OT - eastern Canada

[HunterBoo]

We are thinking of heading down east this summer for maybe 10 to 14 days. I'm not even sure where to begin. I have googled and found many, many driving trips and things to do, but there is so much it is overwhelming! At first we were thinking NS, NB and PEI, but now I am thinking we are being ambitious? There will be four of us, two young teens included. Does anyone have links, ideas, experiences, etc to help guide me a little? I'm thinking some beautiful scenery, seeing the ocean/whales?, maybe Anne of Green Gables, and otherwise just relaxing and exploring and enjoying somewhere we have never been. I'd appreciate any help
Thank you so much!!!

 

[Applemomma]

I live in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia and I have to say that yes, you might be a bit ambitious with that. To cover all three provinces, even just hitting the highlights, you'll be spending a lot of time driving. For whale watching I highly recommend traveling down past Digby to Briar Island for their whale watching tours. The are tours in Halifax and Cape Breton but because of the ledges on the floor of the Bay of Fundy pushing food up to the surface you are almost guaranteed to see whales. It's about a 3 and a half hour drive from Halifax so I actually suggest you make it an overnighter. Lots to do in the Valley on the way down and back ( I can give you recommendations if you like).

You can also go to the other end of Nova Scotia and spend a few days on the Cabot Trail if scenery is your thing (get a BIG memory card for your camera!) and then on your way back from there take the ferry at Pictou to go to PEI for a few days and then you can take the bridge from the Island to New Brunswick. You only pay to get off the Island so the ferry is free

I can't give you much input into New Brunswick but for the NS/PEI portion maybe explore Halifax for a few days, head to Briar Island and back to Halifax for a day or two, then to Cape Breton for a few days, skip over to PEI and then to New Brunswick. Plan ahead because accommodations both on Briar Island and on Prince Edward Island book up fast and early for the summer months.

Hope that's of some help!

 

[Minniemoo15]

If you do NB I would concentrate on the southern part of the province so you have easy access to the NS Border/Confederation Bridge - Hopewell Rocks are close and lovely to see.

I love NS, especially Halifax, South Shore (Peggy's Cove, Mahone Bay, etc) and the Annapolis valley. Cape Breton is also great (Cabot trail is phenomenal), but it's a bit out of the way depending on what you're trying to do.

PEI is probably my favourite place in all of Canada - so much to see and do in the summer. I would spend the majority of my trip there !

So if it was me, I would do Hopewell rocks in NB, take the confederation bridge to PEI, then take the ferry to NS and either do Cape Breton OR head right to Halifax. If you had extra time I would explore the South Shore, or Annapolis Valley. Neither are far from
Halifax.

 

[HunterBoo]

Thank you for your replies ... I really had no idea how much there was to offer in each province! So I think my goal this year is to just see a couple of things ... mainly I'd like my girls to see the ocean. Despite going to Florida pretty much yearly, we have not made the trek to the ocean ... so I would like them to see that. I want to see PEI myself, but I'm thinking I may need more than a couple of days. So I'm going to look at all of these things you have suggested.

I did look at Brier Island for whale watching ... I would love to do this and I think my daughters would as well, my mom not so much. She just isn't a boat person, so I'm not sure about it at this point.

I'm thinking we should focus on NS and go from there. I'm thinking now more like a week instead of up to two weeks due to costs (travel plus dog being in the kennel for a week or so).

A friend from work recommended going to Halifax and spending a few days there and then taking a day to Peggy's Cove and a day to Lunenberg. That actually sounds quite good to me. We could probably take a week and include travel time in that, give or take a day. I just want simple and enjoyable ... and I just want to see that ocean

 

[mshanson3121]

We are thinking of heading down east this summer for maybe 10 to 14 days. I'm not even sure where to begin. I have googled and found many, many driving trips and things to do, but there is so much it is overwhelming! At first we were thinking NS, NB and PEI, but now I am thinking we are being ambitious? There will be four of us, two young teens included. Does anyone have links, ideas, experiences, etc to help guide me a little? I'm thinking some beautiful scenery, seeing the ocean/whales?, maybe Anne of Green Gables, and otherwise just relaxing and exploring and enjoying somewhere we have never been. I'd appreciate any help
Thank you so much!!!

I'm the opposite, I live in NB and yes, you can easily touch on major attractions in those three provinces in 14 days, no question, and not as crazy-busy as it might sound when you read it.

So you'll come to NB first, the things to see/do there:

TreeGo! near Mactaquac, NB. This is in a really nice provincial park that offers a small freshwater beach, beautiful golf course, very nice nature trails, and then TreeGo! itself is a really cool zipline/obstacle course, which I imagine would be a hit for your kids. Spend a day at Mactaquac, go in and spend the night in Fredericton.

From there, drive to Saint Andrews, NB (2 hours from Fredericton). This is a beautiful sea-side town that offers lots of quaint shops, beaches, a nice aquarium, and oodles of whale watching aboard tall ships (Jolly Breeze is our favorite). I would spend a night here.

Then drive to Fundy National Park area (about 3 hours from Saint Andrews), oodles of walking trails/scenery, do Hopewell Rocks and Cape Enrage (lots of activities including kayaking, rappelling etc), there's some really nice horseback riding through the marshes. I would spend 2 nights in this area so you're not so rushed, but you could get by with 1.

(There are soooo many other things to do in NB, but these are some quick ones off the top of my head for your age group, and also, trying to keep you on a direct line as possible driving-wise for doing the three provinces. If you wanted to add a day in NB, and you're really into outdoor adventure, if you're coming into NB from the north (entering from Quebec border) I'd recommend spending a day hiking Mt. Carleton, it's stunning. If you're into history, you could do Kings Landing Historical Settlement Village which is really nice, we love it so much we buy season passes every year. It's only about 15 minutes from Mactaquac, so you could spend the morning at Kings Landing (plan on about 3 hours there, have lunch at their restaurant, Kings Head Inn, then do TreeGo in the afternoon).

I would then head into Nova Scotia. There's lots to see and do in Nova Scotia as well. Annapolis Valley is really nice, there's a beautiful lake with a beach in Kejimkujik National Park. There's beautiful vineyards, and you could visit Fort Anne. However, going down into Annapolis is kind of out of the way, and myself personally, I'd drive straight to the Halifax area (about 3.5 hours from Fundy area). I can give you a link to a great hotel for that area. In Halifax visit the Public Gardens, Citadel Hill, stroll the water front, go out to Peggy's Cove. I would definitely spend 2 nights in Halifax.

I would then drive up to Cape Breton. Spend a minimum 3 nights here. Baddeck (3.5 hours from Halifax) is the perfect place to stay, take the afternoon of your arrival day to relax and meander around Baddeck, it's a great area. Do the Cabot Trail (stunning scenery) the next day. Then take the next day and drive into Sydney (about 1.5 hours away) and tour the Fortress of Louisbourg, or just take an R&R day and enjoy more of Baddeck. Baddeck is great and has quaint shops, you can go sailing on the Bra D'or Lakes (beautiful), tour the Alexander Graham Bell museum (really neat), there's beaches, great Celtic cultural offerings etc...

Then, I would drive down to Caribou, NS (about 2.25 hours) and take the ferry to PEI (crossing is 75 minutes). Drive to Charlottetown (30-45 minutes away) and spend the night here. I'd probably spend the afternoon relaxing, then stroll down to the waterfront for a nice supper, and then go to the playhouse that night and watch the Anne of Green Gables musical. Then I'd probably spend most of the next day meandering around the city, then drive up to Cavendish area (about 35 minutes away). I'd probably spend 3-4 nights here. Go deep sea fishing, visit Green Gables, if you enjoy golfing there are oodles of splendid courses, go to Sandspit or Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, visit the beach, take a day and just drive and see the beautiful sights, the red sandstone cliffs are so beautiful...

Congratulations. You've just toured the 3 provinces, hitting on some of the major highlights, in 12-14 nights

 

[mshanson3121]

Also, we've personally done everything I listed above, so if you want recommendations on where to stay etc... just lemme know

 

[mort1331]

Fortress of Louisbourg, I highly recommend this. Also depending on time of year, the boardwalk of Halifax is great and has lots of festivals including one of the best Busker festivals. There is also Alexander Keiths tour, lots of fun and great restaurant for after. It is not your average beer tour, I have been on lots around the world and this is #1.
You say there is 4 of you going, one thing that might make things cheaper is staying at BB. They have loads and are regulated in the maritime. Great for just a place to rest your head and get local info.
If there is one thing NOT to do is the tidal boar.It is a Bore IMHO. But you will see lots of ads for it and places to see it.
Great choice going to the coast if you have never been.
Oh ya if you or your spouse like scotch, on Cape Briton there is a single malt wiskey(since they cant call it scotch) and you can take tours and samples. YUMYUM. Glen Briton is the name. The Scots tried to stop the from using the Glen name, but kind of hard seeing as its the name of the town its in. lol