With summer travel options being pretty limited in the time of Covid-19 we decided to do a little day trip to Prince Edward County to catch the lavender bloom in July. PEC is one of our favourite places to visit and although we already have a weekend booked for September we just couldn’t wait until then to return.

Our first stop in PEC was to Piccolina, a new Italian cafe in Wellington by Enid Grace Culinary. We went a bit overboard on the pastries but they were delicious and well worth it. Getting some extra pastries also meant we had leftovers for a little sunset picnic on the beach later that day. We also stopped by the Wellington Farmers’ Market (open on Saturdays) and bought a couple things from the local producers.

Our next stop was to Prince Edward County Lavender so see the lavender in bloom. I’ve never visited a lavender farm before and we were lucky that our spontaneous day trip landed on the perfect weekend when the flowers were in full bloom. There’s a $8 fee to visit the fields but it’s worth it to wander the little fields (that smell amazing!) and take some photos.

For lunch we decided to try out one of the new summer food pop-ups around PEC. Many of the wineries and restaurants have had to adapt with Covid-19 and lots have food pop-ups outside so people can still enjoy what the amazing producers and chefs in the region have to offer.

We headed over to the Grange of Prince Edward Winery, a winery that we’d never been to before but have tried their wine from the LCBO before. The winery is super pretty with a big barn looking over a pond. Old Salt Cocktails set up a little cocktail food truck and gourmet hotdog stand. The sausages and cocktails were delicious and it was so nice sitting out on the grassy patio under the big trees.

Next we decided to head over to a couple vineyards to taste some wine. We went to Redtail Vineyards over on the west side of Prince Edward County first. Their tasting bar was closed but we still bought some wine at the bottle shop. We’ve had some since returning home and it is delicious.

Then we went over to Trail Estates Winery, one of our favourites in the region. This was our first time visiting the winery itself but we’ve been buying their wine online during the pandemic. It’s definitely one of our new favourites in PEC. They have a great tasting area outside in the field beside the grapevines that’s super peaceful and relaxing. They are only serving wine by the glass instead of small tastings at the moment because of Covid-19. I tried their delicious orange wine and they also have a few -non-alcoholic options for those who don’t drink or who are driving.

Before heading to the beach we visited one of our favourite breweries, Matron Fine Beer in Bloomfield. They also had a food pop-up with Old Style Barbeque and we couldn’t resist. The food and beer were both delicious and they have a great patio.

After some food we headed over to Sandbanks Provincial Park late in the afternoon for a walk on the beach. We went to The Dunes Beach to see the unique sand dunes. The beach was still fairly busy even after 4pm so if you want to go definitely go first thing in the morning or much later in the evening. We also went over to the Lakeside Beach which is right on Lake Ontario. It was much less busy but the water was also colder. We returned there after dinner to eat our leftover pastries at sunset on the beach.

For dinner we went to the Sand and Pearl Oyster Bar (reservations recommended), they have a great outdoor patio in the back. The food and the atmosphere were both great, they also have non-seafood and vegan options for those who don’t eat seafood. It was our first time eating on a patio having food and it was a great experience overall.

Our day trip to Prince Edward County was really fun and a nice break from being in the city. As usual the food and drinks were great and everyone was super friendly in PEC. Everyone in PEC was great about wearing masks indoor and in places were you can’t social distance (masks are required indoors in the region). I can’t wait to head back in September to spend the weekend and do more exploring.

Find guides to PEC and more on my blog here!