Not everywhere has to boast bright lights, cultural curiosities, or epic landscapes. Sometimes simplicity is the best solution. Like Prince Edward Island, the P in my ongoing favourites list:

Whether it’s church lobster dinners, a local ceilidh or clam bake on the beach, visiting a lighthouse or hiking on the coast, PEI can still seem an anachronism, not entirely distant from the world of Anne (of Green Gables), Marilla and Gilbert.

The island isn’t quite as remote since the Confederation Bridge from the mainland replaced the ferries in 1997, but its charm has not been lost, as was originally feared.

Sure, there is history, golf, fishing and other requisite activities for the energetic of heart, but my most memorable experiences there over the years have always revolved around people: hitchhiking to an ice cream shop just (several kilometres) down the road courtesy of local farm vehicles; bonfires on the beach with area farmers; waterskiing behind a fishing trawler; and exploring blood-red tidal flats for hours with my kids and clam-seekers from Summerside.

Then there was Angus, the harmless village drunk in North Lake Harbour. All summer, he’d barely strung two coherent words together, but at a bonfire one night, someone said, “Angus, spin us a yarn!” Twenty minutes later, the amazing fellow was still reeling off a rhyming tale that he later revealed his mother had insisted he memorize many decades earlier when he was a child.

To this day, I’ve never seen anything like it – just like PEI.

Honourable mention: Prague
Bucket list: Paraguay

Reader response: For a year of my youth I lived in Pau, in Southwest France. The city is beautiful, no doubt, but the region really is spectacular: from the Pyrenees to the Bay of Biscay in the North Atlantic. It is within driving distance to many amazing places: Lourdes, Tarbes, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Biarritz (although I prefer its smaller neighbor Anglet) and the Basque Country (French and Spanish). Then, there are the mountains… endless beauty during any season, from near or far. Next time you are in that part of the world, make sure to visit, you will fall in love with the places and the people! (Gabriel Martinez, Sr. Mgr. International Tourism Sales, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau)

Unlike the song, I have not been everywhere, so please don’t wonder why one of your favourites wasn’t one of mine. Instead, tell me at baginski@travelindustrytoday.com. I’m already thinking about my next list.

Stay tuned to future issues for the rest of the list. And for previous entries, click HERE