From Toronto to P.E.I?

Question

Anybody ever take the train from Toronto to take a vacation to P.E.I.? Any advice appreciated.

Answer 1

We trained it from Ottawa to PEI (well Moncton - my mom picked us up).  Me, my husband and 3 children  ages 6, 4 and 18 months. We all loved it.  You can walk around between cars, look out big windows and see the changing landscapes and wave at people, eat at a variety of restaurants on the train, and watch free movies (one adult and one family rated) in 2 of the cars.  They accommodated us very nicely by warming up bottles and baby food and giving us ice for our own drink boxes, free milk for the kids at night time, and hot water to make out nightly herbal tea.  We noticed lots of families who had turned their seats around to play board and card games.  At night we split up and I slept in comfort class with my son (reclining chairs, they provide lots of pillows and blankets)  and my husband bunked in a bedroom cabin with private bath with the baby and my daughter.  During the day we all hung out in our cabin, ate our own snacks (to save money and get more variety), colored, and played card and video games.  Each of the children had a backback with activities, surprises, and special treats and snacks.  Changing the baby, nursing her and rocking her to sleep was soooo easy.  We even could even leave the cabin because we had packed our monitor system with extra batteries.  The kids were never bored and neither were we.  I highly recommend it to travelling by car.  No potty roadside stops, not once did we hear are we there yet, no leg cramps, stiff backs or numb bums,  no stopping to nurse and change diapers or settle arguments, no crowded, dirty roadside bathrooms and greasy fast food options, no navigating with a map when I can't find my glasses or manouvering in unknown cities with unknown highway exits and no questionable stale hotel/motel rooms with its flurry of packing and unpacking and the race to breakfast in the morning.  We ate well on the train at the snack bars and in the fancy dining car where we had the best salad dressing and lobster bisque soup ever.  We were entertained on board and slept well on board.  Well I slept like a rocked baby.  My husband - he couldn't sleep because the kids were excited and he never sleeps well anyway, no matter where we are.

Answer 2

In January 1984 I took the train from P.E.I. to Edmonton.The P.E.I. to Toronto leg of this trip was enjoyable.

Back then I had to take a bus from P.E.I. to Moncton New Brunswick where I connected with the train.Further I had a train switch in Montreal.

The confederation bridge was not yet built so we ferried from P.E.I., I have yet to get back East to do the bridge.I'll bet there are lots of Canadians who have not used this connector yet.

My advise is this-talk to folks on the train  and enjoy the views.I don;t remember how long this part of my trip took but if you are on the train more then 12 hours upgrade your ticket to a day/nighter seat as they are way more comfy.

Have a great vacation on Canada's gem of an island.