The Town
The island's most famous historical attraction, the Province House (June & Sept daily 9am-5pm; July & Aug daily 9am-6pm; Oct-May Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; free) is right in the heart of Charlottetown, at the foot of University Avenue. This squat brownstone structure, dominated by its overlarge portico, hosted the first meeting of the Fathers of Confederation in 1864, when representatives of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec and PEI met to discuss a union of the British colonies in North America. Today it's used by the island's legislature, but some of its rooms are open to visitors. On the ground floor, a fifteen-minute film provides a melodramatic account of that original meeting and explains its historical context, whilst the Confederation Chamber up above looks pretty much like it did in 1864, though frankly it's not exactly riveting - just a large table and some heavy-duty chairs. Next door, the Confederation Centre of the Arts (daily 9am-5pm, June-Aug till 8pm; free) is housed in a glass and concrete monstrosity built in 1964 to commemorate the centenary of the epochal meeting. Each of Canada's provinces paid 15c for each of its resident to cover its construction and they continue to contribute towards its upkeep. The centre contains the island's main library, a couple of theatres, and a mu-seum and art gallery (mid-June to mid-Sept daily 9am-7pm; mid-Sept to mid-Oct daily 9am-5pm; mid-Oct to mid-June Tues-Sat 11am-5pm & Sun 1-5pm; $4), whose changing exhibitions are often first-rate and always have a Canadian emphasis. Items from the permanent collection are also regularly displayed, and although much is fairly average look out for the manuscripts, papers and scrapbooks of Lucy Maud Montgomery and the portraits of Robert Harris, who painted most of PEI's business elite in the 1880s. Harris also painted the iconic Fathers of Confederation , a picture of bewhiskered representatives in debate that has been reproduced for everything from postage stamps to postcards, though the original was actually lost in a fire in 1916. Metres away, fringed by the pretty terraced houses of Great George Street, rise the twin spires and imposing facade of St Dunstan's Basilica (daily 8am-5pm; free). Finished in 1897 and ten years in the making, the church has all the neo-Gothic trimmings, from blind arcaded galleries and lancet windows through to heavy-duty columns and a mighty vaulted ceiling. There were, however, some economies - tap the marble inside and you'll find it is mostly wood painted like marble. The basilica marks the centre of the oldest part of Charlottetown and the surrounding side streets are lined with rows of simple wood and brick buildings, mostly dating from the middle of the nineteenth century. Some of the best ensembles are concentrated on and around King Street to either side of Great George Street, whilst pedestrianized Victoria Row , also near the church, has the city's finest example of commercial architecture, a long and impressive facade that now holds a series of restaurants and bars. Below Water Street, the sequence of jetties that make up the harbourfron t has been refurbished with ice-cream parlours and restaurants, a yacht club, the lavish Prince Edward Hotel and the souvenir shops of Peake's Wharf. Big cruise liners are often moored here too, disgorging hundreds of day-trippers. From the harbourfront, it's a pleasant ten-minute stroll west to Victoria Park , on the edge of which is the grandiose lieutenant-governor's residence. Inside the park are the scant remains of the gun battery built to overlook the harbour in 1805.
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