Fundy/Cape Breton/Halifax Help!
Jun 3rd, 2006, 02:15 PM
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Fundy/Cape Breton/Halifax Help!
Our family of 4 (kids 10 and 13) arrive in Montreal very late on July 28. On Sunday night, we take the overnight train to Moncton, arriving noon Monday. I've rented a car there. I need to end up in Halifax no later than Saturday pm (but could get there earlier to sightsee). I'd appreciate thoughts on an intinerary. We want to see Hopewell Rocks, maybe the tidal bore raft trip, the fort at Louisbourg, Cabot Trail. We like beaches, the outdoors, off the beaten path. My husband would be interested in some fishing. I have the Halifax hotel but need suggestions for lodging in the itinerary. I don't want to go crazy but can afford a splurge or two. Everything I read about in this area sounds wonderful - - help me put some order to all the ideas I have! I don't want this to be the forced march thru the Maritimes.
Jun 3rd, 2006, 02:36 PM
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In the "Search this Forum" box above, type in "Nova Scotia Itinerary". Click on "Nova Scotia" to the right. This will get you started.
You shd also order the NS Travel Guide entitled "Doers' and Dreamers'"
www.novascotia.com
You shd also order the NS Travel Guide entitled "Doers' and Dreamers'"
www.novascotia.com
Jun 3rd, 2006, 02:45 PM
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I've done both those things - that's why I have way too much info and not enough sense of how long it takes to get places, relative interest of things. Lucky for me, the link for snorkelling with the salmon was broken -- that would have been something my husband would have signed up for!
Jun 3rd, 2006, 07:11 PM
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So, you are in Montreal for 2 nights, July 28 & July 20. You take the train from Montreal on July 30 & arrive in Moncton on July 31. SO, you only have 4 days ( Aug 1,2,3,4) to do your "march through the Matirimes" b/f ending up in Halifax on Saturday Aug 5. Is that right? Then what? When do you leave Halifax?
If this is right, you really do not have a lot of time to do much of anything. Maybe Moncton to Cape Breton for & couple of days & then back to Halifax. This is a lot of driving. You are definitely not going to see "the Maritimes" during this very short time frame!
If this is right, you really do not have a lot of time to do much of anything. Maybe Moncton to Cape Breton for & couple of days & then back to Halifax. This is a lot of driving. You are definitely not going to see "the Maritimes" during this very short time frame!
Jun 5th, 2006, 03:24 PM
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OK, beginning at noon in Moncton
first go to this tide table and print out the tides for Hopewell Cape and, oh, maybe Truro, NS during the entire window when you'll be around:
http://www.lau.chs-shc.gc.ca/cgi-bin...amp;stnnum=170
Of course the timing STINKS for your arrival. HIGH TIDE at Hopewell Cape is at 5:00pm that day and not until Tuesday at noon can you view extreme low tide at Hopewell Cape.
If you're going only once, you want to go at LOW Tide.
Nowthen, you arrive in Moncton at noon, presumably get a car very soon after that, and per the schedule at
http://www.gomoncton.com/ENSite/Visi...eSchedule.html
... you would do well to have the troops poised and ready (perhaps at "Tidal Bore Park"
on the banks of the river that goes through Moncton, at 3:00pm LOCAL TIME.
I say that you find something to do in the evening (geez, you could drive in a circle taking you through Fundy National Park and back past the Hopewell Cape in the evening, to be viewed at high tide)
Take pictures of everyone in front of the water at high tide, and then, hopefully the next day, you'll return at about noon to see extreme low tide, and go out on the ocean floor then.
At least that gives a sense of your first moves.
So, you climb back up the stairway from the Flower Pot Rocks, and then set-off on the rest of your journey. It is Tuesday afternoon by now....
So it's back through Moncton, highway #2 through Sackville, Amherst, Springhill... and I vote DOWN to Parrsboro and along the bay shore to Truro - that drive is so pleasant, and I like to stop in a country store along the way.
At Truro, because you need to make tracks, you should head northeast toward Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail.
Find a strategic spot to spend that Tuesday night... and have yourselves at the ready to tackle the Cabot Trail on Wednesday. Let moods, scenery and potential FOG dictate how much time you take on this journey. It doesn't matter which you do first, Louisbourg or the Cabot Trail, and in fact it might be good to have a second overnight up there, and juggle Cabot Trail and Louisbourg based on weather. If weather is grand, take the Cabot Trail, etc.
So you get up on Thursday morning and do whichever of those is left... then you head down south.
Pressed for time you should probably take the fast road toward Truro.
Again, check the timing of the tides, and if the tide is near low, once you get to Truro it MIGHT be of some interest to walk the ocean floor at any accessible spot on the south shore of the Bay.
Not sure what timing will be, but I like the idea of driving toward Wolfville and then to Scots Bay... and a healthy 5-hour round-trip hike out to the end of "Cape Split".
Perhaps more sensibly, upon arrival at Truro on Thursday, you should already head into Halifax for lodging on Thursday night.
Friday you could go for lunch or dinner at Peggy's Cove... (eat at the place by the lighthouse there) That area is fun whether it is sunny and gorgeous or rainy and gloomy.
Halifax alone could entertain you all on Friday evening and for much of Saturday.
(might try the passenger ferry (round-trip) from Halifax to Dartmouth. At any rate the Halifax waterfront is fun.
About Hopewell Cape... if you aren't interested in sticking around until noon on Tuesday to see it at LOW TIDE, you could probably just skip the whole thing altogether and press on for more time in Nova Scotia.
At any rate, you're going to be going at a good clip for most of the time you have in the maritimes.
first go to this tide table and print out the tides for Hopewell Cape and, oh, maybe Truro, NS during the entire window when you'll be around:
http://www.lau.chs-shc.gc.ca/cgi-bin...amp;stnnum=170
Of course the timing STINKS for your arrival. HIGH TIDE at Hopewell Cape is at 5:00pm that day and not until Tuesday at noon can you view extreme low tide at Hopewell Cape.
If you're going only once, you want to go at LOW Tide.
Nowthen, you arrive in Moncton at noon, presumably get a car very soon after that, and per the schedule at
http://www.gomoncton.com/ENSite/Visi...eSchedule.html
... you would do well to have the troops poised and ready (perhaps at "Tidal Bore Park"
on the banks of the river that goes through Moncton, at 3:00pm LOCAL TIME.I say that you find something to do in the evening (geez, you could drive in a circle taking you through Fundy National Park and back past the Hopewell Cape in the evening, to be viewed at high tide)
Take pictures of everyone in front of the water at high tide, and then, hopefully the next day, you'll return at about noon to see extreme low tide, and go out on the ocean floor then.
At least that gives a sense of your first moves.
So, you climb back up the stairway from the Flower Pot Rocks, and then set-off on the rest of your journey. It is Tuesday afternoon by now....
So it's back through Moncton, highway #2 through Sackville, Amherst, Springhill... and I vote DOWN to Parrsboro and along the bay shore to Truro - that drive is so pleasant, and I like to stop in a country store along the way.
At Truro, because you need to make tracks, you should head northeast toward Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail.
Find a strategic spot to spend that Tuesday night... and have yourselves at the ready to tackle the Cabot Trail on Wednesday. Let moods, scenery and potential FOG dictate how much time you take on this journey. It doesn't matter which you do first, Louisbourg or the Cabot Trail, and in fact it might be good to have a second overnight up there, and juggle Cabot Trail and Louisbourg based on weather. If weather is grand, take the Cabot Trail, etc.
So you get up on Thursday morning and do whichever of those is left... then you head down south.
Pressed for time you should probably take the fast road toward Truro.
Again, check the timing of the tides, and if the tide is near low, once you get to Truro it MIGHT be of some interest to walk the ocean floor at any accessible spot on the south shore of the Bay.
Not sure what timing will be, but I like the idea of driving toward Wolfville and then to Scots Bay... and a healthy 5-hour round-trip hike out to the end of "Cape Split".
Perhaps more sensibly, upon arrival at Truro on Thursday, you should already head into Halifax for lodging on Thursday night.
Friday you could go for lunch or dinner at Peggy's Cove... (eat at the place by the lighthouse there) That area is fun whether it is sunny and gorgeous or rainy and gloomy.
Halifax alone could entertain you all on Friday evening and for much of Saturday.
(might try the passenger ferry (round-trip) from Halifax to Dartmouth. At any rate the Halifax waterfront is fun.
About Hopewell Cape... if you aren't interested in sticking around until noon on Tuesday to see it at LOW TIDE, you could probably just skip the whole thing altogether and press on for more time in Nova Scotia.
At any rate, you're going to be going at a good clip for most of the time you have in the maritimes.
