An Anne of Green Gables Vacation You Haven’t Thought Of

Butternut Farm

Film location used for: Green Gables

The most iconic film location of all is, of course, Green Gables itself!

This is private property with a gate at the entrance, but you can still see half the house from the road. 

A small pullout where it’s obvious other fans have stopped is big enough for one car to park across the highway. 

The chaos of the busy road and inability to see the whole house made the experience a little underwhelming. I couldn’t just “sit” with it and take it in.

Still, I’m both surprised and delighted that the owners have kept the house painted white with green trim. If they really wanted to deter fans, they could easily change it with a coat of paint.

Simcoe County Museum 

Film location used for: Avonlea schoolhouse, pinecone attack scene, Minnie May outhouse

I was a bit low key excited for this location. The Simcoe County Museum is where they filmed Anne’s schoolhouse scenes, the infamous pinecone ambush, and even the outhouse incident with Minnie May.

When we arrived, we found out half the museum was closed for renovations. I immediately asked if the schoolhouse was still open since that was the real reason we came. The woman at the front desk said yes, and when we explained why we were there, she lit up and talked about how they still occasionally get Anne fans from all over the world.

The view walking up to the schoolhouse was not what I was expecting. In the film, it’s nestled among pine trees. Now, not so much. 

A recent major storm had knocked down a bunch of trees, and others had been removed for safety. Ah well.

But inside? Inside felt like stepping right into Anne’s schoolhouse!

The teacher and student desks were the same, the walls and chalkboards were the same…it was a glorious sight!

I could easily imagine Mr. Phillips or Miss Stacy at the front of the room and of course, Anne smashing her slate over Gilbert’s head. 

The outhouse where Minnie May gets locked in is also out behind the schoolhouse.

As for the pinecone scene (where Anne and Diana get ambushed), we weren’t sure of the exact filming spot, but there was a wooded lane that looked pretty close.

The rest of the museum grounds were worth exploring too, with historic buildings like a blacksmith shop and houses from the late 1800s.  

Field on Concession 6

Film location used for: back end of Green Gables house and field

This was my proudest find. The scenes of Anne walking through the field toward Green Gables always felt so romantic and homey, and I was determined to track down that exact spot. 

The problem was, there was no clear address or consistent information online.  I went into full on detective mode, doing too many hours sleuthing, Google mapping, and narrowing down until I FINALLY found it. 

The field is private property and I wasn’t sure how much would be visible from the road or if I would even get the right angle of the field. 

But when we arrived, it was PERFECT!

The view from the road was the exact angle of the fields to the house I wanted! It was beautiful! 

I could just see Anne and Gilbert walking away in the sunset or Katherine with a K having a heart to heart with Anne. 

There was a perfect gravel pullout for parking that’s used for a trail on the opposite side of the road.

Emmanuel International Canada

Film location used for: THE bridge

We were both excited to find the famous romantic bridge where Gilbert rescues Anne from the bridge post, or Anne and Gilbert finally share that knots-in-your-stomach kiss, among other memorable scenes.

Once again, I had no idea what to expect until we arrived.

Unfortunately, this turned out to be the most devastating stop of all.

The bridge is in complete ruins. There was no way to even salvage a partial recreation.

To make things more awkward, we weren’t sure if it was private property or not when trying to get closer. But the sign blocking the bridge in shambles said it all: No Access.

Disheartened, we moved on.

Westfield Heritage Museum

Film location used for: Avonlea train station, general store, church, and more

The Westfield Heritage Museum ended up being my favorite living museums out of all the ones we visited. We came on a Sunday when volunteers were on site, dressed in period clothing and sharing what life was like in the late 1800s. Some houses even had women cooking real food using authentic methods.

This site features quite a few scenes from the movies, but the two most important to me were:

• Bright River train station where Matthew picks up Anne
• The General Store where Matthew buys the blue dress with the puffed sleeves

As soon as we walked into the general store, there was no mistaking it. I felt like Alice herself might appear from behind the counter to sell me some wares. They even keep a replica of the puffed sleeve blue dress in the window, just as Matthew would have seen it.

Even better, we met David, the shopkeeper and longtime volunteer who has been there for over 25 years. He’s a major Anne fan and was around during the filming of Anne: The Continuing Story (though he saw the aftermath, not the filming itself). 

He’s a fantastic storyteller, retelling the film scenes in the general store with vivid detail. He mentioned that he’ll soon be starting up his Anne-themed tours around the property again. If you can, try to visit on a day he’s offering them.

The other major site to see is the famous train station. It looked perfect, complete with a train track in front of the platform and a replica of the bench Anne sat on. You can even see the actual movie bench prop through the station windows.

Of course, I had to sit down and pretend I was waiting for Matthew myself.

Other random film locations around the museum are:

• The interior of the Hammond house
• The Hammond sawmill where Mr. Hammond dies
• The orphanage bedroom where Anne talks to Catie in the window
• The lane where Gilbert drives Anne home from the general store
• The church where Matthew’s funeral was held and Anne and Gilbert got married
• The road where Diana’s car is blocked by a flock of sheep

We had only two hours here, and it wasn’t nearly enough time. The volunteers were so engaging and interactive that we could’ve stayed much longer.

Pickering Museum 

Film location used for: ridgepole roof, first Christmas ball

The Pickering Museum is a historical village set in the 1800s. 

Most of their traffic comes from special events or children’s programming, so general admission visitors like us were a bit unusual.

When we visited, it was very quiet. That said, they do still get their fair share of Anne of Green Gables fans. The cashier told us that one time an entire van of people dressed in period clothing showed up to relive their favorite scenes.

The most recognizable filming location here is the Cole House which was used as Moody Spurgeon’s house where Anne walks the roof ridgepole, falls, and sprains an ankle. 

The house isn’t white anymore but you can definitely imagine being one of the school kids watching anxiously as Anne makes a fool of herself. 

Other buildings used in filming include the blacksmith shop, which appears in the background of Moody Spurgeon’s farm, and the Odd Fellows Hall, which stood in for Carmody Town Hall where Anne attends her first Christmas ball in her iconic puffed sleeve dress (somehow I totally missed visiting this building!).

The rest of the museum property was charming to explore. There were interactive stations set up for kids, but we ended up enjoying them ourselves. We even learned some fun facts about pulleys and horseshoes. 

And since the museum was so quiet that day, the staff were eager to converse and answer all of our questions.

Victoria College 

Film location used for: Queen’s Academy

I was a little skeptical about this location at first. I wasn’t sure if I would even recognize where the Queen’s Academy scenes were filmed.

But the college grounds are not very large and the courtyard was easy to find.

Lo! and behold!

The corridor where Josie and Ruby meet Anne at college.

The steps where students celebrate Gilbert for winning the Gold Medal and Anne the Avery Award were clearly obvious too.

The courtyard was beautiful and you could see both filming spots at once.

De La Salle College 

Film location used for: Maplehurst

I was surprisingly excited to see this house in person. I wanted to recreate the scene where Anne approaches Maplehurst for the first time.

But unfortunately, major construction was underway, and the entire property was fenced off.

At first I had my doubts whether I’d even be able to see the house through the fence. Then I found a campus map showing its location and hoped I could catch a glimpse from the street.

I thought it was just the tip of the spire I was going to see, but then I noticed a paved path leading up past an iron gate. I took a chance to see if the gate was unlocked, and to my surprise, it was!

The path led straight to a designated viewing spot for the house. It wasn’t the vantage point I had hoped for, and the construction mess was everywhere, but at least I got to see it.

Spadina Museum 

Film location used for: Aunt Josephine’s house

I didn’t know how much I was going to appreciate Aunt Josephine’s house film location, but I was pleasantly surprised. 

The exterior of the Spadina Museum looked just as it did in the movie, so that was cool.

The only way to see the interior was by taking a free guided tour. The history of the actual house was interesting and our guide was very knowledgeable, so it was definitely worth our time. 

As we went from room to room learning about the house, we were eagerly waiting to see the drawing room.

This was used as the conservatory room where Anne and Aunt Josephine talked over tea. 

It looked pretty much as I expected, and I was happy to see quite a bit of greenery in the room to help give it that conservatory feel.

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Dalvay By the Sea

Film location used for: White Sands Hotel

Staying at Dalvay by the Sea was one of the absolute musts for me. I wasn’t going to visit Prince Edward Island otherwise.

Most people don’t seem to remember the White Sands Hotel from the movies, but how could you forget? It’s where Anne chases her manuscript across the dunes and meets Morgan Harris for the first time.

The hotel looked exactly as it should, right down to the Adirondack chairs and croquet on the lawn. It felt like we’d stepped directly into the world of Anne of Avonlea (I refuse to call it “The Sequel”).

What surprised us most was figuring out the filming angles. We spent time walking the grounds and the beach across the street, trying to match scenes to spots. We deduced that some scenes were clearly filmed elsewhere—or stitched together with a little movie magic.

Nevertheless, it still lived up to expectations.

And staying overnight? Hands down the best decision we made. We truly felt like rich Edwardian-era guests, pampered by the exceptional staff.

As it often goes, our first shot was the best. Every attempt after that got a little worse.

But we got it! 

Orwell Corner Historic Village

Film location used for: scenic barn shot and Avonlea church

Okay, this was probably the most obscure film location on the list. For me, it was more about the barns at Orwell Corner Historic Village being used in the Road to Avonlea series, though they also show up in the Anne movies.

The steepled white church is used too, but mostly just for scenic shots.

That said, the living museum itself was super quaint and chill, especially with the summer day camp kids running around. Everything felt laid back, and you could visit the barn animals inside the actual barns.

They had a horse-drawn carriage giving free wagon rides, and yes, we totally waited an extra 30 minutes just to hop on. Totally worth it lol!

Inside the general store, schoolhouse, and blacksmith shop, staff were on hand to chat about the history and demonstrate their craft. 

The only thing I’d skip? The farm equipment displays at the start were kind of boring and a few mannequins were just… unsettling. You’ll know them when you see them.