Help with 2 week itinerary
Jan 8th, 2004, 07:15 PM
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Help with 2 week itinerary
We have about 15 days from June 26 to July 11th, We also have free airfare. We plan to fly into Halifax, and I don't have a clue as to how to break it up after that. Last year I spent a year planning our Alaska land trip and to tell you the truth, I don't have the drive to do that again. We would be traveling with our 2 kids ages 10 and 12 who are great travelers. Can anyone outline a general intinerary that will start and end in Halifax to make my life a little easier. A general outline would do. thanks.
Jan 9th, 2004, 12:37 AM
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Hi Rubigale,
Have also posted this reply on the US forum as I read that one first!
We did a two week trip of Nova Scotia in 2002, first of all do send for the 'Doers & Dreamers guide from the tourist board, its packed with info. and is free.
http://explore.gov.ns.ca/
We had three days in Halifax, theres loads to do including the maritime museum and the citidel, think both would be of interest to your children. From here we broke the journey to Cape Breton with one night at Sherbrooke to see the village a wonderful living history museum. We had four nights on cape breton staying at Baddeck, again loads to do, the Cabot Trail, boat trips & Louisbourg to mention a few. The only really long journey was from here to Halls Harbour on the Bay of Fundy, we liked it here for the quietness and scenery, so you might think it not suitable for your children though we did visit The Grand Pre and Annapolis Royal from here. We then drove to the south coast and stayed three nights in historic Lunenburg, plenty to do & see here also,I am sure your kids would enjoy the lobstermen boat trip if its still running. From here it was back to Halifax visiting Peggys Cove on the way. We prebooked all our accomodation and stayed in B&B's, the BBCanada web site is brilliant. Also you will be in Halifax when the International Tattoo is on, we did not go when we were there but it is supposed to be really good. If I can help any more, just ask, its a brilliant place and I certainly want to go back sometime.
Have also posted this reply on the US forum as I read that one first!
We did a two week trip of Nova Scotia in 2002, first of all do send for the 'Doers & Dreamers guide from the tourist board, its packed with info. and is free.
http://explore.gov.ns.ca/
We had three days in Halifax, theres loads to do including the maritime museum and the citidel, think both would be of interest to your children. From here we broke the journey to Cape Breton with one night at Sherbrooke to see the village a wonderful living history museum. We had four nights on cape breton staying at Baddeck, again loads to do, the Cabot Trail, boat trips & Louisbourg to mention a few. The only really long journey was from here to Halls Harbour on the Bay of Fundy, we liked it here for the quietness and scenery, so you might think it not suitable for your children though we did visit The Grand Pre and Annapolis Royal from here. We then drove to the south coast and stayed three nights in historic Lunenburg, plenty to do & see here also,I am sure your kids would enjoy the lobstermen boat trip if its still running. From here it was back to Halifax visiting Peggys Cove on the way. We prebooked all our accomodation and stayed in B&B's, the BBCanada web site is brilliant. Also you will be in Halifax when the International Tattoo is on, we did not go when we were there but it is supposed to be really good. If I can help any more, just ask, its a brilliant place and I certainly want to go back sometime.
Jan 9th, 2004, 06:54 AM
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Jan 9th, 2004, 12:27 PM
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Free airfare? Great price! We returned from the Maritimes last summer. Definitely obtain the "Doers and Dreamers" guide -very informative. Also, consider Frommers' book on the Maritimes. which we used extensively. We live in PA and drove up and back in 17 days and had enough time not to be too rushed, which most vacations end up being. I have two boys, ages 13 and 9, so we geared some activities to them, which is only fair.
We all enjoyed the Maritimes very much. NS is large and lots to do. In Halifax, be sure to get advance tickets for the "Frog tour." I forget the name of the 2 companies but they have these amphibious craft that is driven on the streets and are then driven into the harbor for a tour from waterside. The kids really had a blast. Pier 29 (I think that's the number, or perhaps it's 23), is Canada's version of Ellis Island. There's a very nice and interesting immigration-related museum there with lots of hand's on exhibits.
You can do the Cape Breton highlands tour in 3 days easily, and we stayed in Baddeck. Pretty little town well situated to tour the highlands and return in the evenings. Take in the lobster dinners there or elsewhere, at least once.
Other activities include puffin bird boat tours, the Miners Museum in GlaceBay run by retired coal miners - way cool. You go down a shaft. My kids liked it.
If you like canoeing, Kejimkujik National Park due east of Halifax is a great park. Lots of still waterways for canoeing, and bike rentals avalable, too. Even in mid-summer the park wasn't crowded at all, and it's a gem of a park. If you decide to go to Keji, there's a small family-owned cabin rentals about 3 km up the road, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Let me know and I'll send you more info on it.
Actually, my advice is to leave NS for a few days and take in Prince Edward Island. Lots and lots of established biking trails, mostly flat, and very pretty countryside. If you read Ann of Green Gables (AGG) as a child, there's that. Also, for the kids, there's 2 large water parks just up the road from AGG. I think we paid about C40. for the four of us for the entire day - entry price gets you into everything. The kids did 3 or 4 large water slides for hours and had a blast! If you want to see the effects of the Bay of Fundy tides, driving over the Confederacion Bridge to Hopewell Rocks, NB, will be a good bet. You can then drive back over the bridge to PEI and take the ferry back to NS, or take a ferry directly to Digby, NS. By the way, the best whale watching excursions are in the Bay of Fundy. Down Digby Neck are a few of the tour companies. Seems that the Bay is like a smorgasboard for the critters and there are more of a variety in the Bay than in the open ocean. We took a whale watching excursion from one of the companies located all the way down at the bottom of Digby Neck. The drive is about 1.5 hours and includes to short and tiny auto ferries, which the kids enjoyed. We stayed in a motel there (again, let me know if you want more info).
Hope you have a wonderful time in the Maritimes. walt
We all enjoyed the Maritimes very much. NS is large and lots to do. In Halifax, be sure to get advance tickets for the "Frog tour." I forget the name of the 2 companies but they have these amphibious craft that is driven on the streets and are then driven into the harbor for a tour from waterside. The kids really had a blast. Pier 29 (I think that's the number, or perhaps it's 23), is Canada's version of Ellis Island. There's a very nice and interesting immigration-related museum there with lots of hand's on exhibits.
You can do the Cape Breton highlands tour in 3 days easily, and we stayed in Baddeck. Pretty little town well situated to tour the highlands and return in the evenings. Take in the lobster dinners there or elsewhere, at least once.
Other activities include puffin bird boat tours, the Miners Museum in GlaceBay run by retired coal miners - way cool. You go down a shaft. My kids liked it.
If you like canoeing, Kejimkujik National Park due east of Halifax is a great park. Lots of still waterways for canoeing, and bike rentals avalable, too. Even in mid-summer the park wasn't crowded at all, and it's a gem of a park. If you decide to go to Keji, there's a small family-owned cabin rentals about 3 km up the road, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Let me know and I'll send you more info on it.
Actually, my advice is to leave NS for a few days and take in Prince Edward Island. Lots and lots of established biking trails, mostly flat, and very pretty countryside. If you read Ann of Green Gables (AGG) as a child, there's that. Also, for the kids, there's 2 large water parks just up the road from AGG. I think we paid about C40. for the four of us for the entire day - entry price gets you into everything. The kids did 3 or 4 large water slides for hours and had a blast! If you want to see the effects of the Bay of Fundy tides, driving over the Confederacion Bridge to Hopewell Rocks, NB, will be a good bet. You can then drive back over the bridge to PEI and take the ferry back to NS, or take a ferry directly to Digby, NS. By the way, the best whale watching excursions are in the Bay of Fundy. Down Digby Neck are a few of the tour companies. Seems that the Bay is like a smorgasboard for the critters and there are more of a variety in the Bay than in the open ocean. We took a whale watching excursion from one of the companies located all the way down at the bottom of Digby Neck. The drive is about 1.5 hours and includes to short and tiny auto ferries, which the kids enjoyed. We stayed in a motel there (again, let me know if you want more info).
Hope you have a wonderful time in the Maritimes. walt
Jan 16th, 2004, 09:44 AM
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I just had to respond to this - we were in Maritimes for 3 wks in Sept and loved it! Highlights - Baddeck - we stayed at McIntyre's Cabin and highly recommend it. Go to see Alexander Graham Bell museum - unbelievable. At Mabou, we went to a wonderful little church with a life-size statue of Christ, is open all the time. We went whale watching with Fiddling for Whales atPleasant Bay and it was wonderful, in fact one of the highlights of our trip. PEI is a great little place - Singing Sands would be a wonderful beach to take your kids to (in my estimation, way better than the commercialized Anne of Green Gables). HOpe this helps.
Jan 24th, 2004, 09:18 PM
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I went last summer with my 10-year-old daughter and had an absolutely wonderful time. In addition to the above suggestions, have your children participate in the Children's Day at Highland Village in Iona, Cape Breton Island. (I believe it's on Wednesdays in the summer.) They dress the childen up as Scottish lads and lassies and in a period of about 6 hours take them through several centuries of authentic Scottish living. The kids milk cows, do lessons on slate in a one-room schoolhouse, eat Bannock and other authentic Scotish food, learn Gaelic, and do many other things -- all for about $30. If you have a daughter, the Anne of Green Gables house on Prince Edward Island is wonderful, as is Avonlea Village (a quaint Anne of Green Gables sort of Disneyland). Also take in the wonderful Anne of Green Gables musical in Charlottetown -- extremely well done.
Jan 24th, 2004, 09:22 PM
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Here's the web address for Highland Village. Click on events for info on the children's program:
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/hv/programs/events.html
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/hv/programs/events.html
