Hi lynzdee

I can't help with Cape Breton, but the PEI plan looks good to me (either way: ferry in/bridge out or bridge in/ferry out, I think it matters little). I can't help too much otherwise, but if you like seafood, I recommend the Water-Prince Corner Shop in Charlottetown! I loved the Duchess of Kent B&B in Charlottetown (and the proprietress is a font of knowledge on PEI) if you're looking to overnight there. Meeting locals I don't think is terribly difficult as Maritimers are a friendly bunch!

Enjoy! Daniel

Thanks for your suggestions, Daniel. We do want to enjoy the seafood while out east. I think we are looking at a night in Charlottetown, so I will check out the D of K! Lynz

I always suggest having a Cape Breton base camp at Baddeck, and then doing the Cabot Trail at first opportunity with CLEAR weather.

That means, if you awaken on morning one and it is clear, you tear outta there and go on the Cabot Trail loop that day... if it's foggy, you do it on day number two (with your fingers crossed all day on day #1 as you tour other Cape Breton attractions).

That Dutchman's Cheese Farm is not on Cape Breton. It is in Upper Economy which would be more than an hour detour (roundtrip)off the Trans Canada if you were driving from Moncton.

Thanks for your replies. I am highlighting places and festivals in the guide book, trying to make sense of the where's and when's and distances between each. The Dutchman will likely have to fit into our later trip during the week, when we visit PEI, if the detour isn't too significant!

NorthwestMale, what can we expect to see/experience on the Cabot Trail that makes it the best choice, or is just that you need clear weather to see/enjoy the most? I haven't had time to search out all the 'good stuff' we could get into our three days, and I am trying to satisfy three very different people...the most we agree on is our love of seafood, and even that differs on WHICH type! We really would like lots of music!

the Cabot Trail is mainly for scenery beautiful drive . Baddeck is a nice small town also near the Alexander Graham Bell Museum ( just outside)

Good to know...We live in a scenic area, so I think I am looking more for the flavour of the Maritimes...music, seafood, the smell of the ocean, sea spray, visiting small villages and their shops....

NorthwestMale says it best! I agree with him except that I would allow 2 days for the Cabot Trail. Leave Baddeck on your first clear morning. Head to Ingonish. Stay there that night. We like to stay @ Keltic Lodge (The Main Lodge, not The Inn) but there are other places. Explore the area. It is just too spectacularly beautiful to simply pass by. Then next morning continue on "the loop". This means that you would be doing the Cabot Trial in a counterclockwise direction from Baddeck.

Research tells me it costs $25 more to leave PEI via ferry vs via bridge. We're doing a similar trip this summer; hope you have fun!

Again, thanks so much for your tips and responses. We are really looking forward to this holiday!

I don't know why everyone says that you go to Baddeck to start the Cabot Trail. The Cabot Trail is a loop, there is no starting point really. Look at a map, and logic tells you that want to travel as much coastline as you can when on Cape Breton. The best route is to arrive on the Island, turn through the round about towards Judique, Mabou, Inverness, to Margaree Forks and join the Cabot Trail there, and then loop up to Ingonish at least. If you want to continue to loop, leave Ingonish and aim for the Englishtown ferry and then to Baddeck.
The very best is to travel from the Margaree area up to Ingonish and then loop backwards and you'll find you have taken two whole different trips over the same roads.Baddeck is a touristy town so if walking through a shopping street is fun, then that's your vacation .

I certainly don't want to challenge somebody whose screen name is "cabot trail" but mine is Ocean Breeze so I guess we aren't that far apart! Cabottrail makes a good point. However, taking his/her suggested route involves a clockwise route of The Cabot Trail. I prefer the counterclockwise route. But, if you do his/her "loop back" then I guess you get to do both clockwise and counterclockwise but only to/from Ingonish if I understand "cabottrail" correctly.

Baddeck is described as "The Beginning and End of the Cabot Trail." That is probably some marketing slogan to attract people to stay in Baddeck. It obviously works. That said, Baddeck is a good "starting/ending" point.

Well...have been thinking and surfing and trying 'see' all the places and what they offer. Three days is looking really tight to see a lot, but since it's all we have, time to make the best of it!

Judique has its festival going full force. The Red Shoe Pub has entertainers both Friday and Saturday; Baddeck Gathering Ceilidhs are both nights as well... if our son says he just wants to stay in Halifax for the entire weekend, I will be very disappointed! My husband says as long has he has some good scenery he will be happy.

Now to find somewhere to rest our heads for the night...

Thanks all for the time you have taken to respond!

It's simple - Baddeck is a geographically strategic location, which you can PLAN AHEAD, and where you can be suitably situated for alternate day plans should your hoped-for drive around the Cabot Trail "loop" be FOGGED-OUT by the Nova Scotia pea soup!

If you live nearby, then fine, you can go on the trail anytime, but if you are planning a looooooooooong trip from, say, Australia (or Kentucky) and you want to 'know' you're going to have lodging, and afford yourself a bit of margin for (fog), then Baddeck is suitably situated for reasonable access to most of the hot spots in northern NS.

Most people who make it to Fodors with the idea to visit the Cabot Trail KNOW it is a loop! And few if any call Baddeck a "starting point".

Well, if you arrive in Nova Scotia from Australia (or Kentucky) and you want to drive The Cabot Trail you have to start some place! "Most people" drive to Cape Breton and don't just "hop on" the loop. Baddeck is a good starting point. But, as stated above by "cabottrail", you can start anywhere.

I think we may be confusing lyndze, the OP.

Nope. Not confused. And not from Oz OR Kentucky. Just good ol' Manitoba! Have a pretty good sense of Canadian geography, and can read a map, in km AND miles! I have checked them enough to see the loop - doesn't look to be many roads! But then again, we might be in for a surprise.

We live in a scenic area ourselves - forest, lots of lakes, rocks, moose, birds... so we don't really want a lot of inland travel. Would like the salt air, photograph the seashore.

Have decided to 'do' PEI on the weekend, and leave Nova Scotia and Cape Breton from Monday to Thursday, for just the two of us. Leaving from Moncton fairly early on Monday morning, toodling through the north of N.S. - maybe a stop at Jost Winery, Pictou, and then onto C.B. My DH thinks we shall just find a B&B, motel, whatever when we feel like stopping, so that is the plan. Hope he is right, b/c I don't want to sleep in the car!

Likely first is to go up the West Shore, not sure how far, past Mabou, Margaree perhaps? Maybe Ingonish? Then scootch east to Baddeck? To Englishtown? Don't think we will make it to Sydney, but perhaps down to Bras D'Or Lakes. Just going to wander - we usually plan extensively, but this will be an adventure!

lynzdee, Sounds like a good plan. Baddeck is on the Bras D'or Lakes.

Given your love of salt air, photography & the seashore, I think you may never leave Ingonish!!

I don't know how busy things will be during the week of Aug 16 which is when you plan to be on Cape Breton Island. It wouldn't hurt to book a few places. You can always cancel if your travels take you elsewhere.

Have a great trip!

Thanks for the help. We leave tomorrow and fly to Moncton on Wed...Ingonish, a good choice? Gotta research more. Will write a trip report when we get home....

Ingonish is the only choice!

Looking forward to your trip report! Happy Tarvels!!

With the Cabot Trail & PEI all in one trip... I'm sure it'll a trip to remember! I hope you enjoy your time in Moncton too, which I personally find charming in its own way. Wish I were going to the Maritimes!

Best wishes, Daniel