We are always asked for travel tips. One of the most popular destinations we are asked about is Prince Edward County. Only a quick three hour drive from Ottawa or two hours from Toronto, you can go for the day or a weekend getaway. This region surrounded by water is turning heads as Canada’s fastest growing wine region–and it is not all about the wine either! The County has been named as MacLean’s Magazine’s Canada TOP 10 Places You’ve Got to See (2014).
To help you discover all the neat things going on in The County, we got the Savvy Team together (over a glass of wine of course!) and jotted down 101 of our favourite (and there are still many more) things to do in Prince Edward County.
How many of you done?
101 Things to Do in Prince Edward County Wine Country
1. Visit North America’s largest dry stone bridge at Karlo Estates
2. Visit the Oeno Gallery at Huff Estates
3. Do the Creepy Corn Maze (Oct)
4. Eat some freshly baked pizza at Norman Hardie’s
5. Check out some great old barns at The Old Third, Closson Chase, Karlo Estates, Grange Winery and Hinterland Winery
6. Sample amazing aperitif and dessert wines (and ports) – Sandbanks Winery, Hillier Creek, Keint-He Winery, Karlo Estates
7. Taste some of the best Canadian-made sparkling wines at Hinterland, Huff Estates, The Grange, By Chadsey’s Cairns & Lighthall Vineyards
8. Cheese Please! All weekend long at the Great Canadian Cheese Festival (June)
9. Sample County wines at great local restos – East & Main, Blumen Garden & The Hubb
10. Buy some artisan cheese to go with your wine at Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co.
11. Toronto’s Drake Hotel now has a County location – Drake Devonshire. Stay over or go for dinner.
12. Indulge in poutine and milkshakes at the Dari Bar in Wellington
13. Enjoy some great apple cider & lunch of lamb burgers The County County Cider
14. Need some coffee after sampling wine? Miss Lily’s Café or the Bean Counter in Picton
15. Try tiny locally-sourced gourmet hot dogs at Buddha Dog
16. Stop by one of many veggie stands – Laundry Farms, Hagerman Farms, Cherryvale Organic Farm
17. Sit on the porch at a B&B or your weekend cottage and read Geoff Heinrick’s book A Fool & Forty Acres
18. Pop in at the Agrarian for some of the best grilled cheese sandwiches around.
19. Take a cooking class at From the Farm
20. Dining delight –Countylicious –two times a year, 8 restos offer a prix fixe culinary celebration for $30 or $35 plus grats & tax
21. Chat with Bryan at Keint-He Winery. He’ll help you pronounce that!
22. Get on your bike & ride the backroads or along the Loyalist Parkway.
23. Take in Terroir Wine Festival at the Crystal Palace (May)
24. Plan for a beach day at Sandbanks Provincial Park
25. Attend the PEC Jazz Festival (summer).
26. Discover new local music talent at The Acoustic Grill in Picton
27. Slide down the dunes at West Lake
28. Harvest grapes with Norman Hardie & celebrate afterwards with a pig roast & bbq (fall)
29. Take a billion pix of the gorgeous gardens at Closson Chase then indulge in their wines.
30. Spend a Sunday afternoon on the patio at Huff Estates Winery listening to live jazz
31. Red White & Blues festival at Rosehall Run features music in the vineyard.
32. Meet the dogs & owners at Three Dogs Winery
33. Get lost on the back roads
34. Hear James call his Chardonnay vines ‘Bella’ at Long Dog Winery
35. Stock up on your picnic goodies at Chef Michael Hoy’s Weekend Market at 106 Bridge Street
36. Best bacon & eggs in town are at Picton Harbour Inn
37. Harvest parties at Sandbanks Winery, Half Moon Bay Winery & Broken Stone is fun for the entire family
38. Book a room at The Manse, Newsroom Suites, The Inn at Huff Estates, Merrill Inn or the cottage at Angeline’s
39. Take an early morning walk on the ‘secret’ beach (at the bottom of Cold Creek Road)
40. Maple in the County is a great spring getaway
41. Go apple picking at Campbell’s Orchards
42. Sparkling wine awaits at Hinterland Vineyards – and peach slushies for the kids
43. Visit the old-time school house at the Ameliasburgh museum
44. Drinks & Dinner at Merrill Inn –guaranteed delicious!
45. What the heck is Wassail? Ask around about this pre-Christmas festival where you sing for your drinks
46. Do a County Chardonnay-a-thon trying every Chard you can find. Be sure not to miss Lighthall, Stanners, Exultet, Rosehall, Karlo….is just a start.
47. Pull a pint of Pumpkin Ale at Barley Days Brewing Co.
48. Ice cream at Slickers
49. All aboard! Stop in at the red caboose at 33 Vines Winery – it is their tasting room
50. Visit the Lavender Farm when the lavender is in full bloom (June)
51. Chat with Pat at Del-Gatto Estates…were he has la dolche vita!
52. Kick back & chillax in a Muskoka chair with a glass of Sandbanks wine…in their vineyard (must trys – Cabernet Franc Reserve, Baco Noir, Marchel Foch)
53. Go antiquing
54. Follow the Arts Trail & meet incredible artists along the way
55. In the summer, sip Rose wines around the Wine Trail – see how they all are different – different grapes used, hues of pink…and tastes!
56. Catch a movie at the Regent Theatre
57. Visit the gallery at Small Pond Arts to see Milé Murtanovski’s paintings made with wine.
58. Unwind one of the few classic drive-in movie theatres in Ontario: Mustang Drive-In
59. Take a break for wine touring & leisurely shop on Bloomfield Main Street.
60. Six Barrels for Six Chefs at Huff Estates Winery (June)
61. Get your heirloom tomatoes and lots of other fresh from the farm veggies at Vicki’s Veggies
62. How about a visit to Dead Peoples Stuff? (antique store)
63. Enjoy heaven in a glass with a sip of VanAlstine White Port at Karlo Estates
64. Lunch al fresco at Casa Dea Estates Winery, Huff Estates, The Grange or Norman Hardie Winery
65. Go house hunting – it does not cost anything to dream!
66. It might be a wine region, yet there is a distillery – 66 Gilead – that is a must visit. Especially for their Canadian Pine Vodka, Loyalist Gin, rums & whiskies too
67. Watch the sunset at North Beach.
68. Enjoy incredible classical music in a small church during the Prince Edward County Music Festival (September)
69. Make annual family traditions by renting many of the Sunrise cottages.
70. Drop by Highline mushrooms to buy fresh gourmet mushrooms.
71. Homemade donuts like my grandfather would make await at Schroedter’s Market on Hwy 62
72. Spend an hour or two checking out City Revival – a high end consignment shop
73. Be marvelled by Lake On The Mountain – it’s mystical up there.
74. Stop at Black River Cheese Co in Milford to try…and buy…all kinds of cheese. Savvy Cheese Sommelier recommends: Maple Cheddar & fresh curds (TIP – when you put curds in the fridge, they lose their squeak)
75. Where else can wines be as easy as Not Red, Almost Red and Not White? At Sugarbush Wines
76. Ride the waves at North Beach Provincial Park
77. Go strawberry, raspberry or blueberry picking on the roadside – they grow wild!
78. Grab some wine after your round of golf at Picton Golf Course, Barcovan Golf Club or Wellington On The Lake Golf Course.
79. Pop in & out of all of the cool shops along Picton Main Street
80. Bird-watching!! And don’t miss BirdHouse City.
81. Take the scenic route. Drive along the Loyalist Parkway – Hwy 33. Start in Kingston or Napanee and it will meander all the way to Trenton.
82. Order everything on the chalkboard at The Hubb Restaurant in Bloomfield
83. TASTE! at the Crystal Palace (late September)
84. Have afternoon tea or a treat at Tall Poppy Café in Wellington
85. The December Busy Hands Craft Sale at Books and Company & Miss Lily’s Café, hosted by Vicki’s Veggies – great sale for gifts
86. Pop into Greer Road Grocer at Rosehall Run Winery for neat locally made gourmet goodies
87. Play life size chess in the vineyard at Casa Dea Estates
88. Stop for Italian thin crust pizza at Bergeron’s Estate Winery…and have a glass of wine too!
89. Take photos of Lake Ontario with morning fog near Moonlight on the Lake B&B
90. Buy Ontario wine not available in the LCBO
91. Get married!
92. … running and drinking, drinking and running during Terroir Run (June) or county Marathon (Oct)
93. Taste wine in a converted cheese factory that now houses Exultet Estates
94. Rent a cottage on the water for a week and really live The County life
95. Stop at a garage sale
96. Take the free Glenora Ferry
97. Take a workshop at The Red Barns Artist workshops featuring blown and stained glass, pottery, and iron art.
98. Visit Canada’s first off-grid winery Redtail Vineyard
99. Browse the books and say hello to Miss Ella Vader, the new book mascot at Books & Company
100. Spend a weekend at Claramount Inn & Spa. Heavenly.
101. Stop by Huff Estates and get your picture taken with the giant steel pinecones
And even more tips and calendar of events can be found on Prince Edward County’s tourism web site is prince-edward-county.com
