Hi Everyone,

I would appreciate any feedback on my proposed itinerary below. I also have some specific questions at the bottom of this post.

I am driving up from Boston with my wife and two kids, age 8 and 6. They are both good travelers, but I am still trying to limit the amount of driving time per day. I have already done a fair amount of research, but am always interested in hearing any suggestions of activities, especially for young kids.

We will be traveling late June/early July. The main focus of the trip is Cape Breton, which we have never been to before. We also have friends in Halifax that we will visit.

Day 1 - Drive from Boston to Moncton - our longest driving day.
Day 2 - Hopewell Rocks in the AM, then drive to PEI. Haven't decided where to stay on PEI yet.
Day 3 - Explore PEI
Day 4 - Travel from PEI to Cape Breton. Days 5-7 - Explore Cape Breton. Please see my questions about this below.
Day 8 - Travel from Cape Breton to Halifax.
Days 9-10 Halifax. We will be with friends, so I need no suggestions here. We visited them 4 years ago and I just loved Halifax.
Day 11 - Travel to St. Andrews, NB (with a stop at the chocolate museum in St. Stephen).
Day 12 Travel home

Specific Questions

On the journey from PEI to Cape Breton, I am debating about whether to drive back over the bridge or take the ferry. The ferry is obviously more expensive, but allows the kids to run around on the ferry, which is always fun for them. I’m not sure how much actual time it would save us. If we do drive, I think we would we will likely drive along Rt. 6 and explore the towns on the northern coastline of NS between Amherst and New Glasgow (Feedback appreciated on whether it is worth it to do this).

I am trying to decide how to organize our time on Cape Breton, including where to stay. We have 4 nights and 3 full days, plus some time on the days we arrive and leave. The things we know we will want to do: a day visiting Louisbourg, a day driving through the national park, and a day to go whale watching. If there is time, I would like to visit the Highland Village in Iona, perhaps on the day we head for Halifax. We are also very interested in spending an evening going to a Ceilidh or other music performance.

Regarding where to stay, one possibility is to just stay for all 4 nights in Baddeck, which some guidebooks recommend, since it is centrally located. On the other hand, I am considering spending the first night or two along the western coast, around Mabou or Margaree. The advantage of that approach is that it puts you closer to the park for the day when we drive through the park. The disadvantage is that it kind of commits you to a specific day for driving through the park, and I have been told it is not worth the drive if it is foggy.

If we start in Baddeck, how much actual driving time does it take to make a loop through the park and end back where we started? We love to hike, so I want to have enough time to stop a few times for hikes. Therefore, we don’t want the driving time to be too much.

Regarding a whale watch, I see there are some companies in Pleasant Bay, but there is also a company in Igonish. Any recommendations? The company in Igonish has a sailboat, which appeals to me immensely, but are there better sightings on the west side of the cape?

Finally, any recommendation on where to eat and stay are appreciated. We are budget travelers, especially for a vacation of this many days. I love to stay in bed and breakfasts, but with young kids, it is often not appropriate, especially if the room is small (we want to stay in a single room, but we bring air mattresses for the kids, so only one actual bed is needed, plus a reasonable amount of floor space).

Thanks for reading this lengthy post. I look forward to reading the responses.

Hi,

How much more does the Ferry cost than the bridge? (when I was last there, it was $37.00 to drive across the bridge - payable only when leaving PEI)

If you were talking about a 'nominal fee' or no fee for the drive back, maybe it would be a consideration, but don't let COSTS deter you from the ferry given the alternative.

I did the route #6 path... and it was a gloomy, rainy trip... I remember stopping in the cute little wide spot in the road at Pugwash. Yet I don't recall having chanced upon anything that a wife or kids would find memorable. I was excited beCAUSE it was "NS", and for little other reason along that path.

With regard to lodging strategy on Cape Breton, I can't emphasize enough the benefit to being centrally located with ALTERNATIVES in mind depending upon the weather. DO NOT put your (wife) in the situation where there is ONE day allocated for the Cabot Trail and then risk it coming up foggy. (I've driven it in the complete fog, and a HIGHlight was talking to a construction flagger while awaiting my turn on a one-lane road)

If that sounds like fun - take your chances!!!

From Baddeck you can do the loop fairly comfortably in a day.

If inclined to take a shot on a night elsewhere up north, do the 3 nights at Baddeck FIRST, making sure you got what you wanted from the scenery, and then schedule the odd night elsewhere.

RE driving time Cabot Trail:

According to MSN maps... 180 miles in just over 4 hours of actual driving time (doubt that lets you talk to the road-flagger person) for the round trip from Baddeck.

All I can say is... you schedule your 3-days in Baddeck, and you GO ON THE TRAIL if the skies are clear on the first full day!

Re: Hopewell Cape... don't know if you have the tide table link yet, but here it is JUUUUUUST in case:

http://www.lau.chs-shc.gc.ca/cgi-bin...=5&zone=30

You'll want to time your trip to Hopewell Cape to coincide with LOW tide (shoot for, say, maybe a two-hour window centered on the lowest moment). Translation: stay for as short a time as you want, but attempt to arrive within an hour either way of lowest tide.

Dunno whyyyyyyyyyy I add this, but when going from Cape B. down south to Halifax... don't tease yourself into Rt. #16 or Rt. #7 to the east coast of NS unLESS you have LOTS of time to kill. It's a neat idea, and there are some quaint towns (and one spot where the only way through is a ferry that travels about two blocks worth, leaving every hour), but you'll be sorry if you have to get anywhere very fast!

I hope this helps in some way.

Overall it is a good plan except for one thing which I will deal with in a moment.

However, as you are a 'newbie' on this forum, may I offer a couple of helpful hints? I am going to suggest that for your specfic questions about, for example, accomodation on Cape Breton, you may want to check the 'search' feature first. There is a lot of info already collected and you can benefit from those who have already gone there, maybe even with kids.

I am not able to answer all your questions. You would be wise to break them up for experts on specific areas.

Now, as to that problem area: I think you are trying to do too much. The idea of going to PEI, basically just for the day, is exhausting just to think about. With kids, WOW! If you skip that province you have an extra day and a half and that will make your plans easier.

You can check out B&B's in two good sources: The Doers and Dreamers Guide which can be obtained through the Nova Scotia Tourism Webiste (see Search) and BBCanada.com which has an exhaustive list for the area. Maybe if you see a couple you like you can ask about them here?

I hope you and your family enjoy this part of the world.

You sound well prepared. I'll leave the Cape Breton leg to others. For info on the Wood islands-Caribou ferry, check this site: http://www.peiferry.com/fares/ Yes, it's more expensive, but it may save some driving (depending on what area of the Island you are visiting) and may work out the same when you factor in the cost of gas. The ferry ride is normally quite pleasant, esp for the kids. After you disembark, I recommend a stroll along the waterfront in Pictou. A replica of the Hector, the ship that brought early Scottish settlers, is anchored there. It's an attractive setting. You may be in a hurry to get to Cape Breton, but if you have the time, the drive along Hwy 245 will take you around Cape George, quite a bit more scenic than the shorter, direct route to Antigonish.
Now should you take the Confed. Bridge back to NB, no need to go all the way to Amherst. Turn left outside Port Elgin, heading to Tidnish Bridge. Then turn left on 366. The route hugs the shore and joins Hwy 6 (The Sunrise Trail) . You can follow that as far as Pictou. There are some nice stretches around Pugwash, Tatamagouche, and Toney River, with good views of the Strait.
Of course, the Trans-Canada Hwy will take you to Cape Breton much faster, but you won't find it as scenic. Whatever your decisions, hope you have a great trip.

Geebe14,

Thanks for the info on the ferry. Can you tell me the typical time for the crossing. I couldn't find that info on the ferry web site. By looking at when the ferries leave each side, it seems like it is between 1 and 1 1/2 hours, but that assumes they have only two ferry boats. As to the cost, with the recent fuel surcharge and passenger fares, it looks to be over $100, whereas it is only $42 to cross the bridge. Clearly that is more than the extra gas to drive. However, I must say I am tempted to take the ferry for the pure relaxation of not driving.

Please check the ferry web site again. I think the $61 charge for a car includes passengers, so with the fuel surcharge, that should be $68, which makes it more competitive. I've made the crossing several times; I think it's an hour, certainly not much more than that. On a sunny day, it's a pleasant cruise.
There is something to be said for LJ's comments about the rush trip through PEI. On reflection, I agree. If you'd like, I could suggest a route from west to east that would give you a quick view of some of the best scenery the Island has to offer, but you'll never do it justice in one day and parts of two others. You might want to consider exploring the Bay of Fundy a little more and have a more leisurely trip to the splendours of Cape Breton.

My reasoning on the side trip to PEI is this: We are staying overnight in Moncton and I want to see the Hopewell Rocks (which will be at low tide in the morning we are there). Therefore, we won't leave till around noon and I don't want to drive more than 3-4 hours, so there is no way we would make it to Cape Breton. We could stay somewhere along the way in NS, and then have one extra day on the Cape (certainly a possibility). But I have heard PEI is quite charming, low key, and relaxing. We can take that day and just hang out, maybe go to the beach, take a short drive, or just walk around town wherever we stay.

Clearly we won't see a lot of PEI, but as I originally wrote, the main focus of the trip is Cape Breton and seeing our friends in Halifax. Still, I figured that even with one full day day plus an evening, it would be worth the side trip. I wouldn't do it if it weren't basically on the way to where we are going. However, if you have some suggestions about where to visit on the way to Cape Breton instead of going to PEI, I would love to hear the suggestion.

Hi again,

Regarding PEI... I went there for a one-night visit myself... but I would have to say that you'd still want to DRIVE around the island a bit to gain much of anything from it.

IF you take the ferry across to NS... you would effectively 'force yourself' to see a bit more of PEI when heading toward the ferry dock, vs. doubling back toward the Confederation Bridge.

One spot I enjoyed on PEI was the (national?) park which is on the coast and due north of downtown Chartlottetown. When I was there it was a chilly March afternoon, but the air and the water were both STILL, which surprised me.

Perhaps going there on your trip won't bring any sort of excitement at all, but I thought I'd add that.

Indeed PEI is low-key and relaxing in large part due to not being on the way to anywhere, and consequently not overrun by society.

I can't give worthy advice on which choice you should make as far as PEI, and I don't think that the $26 difference should deter you from taking the Ferry from PEI to NS.

It is 2 hours and 86 miles from the NB end of the bridge to Pictou, NS, so gas costs factor in as well, and gas in Canada is surely over $4 per gallon these days, and likely climbing.

Oh, IF you are staying overnight in Moncton, be SURE to know the schedule for the "Tidal Bore" (reversing river) as seen there. You can sit in bleachers next to the river and wait for the current to reverse its flow on schedule. Maybe it isn't that thrilling, but if you're in Moncton anyway, and, well, where ELSE in the world do you routinely visit where you can see such a unique thing? (heck, forget the "you" part of that... when impressing kids, with nature, it will work)

Good luck.