My husband and I are planning a Nova Scotia fall trip as a Christmas present to our parents. That's why we are doing our research for next year as early. We will only have two choices of timing our trip: Going October 3 until 15 or going October 14 until 26. We are trying to hit the peak of fall foliage. What would you suggest, when should we go???

Karen, I live in Halifax and have been watching the leaves over the last couple of weeks. The peak period seems to vary a bit around the province, but I think if I were in your position I'd choose the 3rd to the 15th of October.

In addition to the leaves, the weather in early October is still quite mild (long sleeves and sometimes a sweater during the day, certainly a sweater or jacket at night) and there is an interesting quality to the light.

It sounds like a great present for your parents.

Anselm

Hi,Karen! What a wonderful daughter you are! Definitely go Oct 3-15. We were in NS this past weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving. It was beautiful. Upon landing in Halifax you cld see the hills ablaze in that strong, deep crimson that I have come to associate w/ NS over the years. I have never seen that "deep red" on the Maples anywhere else! Not even "Up North" in Ontario! The past couple of years it has been unseasonably warm in NS over Thanksgiving weekend so your parents will have a wonderful time. Last year temps soared to the mid- eighties in Cape Breton. This year they hovered around 70-72 degrees. Very pleasant.
As an aside, remember that airfare to NS is very steep, relatively speaking. We can fly to Florida from Ontario for a lot less than it costs to fly to NS. I made the mistake of booking our flights too late this year(the first week in Sept). So... book your flights as early as possible! And, your rental car too! (if you need one)
Post back here if you have any other questions!
Have fun planning this trip! Do you have the NS Dept of Tourism "Doers' & Dreamers' Guide"? It's excellent!

Hello wow and AnselmAdorne, thank you for your helpful input. This year fall colours seem to have come a little arlier than last year. My husband and I have been in Nova Scotia the first two weeks of October last year and missed the peak of colours, everything was still green. As we will now take our parents we want everything to be perfect. Yes, I know it always depends on the weather...
Thank you for the input on flights. In fact we are from Germany coming to Nova Scotia at least once a year sometimes twice. The airfares are killing us but what can we do....We love Nova Scotia!!!

Karen, yes, it certainly varies from year to year. I was out for a bit this morning and noticed that while there are still some trees that are green, the overall impression is orange and red. It's windy today, too, and a lot of leaves are already falling.

I'm glad you like Nova Scotia. It's ironic ... we live here and love to visit France!

Anselm