Author: jj ([email protected])<BR>Date: 12/01/2001, 04:43 pm<BR>Message: Would like help filling in parts of the following August itinery for our family with 2 kids(age 10 & 12):<BR>Day 1: Fly into Sydney. Overnight in Sydney-any hotel recomm.?<BR>Day 2: Louisbourg fortress. Then drive towards Cabot Trail and stay for 2 nights somewhere there. Should we stay in Ingonish, Cheticamp, Inverness, or Dingwall? Is a whale watching trip worthwhile-where? We have seen whales before in Hawaii.<BR>Day 5, 6, 7: Drive to & stay in Baddeck at Macneil house<BR>Day 8,9,10,11: Drive to & stay on P.E.I. at Cavendish Beach Cottages<BR>Day 12, 13, 14: Drive to New Brunswick. Where should we stay there? Thinking of near Bay of Fundy park-maybe St. Martins? or should we stay north of Moncton?<BR>Day 15: Drive back to Halifax and fly home.<BR>Thanks for any help<BR> <BR>

I am originally from Sydney and return there every year for vacation. I would recomend the Cambridge Suites in Sydney or the Delta. There aren't many good hotels there but these two are quite nice. I would definittely recommend staying in Ingonish (my personal favourite) but there are other places that are also very nice just more remote. In Ingonish I highly recommend the Ingonish Chalets!! Great price because the beach is across the street. Excellent hosts! I personally don't think the Keltic Lodge is worth the price but it is very nice and if you are looking for more luxurious accommodtions, it would probably be more to your liking. If you have any specific questions, let me know!

JJ: Used to own a summer home in Ingonish, so I agree with previous poster that it is a pretty nice place to stay on the Cabot Trail. Lots to do there: swimming, hiking, great golf, crafting, etc. I also agree that Keltic Lodge is not worth the price, but it is fun to go and have a look. We used to have breakfast there occasionally to experience the hotel. Also there is a good hike to end of peninsula that starts from there-good photo ops. Personally, I would skip New Brunswick, and use that time to visit another part of Nova Scotia- Wolfville, and environs if you want to see Bay of Fundy and its huge tides, or the South Shore, around Lunenburg for interesting World Heritage Site, and more great beaches, and shoreline.

There is a whale watching centre located at Pleasant Bay on the Trail. It is north of Cheticamp. I believe you can arrange for tours from either spot. You will probably see a lot of pod whales, seals and bird species. Not sure it will compare to Hawaii. You can also whale watch on Brier Island in Nova Scotia. Halifax also provides whale watching tours and I believe August is a good month. Last year the tours didn't even have to leave Halifax harbour to experience whales!

J.J. Forgot to discuss whale watching in my previous post. I agree with Tanya that the whale watching in N.S. probabably won't be as exciting as what you saw in Hawaii, especially if you saw Humpbacks, and, especially, if you saw them breach. The only whale watching on the East Coast that could compare, in my experience, is when the Humpbacks in Newfoundland come right up to the beach to feed on Capelin.