Charlottetown

Understand

thumb|Looking north on University Avenue from Province House Charlottetown was named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom. Charlottetown was incorporated as a city in 1855.

It was the site of the famous Charlottetown Conference in 1864, the first gathering of Canadian and Maritime statesmen to discuss the proposed Maritime Union. This conference led, instead, to the union of British North American colonies in 1867, which was the beginning of the Canadian confederation. PEI, however, did not join Confederation until 1873. From this, the city adopted as its motto Cunabula Foederis, "Birthplace of Confederation". In 2016, it was home to about 36,000 people, with 77,000 in the metropolitan area.

Get around

Taxis are cheap. $10 gets you from the airport to downtown. $6-10 will get you anywhere around town. All taxis are flat rate by zone. None has any specific licensing information in them; not to worry though, taxi drivers are typically friendly, enjoy meeting tourists, and are honest above all else. Charlottetown is a small, very accessible city: you can walk almost anywhere downtown.

Most of downtown is also easy to walk through, a bit less in winter.

See

thumb|right|Province House

right|thumb|Beaconsfield House, built in 1877, today houses a historical museum. thumb|right|Prince Street in the city's historic district.

Do

At the harbourfront you can get on a seal-watching tour boat, while from the airport's Skyplex you can go on an air tour.

Buy

Charlottetown contains two major shopping centres: the Confederation Court Mall (downtown, across from Province House), and the Charlottetown Mall, which is outside of town in West Royalty, on University Avenue. They contain the usual anchor stores (Winners, SportsChek, etc.), and many smaller stores. West Royalty also has many stand-alone big-box stores, such as Wal-Mart, and Canadian Tire.

If you get off the beaten path, though, you'll find lots of great specialty shops just waiting for your business. Walks along Queen St. and University Ave. (among others) will yield wonderful surprises in terms of shopping selection.

Groceries are readily available from many major supermarkets within Charlottetown. Typical closing time is 10PM. Sunday store hours are generally noon to 5PM.

Sleep

There is no reason to stay at a chain hotel or motel in Charlottetown. The city is dotted with some of the cutest, and most comfortable, inns and B&Bs you can imagine. All offer fantastic service and most have locations that allow you to walk downtown. They will often be cheaper and offer much more comfortable accommodations than a hotel. These places live and die by their reputation, so most innkeepers are incredibly helpful. In winter, many places are closing for the season.

Connect

thumb|right|Founder's Hall on the Charlottetown waterfront.

Go next

Head west on Route 2 for 60 km to Summerside