East Canada in 10 days...suggestions needed
 

My friend and I are both 25 year old females planning a 10 day trip in July to Canada. We will be starting the trip (and renting a car) in Montreal, eventually ending in Nova Scotia and flying out of Bangor, Maine. We are travelers on a budget so hostel ideas are much appreciated. Additionally, we are more of the sea kayaking adventurer type as opposed to the museum/history type. I have done quite a bit of traveling through Europe and like to go at a pretty quick pace so spending more than 2 days in one city is pretty rare. I welcome the big city tourist places as much as the "off the beaten path" places.

I am just beginning my research on where to go and what to do. All suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

~Linzy

Montreal, two days without a car.

Rent car on third morning, drive to Quebec City. Stay there third night.

Fourth day drive to coast of New Brunswick, near Cambelton, Dalhousie. Fourth night there.

Fifth day along the coast, visit parks, find kayaking, etc. Fifth night in Moncton.

Sixth day to Hopewell Rocks, near Moncton,more kayaking around the rocks, sixth night on Moncton or Sackville or Ameherst.


sevenh day to Halifax, including some time north of Halifax long the coast.

Eighth day in Halifax, including drive south to Peggy's Cove and Chester.

PROBLEM ONE-- You now can take a ferry back to New Brunswick, or you retrace your steps back through Amherst and along the New Brunswick shore of the Bay of Fundy through St. John. Pretty long drive

PROBLEM TWO -- You'll probablyu need to get rid of the car in Canada, and take a highway bus to Bangor, in order to avoid high international drop off charges.

Fly home

If it is possible to drop the car off in Maine, you can take a couple of frerry boats from NB to MAine that are fun to ride on, although this is a bit out of your way.

All in all, you will cov er a lot of territory, and still miss Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton.

Hope this helps as a starting point for your planning.

I am not sure that you will be able to rent a car in Canada and leave it in the US. These queries come up from time to time and I have never heard of anyone being successful in finding a way to do this, because of the laws about importing a vehicle from one country to the other. So you might want to start by checking with a few car rental companies to check on this. Also, be aware that a one-way rental may have a hefty drop charge, as the rental company has to get the car back to its point of origin somehow. However, if you choose two points that are popular, with a lot of traffic back and forth between them, it may not cost too much, or sometimes there is no charge at all.

After you leave Montreal and head to the Maritimes, there are no more "big cities". All the cities in the Maritimes are small. I think you may have a hard time finding hostels, except for in some of the larger centres, such as Halifax, Fredericton, Moncton, maybe Charlottetown. Check out the Hostelling International website for listings of their hostels. I am not sure if there are any SameSun or other backpacker hostels - try google. I think I read somewhere that there is a surfer's hostel in Lawrencetown, NS.

There is a very good hostel in Mahone Bay/Lunenburg area for the Nova Scotia end of your stay. Its called the Kip and Kaboodle and has a New Zealand connection, I think.
www.kiwikaboodle.com

By checking out the hostel association you should be able to find a place or two beyond the cities, but it will be abit of a challenge. The bus routes from the towns mentioned above aren't bad at all if you plan ahead and you will need to do that for the hostels as well as July is the highest of high seasons for east coast hosteling.

Linzy, you really should include Cape Breton's Cabot Trail in your trip. At the top of Cape Breton island you'll find good sea kayaking, both self-guided and guided. You'll also find cycle rentals, guided and self-guided hiking, and awesome whale watching.

This area is really rugged and pristine, and with its moose, eagles, whales and mountain/ocean scenery, it sounds like a spot you guys shouldn't miss.

There's a good site at northerncapebreton.com

Good luck

I agree that Cape Breton, and the Cabot Trail area in particular, would be great for you. And on the mainland in the Shubenacadie area there are a few spots where you can go tidal bore rafting. Great fun - I went rafting there last summer.

Here's a link to one of the rafting spots:

http://www.raftingcanada.ca/index.php

Oh, and on the way to the Cabot Trail, try this hostel in Mabou, a small but charming village along the Ceilidh Trail. Lots of activities for you in the area - great hiking trails in particular. Check the attractions link for info.

http://mabouriverinn.com/