Visiting Green Gables on Prince Edward Island is a must for readers of the beloved book series “Anne of Green Gables.” Now called Green Gables Heritage Place, the house and surrounding grounds are in Prince Edward Island National Park, an expanse of sandy beaches and rolling farmland on the north shore of Prince Edward Island.
Anne of Green Gables is a classic novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. It tells the story of Anne Shirley, an 11-year-old orphan girl who is mistakenly sent to live with Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a middle-aged brother and sister who had intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm on Prince Edward Island, Canada.
I’d never read the books before planning my trip to this area in Canada, but a friend recommended I do so before visiting and I’m so glad I did. As a book lover who frequently travels to locations written about by my favorite authors, Green Gables on Prince Edward Island is among my very favorite book locations.
At Green Gables, you can expand your “scope for imagination” by:
- Take a tour of the house and learn about the history of the property and the inspiration for Anne of Green Gables.
- Explore the grounds, hike the trails and take a walk through the gardens.
- Interact with live characters and participate in a special event.
- Visit Montgomery Park.
- Walk around the old Montgomery house.
- Pay respects at Montgomery’s grave.
- Shop at the gift shop and restaurant.
- Learn about L.M. Montgomery and the Cavendish landscape at the visitor’s center.
Green Gables on Prince Edward Island
If you’re wondering if Avonlea from Anne of Green Gables is a real place, the answer is sort of. It’s based on real-life Cavendish and many things described in the books are recognizable here, even the beloved house. The MacNeil family initially owned the Green Gables house in the 1830s. In 1928, the Canadian government purchased it and restored it to its original appearance. It is now open to the public as a museum based on the books.
In real life, this farm was the home of cousins of Author M.L. Montgomery’s grandfather. While she never lived here, Maud grew up nearby with her grandparents Lucy and Alexander Macneill, only a stone’s throw away, through the “haunted woods” at the old Montgomery house. She knew the property well and, years later, used it as the inspiration for the setting of her novel Anne of Green Gables.
“Cavendish is, to a large extent, Avonlea. Green Gables was drawn from David Macneill’s house, though not so much the house itself as the situation and scenery, and the truth of my description of it is attested by the fact that everyone has recognized it.”
L.M. Montgomery
The house is a two-story, L-shaped structure with a white exterior and green gables. It has five bedrooms, a dining room, a sewing room, and a parlor. The interior is furnished with period furniture and artifacts decorated to match the fictional home belonging to the Cuthberts. Curators have done an exceptional job of ensuring the home looks as described in the books. You’ll see Marilla’s sewing room, Anne’s bedroom, the kitchen pantry and more familiar scenes. Images of her real-life aunt and uncle even look like Matthew and Marilla!
Explore the Grounds, Hike, and Admire the Gardens
Outside you can explore the barn, beautiful gardens and even the “Snow Queen” white apple blossom trees. Characters dressed like Anne, her best friend Diana and her boyfriend, Gilbert walked around taking pictures with visitors while “Matthew” read to children under a tree. The organization also hosts special events wherein you can more deeply engage with the house and characters for an additional cost.
There are two wooded trails at Green Gables: The Haunted Wood Trail and the Balsam Hollow Trail.
Balsam Hollow
This trail leads away from the back of the house through various landscapes, including forests, fields, and wetlands that extend along a winding brook in the woods. Within it is “Lover’s Lane.”
Lover’s Lane
With the shade and shadows of the many kinds of trees, an old wooden fence, the soothing sound of the brook, and the inviting songs of different birds, a walk down Lover’s Lane and through Balsam Hollow is a place you might stop for a kiss as Anne imagined many did.
The Haunted Wood
The Haunted Wood is the trail Anne depicted as the scary one that leads to Diana’s house across the fields. It’s down the slope from the front of Green Gables house, the Haunted Wood Trail is a looped trail about a half-mile long.
Beginning and ending at the trailhead at the base of the hill, this trail takes you through wooded areas. It passes near the edge of the Cavendish Cemetery and can also be a pathway to Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Cavendish National Historic Site – the L.M. Montgomery’s Cavendish Home, a separate location the Macneill family operates.
Visit Montgomery Park
If you follow the Balsam Woods trail to its end, you’ll pass through Montgomery Park. It is named after Lucy Maud Montgomery and features a playground, a gazebo, a walking trail, and a picnic area. A bronze statue of Montgomery and plaques with her quotes and information about her are the highlights of the park.
The park is a great example of how Cavendish cherishes everything about these books and this author. They’ve even named a small area, “Avonlea,” and other places called “shining waters,” “bosom buddies,” “kindred spirits,” and other beloved phrases from the book.
Walk around Old Montgomery House
If you continue the trail through Montgomery Park, you’ll go through more woods, a flowered meadow and come to a small house (Diana’s house?!).
It’s all too pretty for words. The old house, now doubling as a gift shop, has only the main room open. The kitchen, where they believe Maud wrote her first books, is all that remains of the original home, but it is not accessible.
The book collection is spectacular and there are many artifacts and other objects of memorabilia on display. For $6 you can walk the garden path filled with flowers, blooming apple trees and signage, so you know what you’re looking at. There is her garden, the well, the trees and more, just as described in the books.
Pay Your Respects at the Cemetery
Back through the woods and across the road is Maud’s final resting place in the Cavendish cemetery. So revered is she that the iron gates above the cemetery entrance read: “Final Resting Place of Maud Montgomery.” Her grave is easy to find as it’s sided by large bushes unlike the others and often has visitors standing nearby or an abundance of flowers.
Visit the Gift Shop & Restaurant
After all that walking, the barn back on the main property, is a welcome retreat. In it, they serve light food, snacks and drinks including raspberry cordial and beaver tails.
Explore the Visitor’s Center
The visitor’s center is also an exhibit hall featuring interpretive exhibits on L.M. Montgomery’s life and writings. Visitors can learn more about the Cavendish landscape that inspired Maud and played an essential role in the books. Throughout the exhibits, there are themes of imagination, beauty, friendship, belonging, freedom, and self. Parks Canada, which runs the site, also shares the story of the Mi’kmaq people in Cavendish.
If you visit Green Gables
The Green Gables Heritage Place is a popular tourist destination and a must-visit for Anne of Green Gables fans. Read the books again before you go and you’ll delight in how many things you’ll recognize. It was a truly magical place, just like those stories.
Green Gables on Prince Edward Island is open from May to October. Trails and grounds are open year-round. The site is easily accessible by car.
Find it at 8619 Route 6 Cavendish PE C0A 1M0.
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