9 full days in the Maritimes.
 

This is the itinerary I have drafted for a 10 day trip. We are two travellers who are planning on renting a car and travelling independently.

Please critic this itinerary:

Day 1

Arrive Moncton airport at 11 am. Get rental car, drive to PEI. Sightsee in PEI, mainly the Anne of Green Gable sights enroute to Charlottetown.

Day 2

Charlottetown sightseeing. This will be August 3, which is a public holiday in NB and NS, which is why we would like to br in PEI since things will br open as it's not a public holiday in PEI.

Day 3

Leave PEI by ferry to Caribou, NS drive to Baddeck. Overnight in Baddeck. I' m debating if we should drive a portion on the Cabot Trail today and stay overnight elsewhere.

Dsy 4

Cabot Trail

Day 5

Conclude sightseeing in Cape Breton. Drive to Halifax in the evening.

Day 6

Halifax sightseeing

Day 7

day trip to Peggy's Cove and Lundenburg.

Day 8

Halifax - this us a Sunday, will things be open?

Day 9

Drive to Hopewell Rocks/ Bay of Fundy. Take a zodiac ride on the rivers.

Day 10

Whake watching in the Bay of Fundy.

Day 11

Drive to Moncton, sightsee in Moncton, flight departs Moncton at 7 pm.

I'm really not sure how to organize the Cape Breton Island sightseeing and where to book hotels for our overnight stays.

where should we stay overnight for the Hopewell Rocks and Bay of Fundy sightseeinhg?

we'd like to include a ride on a lobster fishing boat or a lobster fishing village. How can this be included.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

As far as the PEI part check out this thread on the island

https://www.fodors.com/community/can...d-pei-1664364/

On the way back from Cavendish make sure you check out North Rustico it is a small lobster village I posted a map of the place in the link below. As far as the ferry if it is near lunch or dinner make sure you dine at Point Prim Chowder House, great place again check out the link above for more details on the Chowder House.

Enjoy your trip.

Forgot to add on your way to Cavendish stop at Victoria by the Sea a beautiful village with small shops and beautiful views. If you take 1 to 13 north at Crapaud coming in from the bridge Victoria is 5 mins away from the intersection. It is about a 40 min ride to Cavendish from Victoria via 13. A few restaurants and a wonderful chocolate shop are in Victoria.

Re: day 3... It's a 3-hour drive from Pictou to Baddeck.

Maybe dawdle in Charlottetown and surrounds on that day 3, allowing anyone and everyone returning from a 3-day weekend to 'clog' the earlier ferries on the Tuesday morning...

Your path is 45 minutes from Charlottetown to the ferry... then 75 minutes to cross to NS ON the ferry...

(so that would be 2 hours without any waiting at all - allow for waiting )


Hmmmmmmmmmph...


There is a bit of knock-down, drag-out pace to the then-upcoming parts of your trip so maybe a window of opportunity for rest is better. (stay in Baddeck)

(what if there's a ferry delay, or if something else goes wrong surrounding transportation that isn't as "independent" as you envision?)


Alternately you could go to Inverness in place of Baddeck.

MY gut feeling is not to commence some of the actual trail itself on that day... but MAYBE position yourself in Cheticamp IF timing evolves to work out for you earlier.

IF you have designs on hiking the skyline trail, then check the weather from a day or two out, and IF weather is best later on that (hiking) day, then potentially circle the Cabot Trail counter-clockwise, arriving at the skyline trail in the afternoon, vs. the morning.

IF, however, weather is expected to be just fine throughout (Cabot Trail day), perhaps even on the 'warm' side later in the day... that's the time to stay at Cheticamp the night before, and do your skyline trail hike early-ish on the day, before then covering the rest of the Cabot Trail upon conclusion of your hike.

(*** the problem is, from Baddeck you still have your choice with regard to which direction to travel on the Cabot Trail... but once committed to Cheticamp, you've essentially gotta go clockwise)

*******************************

For Hopewell Cape... Moncton is only 40 minutes away... and I never noticed any specific spot I would have preferred to stay, that is more convenient to Hopewell Cape... (of course there ARE spots which are more convenient, but I don't sense that I'd have been happier there than in Moncton, and near to numerous amenities)


Lastly, I know Lunenburg is talked about to no end, but while it might add to some trips, I don't know that you will gain a great deal by trekking all the way down there.

Indeed it's only about 80 minutes each way, BUT IF you find better ideas nearer to a Halifax base, then maybe opt for them, with a trip to Peggy's Cove for lunch or dinner.

If this were MY trip, I think I'd opt for a day trip to Burntcoat Head State Park at low tide from Halifax (90 minutes each way) instead of Lunenburg.

(you can walk hundreds of yards out onto the ocean floor (on what is more stone than sand) at low tide... like in very few other places) (Hopewell Cape is some of that, yet different)

(Hopewell Cape has fixed visuals which assure you of just HOW underwater the spot where you're standing will BE in 6 hours, and you're otherwise walking around on a sandy beach. Burntcoat Head lets you access lots of natural areas carved by the same tides as you walk farther and farther out there, looking back at the higher land from very unique angles)

I have always felt that Hopewell Cape is more dramatic... but one who leans toward self-guided adventure could perhaps have more fun at Burntcoat Head.


Another remarkable experience was a night at the lighthouse at Cape D'or, but I sense that you'll be going at such a frenzied pace that you might not have time to slow for such an adventure.


I have answered many Maritimes threads here at Fodors so if you click on my name and look back, maybe you'll find more specifics.


Generally, I think you have a good backbone for a fine experience!