The island with 50 pink sand beaches and a landmark where people cry with joy | Travel News | Travel

Tourists on this very spot have fallen to their knees and cried with joy. I’m standing under a cherry tree on the lush lawn of a green-shuttered farmhouse known as the home of Anne of Green Gables.

This is where Lucy Maud Montgomery based her classic story of red-haired, freckle-faced orphan Anne, who brought infectious exuberance to her community and brought the author fame even today, 116 years after her instant best-seller was first published.

Across the world and generations, book lovers dream of visiting this literary landmark.

In Anne of Green Gables, Montgomery created dizzying descriptions of her impossibly idyllic surroundings and it is the main tourism draw here to the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.

Her 1908 book is a cultural phenomenon in Japan, where it’s taught in every school. Hiroko Suzuki, considered the island’s most knowledgeable Anne of Green Gables tour guide, loved the book so much that she left Japan to visit here 31 years ago and has stayed.

She has grown used to witnessing such emotion when tourists see the legendary house for the first time.

“It’s a lifelong goal for many people,” she says. “It’s hard to believe somewhere so beautiful exists. Then people get here and it’s more special than they imagined.”

Hiroko shows off the rooms that have been painstakingly furnished to mirror life as it was when Montgomery spent holidays with her relatives between these walls.

But it’s the peace in the land outside the house that she and I love even more. In Lovers’ Lane, where maple trees provide a canopy, the wind purrs exactly as Montgomery described.

In the balsamy Haunted Woods, I shudder at the creepy chilly spots, dark shadows and fearsome twisted trunks that terrified Anne. The paths around the house are rust-red, thanks to the iron-rich land described so vividly in the novel.

Montgomery’s personal letters, manuscripts and typewriter are displayed in the visitors’ centre alongside scores of her books in more than 30 languages.

A ‘card garden’ shows comments from visitors and one, in childish scrawl, says: “Anne, you are the only friend I have.”

Much quieter than Green Gables Heritage Place, which welcomes 2,000 visitors a day, and arguably more authentic is the Anne of Green Gables Museum, a 20-minute drive away.

This is the home Montgomery called “the Wonder Castle of my childhood” as she adored spending time with her young cousins there.

It is run by her relatives, who welcome visitors by offering raspberry cordial and signing rare copies of the book.

This is where Montgomery married and wrote four novels. It’s immaculately preserved and adorned with her artefacts. Outside is the tree Anne called the Snow Queen and the pond she nicknamed the Lake of Shining Waters.

At the Confederation Hall, Anne of Green Gables – the Musical has had a 50-year run and is easily West End standard. I wasn’t the only one in the sell-out crowd sniffling at the sad chapter (no spoilers here).

It’s 10 years since I first became obsessed with Montgomery’s smash hit as an 11-year-old (I might’ve borrowed some of Anne’s gift for exaggeration in the timeline there), and the visit gave me warm, happy waves of nostalgia.

But even if I’d never read the book, I’d still have found the island the most beautiful part of the world I’ve ever seen.

Its 50 pink sand beaches, dotted with Insta-friendly lighthouses, offer high-energy water sports, uncommercialised serenity and even a nudist community.

Listen to your steps on Singing Sands Beach to hear the music made from the silky sand’s high silica and quartz content.

Victoria-by-the-Sea is so picture-perfect it could be a Disney film set. Pastel-coloured clapperboard houses have been passed down through generations, and it’s no wonder no one ever wants to leave.

Eric Gilbert is the second generation owner of Island Chocolates and his talk about his frequent travels to Ecuador to buy cocoa and teach local young farmers to make chocolate was captivating.

Try a pot of tea with a spoonful of melted chocolate and a side of their award-winning lemon and lime chocolates. I left greedily clutching a heavy shopping bag.

Rich farmland and an abundance of seafood mean Prince Edward Island is foodie heaven.

Through the porthole in Lobster Barn restaurant, a stone’s throw from Island Chocolates, I watched fishermen come to shore with their daily catch and minutes later our table was served the freshest oysters.

Locals say forget anything you’ve heard about swallowing oysters whole: the right way is to take a couple of chews to appreciate the soft texture.

Islanders are so spoiled for seafood that until recently when prices rose, their McDonald’s branches offered lobster roll. It’s served island-wide as cold meat dressed in homemade mayo, wedged within lightly toasted brioche bread.

A well-travelled friend said the ice cream from Cow’s store on the island’s capital city of Charlottetown was the best he’s ever tasted.

I thought this was ridiculous, coming from someone who’s been to Italy. But after joining the long queue snaking from Cow’s then devouring scoops of signature flavours Mowie Cowie and Gooey Mooey from their own-recipe waffle cone, I mentally apologised for doubting him.

Taking a PEI Tasting Tour with vibrant host Jackie Herbert will ensure you cover the freshest farmers’ markets, best breweries, select seafood and the restaurants with the most attentive service.

The owners of Cardigan Station, a new pub and restaurant within a converted train station, are passionate about their food and give lessons on wine while offering kids’ puppet workshops – what’s not to love?