provincial Park for a night after crossing the bridge into NB from PEI, if you are looking for a campground on NB before you cross the bridge.

Tourist in MSN

Yeah, I found the trail was slower going, gravel is always slower than pavement. But, the trail is a lot flatter. That said, I thought that PEI was less hilly than NS.

ve9vic

I did P.E.I. in October 2016; no flies, a few hills, I like it even if most of tourists attractions were closed, Next time time I like to do the confederation trial.
I wrote a little e-book about it, very amateur, the French version is on Amazon, the English version soon. In 2023; I’m Looking
at the Acadian peninsula and Madeleine island.

Pratt

Current idea, "plan" is a little grand and premature at this point, is to ride Burlington to Montreal, take the train to Moncton, ride/shuttle to Charlottetown and head east. I am thinking about staying close to the coast, and taking the ferry out to the Madelines. After that, the north shore westwards to Malpeque for the oysters and then back the C'town, shuttle and train back to Montreal. It sounds like about 3 weeks. A mix of camping and auberges. Comments welcome.

Tourist in MSN

I was there in 2019, pre-covid. Thus I am clueless if hostels are the same as they used to be before covid. If they are still operating and if you wanted to sightsee for a few days, that was a low budget way to do it. I stayed at the HI hostel in Charlottetown for three nights. That was not in my original plan but there was a long stretch of rain everyday in the forecast so I modified my plans to include the hostel for indoor sleeping. The hostel was cheaper than a campsite at the nearby KOA. I was there for Canada Day weekend.

When you say shuttle, I am not sure what you mean. Do you mean the shuttle that takes you across the Confederation Bridge? The day I left Charlottetown, it was still raining, I rode the Confederation trail almost the entire way to the bridge to New Brunswick and then a short distance to a provincial park to camp that night.

PedalingWalrus

Sounds like a fun plan with the trains and ferries to make it more interesting. Cheers.

Pratt

Well, tomorrow (8/28) is start day. Thanks to all for good advice and suggestions. I'll report back here in about 3 weeks, Lord willing, weather permitting. The rain this summer has made it easy to skimp/ignore getting in better shape, maybe I can tour into shape. Also hoping for dry weather.

Tourist in MSN

Have a great trip.

In Charlottetown at MacQueens Bike Shop, I bought a souvenir jersey. They were small but well stocked.

In Halifax, Cyclesmith was a good size and well stocked bike shop. They were very helpful.

There was a tiny little bike shop in Antigonish, NS that sold me a cable ferrule. And there was a nice campground right in town, close to a couple restaurants, etc.

I leave for a backpacking trip in two days, I will not be responding to any messages for over two weeks, so I hope you have no questions for me later.