Looking for advice re: Halifax

[Frwinkley]

Looking for some guidance from you friendly folks.

We live on the east coast of the U.S. and are considering a trip to Halifax and other points east this summer/fall. We have traveled to many parts of your wonderful country, but the eastern part remains unvisited.

We are considering a cruise, but we’d have to include a few US cities that we’ve been to many times and that seems like a waste. The cruises that hit the most spots are 11 or 12 days and I’m just not sure that’s necessary. Cruising is not something we do regularly (hardly ever). We are more DIYers, but all the planning can get overwhelming.

Any advice? Should we just fly into Halifax and make our own trip? I’m also concerned that each port stop will look the same.

 

[yowcruiser]

Depending on the cruise line, there are a few variations to "Eastern Canada" cruises: Some may visit Saint.John (NB), Sydney (NS), Charlottetown (PEI) and some may even venture out to St.John's (NF) - in addition to Halifax. While all of these ports would indeed all have a "Canadian maritime" feel, the scenic views, people and port adventures would still be noticeably different.

Depending on the port of departure, US stops in Boston or Maine are not uncommon.

From Halifax, there are indeed a number of spots worth visiting, including Halifax itself

 

[Apiary]

Nova Scotia has a lot to offer beyond Halifax. Flying in and renting a car is a good option, or driving up and taking the Ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth (once a day each direction). You can also drive all the way around, but not everyone is as committed to a road trip.

 

[Frwinkley]

Nova Scotia has a lot to offer beyond Halifax. Flying in and renting a car is a good option, or driving up and taking the Ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth (once a day each direction). You can also drive all the way around, but not everyone is as committed to a road trip.

We are not at all opposed to moving every few days to see as much as we can. Our typical road trips have covered over 2k miles in 12 days or so.

Cruising limits us to only Sept or Oct and doing our own trip opens up other months.

We live in Western PA, so seeing foliage isn’t a huge attraction for us. Better weather is important.

From what I can tell, looks like the real “touristy” (for lack of a better world) are north of Halifax.

 

[migel]

Halifax is a great city to visit. I'm in Canada, about a half hour from Niagara Falls, and drive to Halifax annually, but have also flown in many times. If you go, consider driving to Cape Breton, a little over 2 hours from Halifax. Beautiful scenery, especially along the Cabot Trail.

 

[Frwinkley]

Halifax is a great city to visit. I'm in Canada, about a half hour from Niagara Falls, and drive to Halifax annually, but have also flown in many times. If you go, consider driving to Cape Breton, a little over 2 hours from Halifax. Beautiful scenery, especially along the Cabot Trail.

We would love to spend more time on the Cabot Trail than any cruise would allow.

Any suggestions of locations to stay in other than Halifax? We aren’t adverse to moving every 2-3 days, but want to make sure there are enough things to see/do

We enjoy hiking, are avid photographers, like walkable little towns, shopping, restaurants.

The appeal of a cruise is that there wouldn’t be a ton of planning involved.

Thank you for any help you can offer.

 

[Apiary]

There are touristy areas in every direction. Cape Breton is beautiful, and has wonderful scenery and tiny towns. As well as the fortress Louisberg, which is a really cool 18th century French fort complete with soldiers. The south shore has a UNESCO certified cute town (Lunenburg) and several other not certified cute towns. There's good shopping, cold water beaches, and wonderful roadside cafes (my favorite is the Lahave bakery). The fundy shore is cool, highest tides in the world, more cute towns, seasonal theaters.
novascotia.com is run by the province, and has some good info on what there is to do where.