I’ve done lots of travelling in other parts of the world, but for some reason, I’m having a tough time planning our trip east! Perhaps some of the problem is that we’ve never taken a ‘road trip’ – we usually fly somewhere and go from there. This time we definitely want to drive, but we don’t want to spend all of our time in the car. <BR><BR>We will have 2 weeks and plan to leave Toronto on the Labour Day weekend. We’ve both been to Quebec City a few times before (although not for several years) and I’m in Montreal frequently on business, so I would prefer to stop somewhere else our first night, maybe even our first 2 nights. Maybe someplace near Quebec City? <BR><BR>We then come to New Brunswick – a province that I don’t know much about. I've been poring over guidebooks, but still don't have a clear idea of where to go. Would we be able to drive from Quebec City to Moncton? I’m thinking Moncton because it doesn’t look that far from there to the bridge to PEI. But if anyone has better ideas, please let me know. I’m thinking just a couple of nights on PEI. I’m sure it’s lovely, but if the itinerary looks tight, we could take a pass on it. Maybe pass on PEI and spend some time along the coast of New Brunswick?<BR><BR>We then would head over to Nova Scotia. I thought we might spend 1 night (or possibly 2) in Halifax, then move on to Lunenburg for a couple of nights. Annapolis Royal sounds beautiful as well, so maybe 2 nights there. I don’t think we’d able to do justice to Cape Breton, so we’ll leave that for another trip. <BR><BR>Heading back, I thought we would take the ferry to St. John and maybe spend a couple of nights in the St. Andrews area, before heading back to Toronto. It would be nice if we could take a different route back if that's possible. <BR><BR>The more I think about the trip, the more concerned I am that we'll be on the road a lot. Neither of us like to be on the go all the time. If we left PEI for another trip, that would give us a little more time in New Brunswick.<BR><BR>We plan to book our accommodation in advance for the first 2 nights (especially since it's the long weekend). Other than that, is it necessary to book in advance? <BR><BR>Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Susan: Two weeks for a Maritime holiday is tight, so you definitely have choices to make.<BR>An overnight stop past Quebec City; how about any of the villages along the South Shore of the St. Lawrence. I grew up in Montreal, and spent my childhood summers in a village called Kamouraska. I see it made last year's Harrowsmith's list of 10 great towns to live in. It is very French, and has a beautiful location on the tidal portion of the St. Lawrence looking across to La Malbaie, and the mountains behind. <BR>I guess if I had to choose between PEI, and N.B. as where to spend more of my holiday, I would pick PEI every time. I lived ten years in Nova Scotia, and travelled extensively through the region. Fredericton, and St. Andrews are good stops in N.B., but I would try to maximize my time across the Northumberland Strait. There is something about that province that makes for a great holiday; the North Shore beaches, the golf, the lobster suppers, the hiking and biking along the Centennial Trail........ <BR>Lunenburg is another great destination, and a trip through the Annapolis Valley at the peak of fruit harvesting season is also a good idea. If you are looking for an alternate route back, take the ferry across to Maine, and go back that way.

PEI is lovely; rolling green hills, red clay cliffs, beautiful beaches, bicycling over scenic bridges past farms and cows.... but it's almost too relaxing for my taste. Two weeks here was too long for my family.<BR>We prefered the diversity of Nova Scotia; Wolfville - the wonderful theatre, b&bs, drives, restaurants and tides, hiking and hunting for fossils in Parrsboro, and Cape Breton were highlights. Lunenburg is very picturesque, but surprisingly repressed. Definitely worth a stop, but there's not much to do in this area after srolling through the lovely downtown and museum. <BR>Atlantic Canada is great - you can't go too wrong, whatever you decide! Have fun!

Susan,<BR>We did this road trip last summer. Did it the opposite way than you are planning: left Ottawa, went through Maine, took the ferry from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia, toured around Nova Scotia, ended up in Halifax, went to Sydney (which I wouldnt bother doing)and then over to the Cabot Trail, then on to PEI then back home through NB, to Quebec, ferry across the St Lawrence, (counter clockwise in a sense)and stayed for 5 nights (was only supposed to be 2 but we loved it and extended our holiday) at the Fairmont Manoir Richelieu.<BR>We spent no time in NB other than driving through and one overnight, all other time was in PEI and Nova Scotia. <BR><BR>I must say, I wouldnt miss the Cabot Trail. It is truly breathtaking. If you dont want to stop and spend time there, even just the drive up and around and back down is well worth the scenery. Halifax was very nice, spent 3 nights there. Drove through Annapolis Royal, had originally thought we would spend a few days there and just ended up moving through. It was a cruising holiday, made no advance reservations; were fairly flexible in where we stayed. Some nights were fancy, some nights were just a motel room type by a river. It is definitely a driving type vacation, and you have to want to do that. Husband and I enjoy those types of trips though, just get in the car and go.Really enjoyed the trip, all in all we were gone 3 weeks but that included our extended 5 day stay in La Malbaie area. <BR><BR>The one night we did get caught without a hotel room was a little town where we were to take the ferry the next morning across to PEI, cant think of the name of it now, but not a room to be had for 60 miles. Wound up sleeping in a cops house (long story) but just the kind of people they are, they felt sorry for us! Other than that night, we were ok. We really had no itinerary planned, just wanted to see the east coast. <BR>Dont know if any of this helps! Have a good trip!

Susan, just realized you are leaving Labour Day weekend, definitely make reservations for your first few nights, but after that should be clear sailing. We went the last three weeks in August last year and some areas were quieting down already, kids getting ready to go back to school etc, I presume. You should be just fine I would think travelling in September. In Halifax, I think we actually spent 4 nights there possibly, we stayed at the Sheraton I believe, hotel on the waterfront attached to the casino I think. First room, just ok, second room, jacuzzi suite, very lovely, nice for a change in the middle of the trip. Whenever you arrive in one of the provinces, go straight to the tourist bureau, always easy to find, and get some brochures on the area hotels. Should be easy to stay where you please at that time of the year. The other "nicer" hotel we stayed in was Rod ?????, Crowbush, in PEI, new hotel, very nice rooms, secluded beach, golf course, but out in the middle of nowhere. Not much happening there but another nice "resting spot". It was our stopover point in PEI. From there we drove around the island and came back to Charlottetown, and then went back and took the Confederation Bridge across. I found travelling in the Maritimes interesting, in the fact that places we thought we would want to spend a few days we ended up strolling around, having lunch and then moving on. Places I didnt expect to want to stay in, Halifax, for example, we liked a lot and stayed. I think it just depends what you want to do and are in the mood for.

Wow, thanks to everyone for the great replies! I'm really quite excited about this trip - having spent my childhood out west and with family still living there, we've never been east of Quebec City. One of my sisters lived in Sydney for a couple of years (married to someone in the military) - I kick myself that we never visited then! The more I read about the area, the more I confused I was getting - there just looks like so much to see and when we factored in the driving, it seems like a lot of travelling. Thanks for all your ideas.