Ten minutes into our guided walking tour of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, it’s clear that my choice to embark on a group trip with Senior Discovery Tours is a wise one.
Marilyn, a spritely lady from southwestern Ontario sidles up to me. “Are you on your own?“ I confirm my SWT (Single Woman Traveller) status on this, the first official day of our Senior Discovery Tours walking trip in Prince Edward Island.
Canada’s smallest (and surely one of its friendliest provinces), PEI is home to the 700-kilometer Island Walk, aka Canada’s Camino, which was established in 2019 and circumnavigates the rich, red loamy earth of the island.
Our group of 50+ aged travellers are here to walk as much of the Island Walk as seven days, and favourable weather (more on that later), will allow.
Marilyn and her two friends, Joyce and Liz, travel together often, and they take it upon themselves to do the neighbourly thing and make solo travellers like myself feel welcome on group tours. Little did I know at the time that on this sunny harbourfront in Charlottetown, I would come to love hanging around with this lively, energetic and very fun cohort of 20 mature travellers who could give a fig about the term senior – they’re too busy out and about enjoying themselves and living their best lives.
The Island Walk
My motivation for joining this trip is a long-held desire to visit PEI and to hike portions of the Island Walk. The Walk has rapidly become a popular attraction in the province, though just 121 people have completed the entirety of the 700 km route on self-guided tours.
Fortunately for me and my fellow walkers, Seniors Discovery Tour has managed a bit of a coup in inviting the creator of the Island Walk, Bryson Guptill on the first-ever guided tour of Canada’s Camino. An Island resident for the past 30 years and a passionate musician (and James Taylor devotee), Guptill possesses in-depth knowledge of the Island and its colourful characters, himself included.
Guptill was inspired to create the Island Walk after completing caminos in Spain and Portugal. The Rota Vincentia of Portugal’s southwest coast reminded him of the Island’s beautiful coastline, and he determined that “we could create a walk in PEI.” So he spearheaded efforts to do so, officially launching the Island Walk in 2019.
As enthusiastic guinea pigs for this very first official guided Island Walk, we are an appreciative crowd, enjoying the stories, insider ‘tea’ and the chance to learn some of the secrets of the Walk from its creator and the man who’s still in charge of its maintenance.
In addition to in-destination guides like Guptill, Senior Discovery Tours has designated Tour Leaders for each of its trips. In our case, we’re fortunate to have Gordon Gow, an experienced tour guide and former educator who lives in Montreal.
Gow has been with the company for ten years and led walking tours in destinations as diverse as South Africa, Tanzania and PEI. A tall, fit man with a calm and easy-going demeanor, Gow warns us cheerfully that we’re “going to hear a lot of my voice this week.” But as anyone who’s ever been on a group trip or family reunion knows well, an organized leader who can shepherd travellers and keep everyone on time is worth their weight in gold – which we’ve clearly struck with Gow on our trip.
An Active Itinerary
Our one-week trip itinerary is full of soft adventure, cultural activities and daily walks of the best and most scenic portions of the Island Walk. Much of the Walk coincides with portions of the Confederation and the Trans Canada Trails and blends jurisdictional responsibilities across several governments and non-profit organizations.
The Island Walk is administered by a non-profit group based in scenic Victoria-by-the-Sea, one of our many stops along the route. Here, walkers can pick up maps, stickers and Island Walk swag (the baseball caps are hot commodities) and chat with young Project Leader, Hannah MacLean.
A born and raised Islander, the affable 24-year-old- MacLean has been in the administrative role for past seven months, fulfilling her interest in tourism and conservation. The Island Walk is regenerative and “sustainable tourism in its own form,” she says, and as the first staff person hired in the role, she “does it all.”
Senior Discovery Tours worked with Guptill on choosing some of the most scenic and fun portions of the Walk. Our journey begins in PEI’s charming capital, Charlottetown, a highly walkable and friendly city of independent coffee shops, bookstores and seafood restaurants claiming lobster roll supremacy.
Seafood is king here, particularly lobster and especially during its harvest seasons of May and June. Hot local tip: Smaller (1 lb) is sweet and tender; bigger is not better. The tour includes most lunches and dinners, and there are multiple opportunities to enjoy lobster in various forms, as well as scallops, mussels and other local fare from land and sea. Our stop at Fisherman’s Wharf World Famous Lobster Suppers & Restaurant, in North Rustico, gives an authentic taste of local seafood in boiled and fried form, bibs included.
Senior Discovery Tours trips include a well-balanced number of active adventures with cultural exploration, and a visit to Prince Edward Island isn’t complete without attending to the shrine of author Lucy Maud Montgomery and her fictional red-headed heroine, Anne of Green Gables.
We run the gamut of visits to Montgomery’s modest birthplace, her beloved Grandmother’s house where she spent much of her youth, and the relative’s home that inspired the Green Gables of fictional fame. Suffice to say that PEI has done very well by Anne Tourism, given the busloads of people who are equally enamored with the adventures of PEI’s most famous fictional resident.
But for me, it’s the natural beauty of PEI that captures my heart as it has done for many over the years. The slightly rolling countryside where we walk past farm fields dotted with neat houses and the gorgeous coastlines with dunes and wide beaches of singing sands.
Senior Discovery Tours did us a solid by enlisting Bryson Guptill to design the Island Walk portions of our tour.
Even in poor weather, the Island’s charms shine through: on our walk to the protected, parabolic Greenwich Dunes of PEI National Park; along the singing sands of Basin Head Provincial Park and to sites like the East Point Lighthouse and charmingly scenic villages like Victoria-by-the-Sea.
Why travel with Senior Discovery Tours
One of the benefits of travelling on a Senior Discovery Tours trip is that it’s door to door service and includes nearly everything. My taxi to the airport and back is included, as are flights, tour transportation, hotel stays, nearly all meals and all activities. Even luggage tags and name badges, all the better to ensure everyone’s bags follow along the trip and don’t go on their own unplanned holiday.
As Senior Discovery Tours is celebrating 50 years in 2026, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Canadian company has honed its operations down to a fine point. But it’s excellent just the same, and validating as our group members swaps stories of trips with other operators that haven’t been so well-run.
When a serious Nor’easter rolls over the Island, impacting our walking schedule while in Summerside, tour leader Gow pivots to alter our schedule to include local museum visits and a very fun afternoon of bowling at the excellent sports complex in town. Full disclosure: I’m a bowling fan. It’s a very accessible sport, easy to do (pretty much anyone can roll a ball) but tough to master and a super social activity for all ages. We had a blast, making lemonade from what the weather gods were lashing down on our path.
Guptill must have enjoyed his time with us, as he’s signed on as a guide for Senior Discovery Tours Island Walk tour in PEI in September next year. Hot tip: “It’s the best month to walk Canada’s Camino.”
If enjoying a well-organized, fun and energetic trip to Prince Edward Island is on your list, get planning to walk the Island Walk.
Disclosure: The writer thanks Senior Discovery Tours for hosting her trip to PEI and participation on the Island Walk.
Photo credit: All photos by Claudia Laroye
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