LONG road trip Eastern Canada
 

My husband and I are embarking on a VERY long road trip this summer. 22 cities in 50 days:

I have a question.. we have booked a couple of nights in Quebec City and the next night in Grand Falls, NB I then found Tadoussac and was reading about the Marine Park there. I'd like to see it, but do you think it's possible in one day to go from Quebec.. stopping at cathedral in Beaupre then up to Tadoussac, cross the ferry to Riviere du loup and down to Grand Falls, NB in one day... too much?

Our trip looks like this:
Stafford Virginia.. June 17 starting point
June 17: Somerset, PA
June 18, 19: Cleveland, OH
June 20 - 22: Niagara on the Lake
June 23 - 24: Toronoto
June 25 - July 1: Calabogie Fishing Lake
(day trips to Ottawa)
July 2: Montreal
July 3 - 4: Quebec City
July 5: Grand Falls, NB
July 6: Saint John, NB
July 7 - 8: Shediac, NB (Lobster fest)
July 9: New Glasgow, NS
July 10 - 11: PEI
July 12: Port Hastings, NS
July 13 - 15: Cheticamp, Cape Breton
July 16: Antigonish, NS (Highland Games)
July 17: Jeddore, NS (visit our property)
July 18 - 19: Halifax, NS
July 20: Freeport, NS
July 21 - 23: Yarmouth, NS
July 24 - 30: Rockland, NS
July 31 - Aug 2: Worcester, MA (family)
Aug. 3: Dover, DE
Aug. 4.. return to Stafford

Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated!! We have lodging booked as we needed to stick to a budget and I found great deals.. plus we need internet connection for our laptop on the road.

Whew...with gas prices the way they are we opted for a new Toyota Prius.. see our trip details and notes as we go at www.reviewtravels.com

Enjoy your journeys...
Colleen

I think you will be sick of it.

I do agree that your schedule looks totally exhausting. I would choose fewer places and spend more time in each one. You could then have days where you spent most of the day in the car to get to the next place (6-8 hours maximum of driving in one day).

Packing and unpacking to move from place to place gets exhausting after the second day.

Rockland Maine, perhaps?

You've picked some very small towns to stay in overnight, so don't expect much manufactured fun in places like Grand Falls.

Assuming you really like driving, and seeing things as you drive by -- I was talking with friends last night about this. My idea of a good time is driving to Florida in three days, looking out the window rather than walking around inside churches.

So if you think this way, it's a great trip. With your internet connections, you should bring a digital camera and send photos back to family and friends.

BAK

Wow, Quebec City - Grand Falls via Tadoussac in one day? Good Luck! You better leave early.

The drive From Quebec City to Tadoussac is nearly 5 hours, add a stop at Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, possibly at Montmorency falls, add more time if you choose road 382 between Baie St-Paul and Malbaie (recommended) and a side trip to Ile Aux-Coudres (recommended), add waiting time for the ferry across the Saguenay river (Can be a long wait during summer). The ferry to Rivière-du-Loup is in St-Siméon, which means back tracking (another Saguenay crossing, free BTW), but I would reccommend keep going to take the ferry at Les Escoumins crossing to Trois-pistoles. Then another 200km drive to Gand Falls... Yes, I think it's too much. That's nearly 8 hours of driving, not counting the stops and ferries.

From Shediac NB, you should head to PEI and then from there New Glasgow!

Thank you for all of your input! I do appreciate it. Yes. We know we're a bit nuts but we do love the road.

Please come visit us during our travels at www.reviewtravels.com click on the link to Eastern Canada Road Trip. We'll post pictures and notes of our journey as we go along.

We have an internet business requiring us to contact our staff every few hours. Thus the reason for many stops and little driving each day. Our average day will be around 3 hours of driving time. CAP centers will help. This is part of the reason we've chosen Canada...not to mention we're in love with the beauty of the maritimes.

We will take it slow and use the time in smaller towns for R&R where we've booked jacuzzi suites in B&B's etc. for a more relaxing stay. In a quiet town we found these affordable and we won't have to worry about the city noise and excitement we're missing as we relax.

As for the Quebec to Grand Falls portion. After reading your input and time tables (thank you!) we've decided to leave Quebec at 8am, stop at Beaupre for a quick picture and prayer then head up to 362 as I really don't want to miss that scenic drive. We're planning on getting to St. Simeon by noon and getting in line for the 1:00 ferry crossing that day. It will be close...if we don't make it... we'll take the 4:30 and just get into Grand Falls a little later. We've decided to save Tadoussac for another time.

Thanks again for all your input and please drop us a line and see our journal of this journey June 17, 2004 - Aug. 4, 2004

Take care,
Colleen
www.reviewtravels.com

Tanya,

If we cross the bridge in Shediac to PEI and pay that fare, don't we then have to pay full fare for the ferry crossing from PEI to New Glasgow?

From what I read...it was going to be a large fare for the bridge and then a double fare for a one way stretch from PEI to New Glasgow. Tell me if I'm wrong.

I don't really mind winding around to New Glasgow by car as we haven't seen that neck of NB/NS and I didn't want to pay for a RT ferry ride if I were going one way. They didn't appear to have one way fares.

Thanks for your input.
Colleen
www.reviewtravels.com

Author: Tanya
Date: 05/08/2004, 02:51 pm
Message: From Shediac NB, you should head to PEI and then from there New Glasgow!

OOPS!! I made a mistake here... Quebec City - Tadoussac is more like 3 hours, NOT 5 hours. My bad, sorry.

When you leave PEI you pay a toll - not entering - unless it has changed?

This was my concern...I wish the fare was paid going to PEI, then I would take the confederate bridge over and the ferry onto NS...but I'm trying to avoid the excessive fares. Thanks for your input!

Because we're driving short distances each day we'll have time to enjoy smaller places between our destinations. If you know of any great locations between our destinations or at our destinations not to be missed.. please let me know.

I've got a file folder getting larger by the day with very nice information from kind people like you! Thank you!

I love gardens, parks and historical sites...any of these near our traveled path that you could point out would be greatly appreciated...as well as of course smaller more cultural eateries and places with local flair.

Enjoy the journey...
Colleen
www.reviewtravels.com
click link to Eastern Canada Road Trip

I'm not sure that I understand your concern. Whether you take the bridge or the ferry, the fares are round-trip, paid when you depart. Thus if you cross the bridge to PEI and leave by the bridge, it costs C$ 39. If you cross by the bridge and leave by the ferry, it costs C$ 53. If you cross by the ferry and leave by the bridge, it costs C$39. So the difference in cost for your preferred route is only C$ 14, not a huge difference.

Thank you so much! This is exactly the information I needed. I'll make a few changes as we've been to New Glasgow.

Now my question would be.. another day in:
St. John, NB (currently one day)
Shediac, NB (currently 2 days during Lobster festival)
or.. PEI (currently two nights in Mayfield)

Any recommendations.. I've not been to any of the three and I'm not sure if I've planned for too few or too many days?
Thanks!!
Colleen

For me, one day and night at the Shediac Festival would be enough, but that's a matter of taste. As you now will be crossing the bridge to PEI, it's a very short drive from Shediac, and you might want to take an extra night in PEI rather than two in Shediac.

I would add a night in St. Andrews by the Sea after Grand Falls and before Saint John. It's a lovely town, well worth a visit.

From Saint John on the way to Shediac we're going to spend the day at the Fundy National Park. We'll get to Shediac rather late on the 7th. We'll have the 8th to enjoy the lobster festival and the morning of the 9th we'll be checking out. So really it is only a day in Shediac. I was worried this wouldn't be enough time. Have you been to that festival before? I'm hopeful 1 day will be plenty.

I really liked the idea of St. Andrews but we're booking 50 rooms and I couldn't find a room in St. Andrews for less than 75 CAD which is where we're trying to keep our budget.

Our original plan did include a night in St. Andrews, but we modified this. Instead we were going to leave Grand Falls enjoy a picnic near the longest covered bridge in Hartland, NB then head down to St. Andrews for an afternoon walk before arriving in Saint John later in the day.

I will look into rooms in St. Andrews again. If any of you know of a B&B or hotel in St. Andrews under our 75 CAD budget, I'd be greatful.
This is a very helpful board!
Thanks,
Colleen
www.reviewtravels.com
Journey with us on our Eastern Canada Road Trip June 17, 2004 - Aug. 4, 2004

I've been to Shediac, but not during the festival, so I know it only second-hand.

St. Andrews is a bit pricey compared to other places in NB, but you still should be able to find something in your range. I presume you have checked the Tourism NB listings.

To avoid four "one nighters" from town to town in a row I've followed great suggestions and rebooked our plan from Grand Falls to Cape Breton.
July 7: Wake up Grand Falls, hit rte 2 after breakfast. Stop in Hartland to see the longest covered bridge and stretch then head down rte 630 (or 3) to St. Andrews.. lunch and take in the sights for the afternoon in St. Andrews then head to Saint John to arrive around dusk.
July 8: Full day to explore Saint John
July 9: Drive up rte 1 getting off 114 to hike around the Fundy National Park and see the coves and inlets created by the powerful tides...then head into Shediac.
July 10: We're spending the day in Shediac...Lobster Festival is said to bring about 25,000 visitors. We'll enjoy the day around town and then head for the Confederate Bridge PEI hopefully to arrive in Mayfield just before dusk.
We'll then have 3 days instead of two on PEI before going onto Cape Breton..

Thanks so much for your help here! This looks like a much smoother path than what we had first booked.

Again.. we'd appreciate your pointing out any must see sites, great restaurants, gardens, historical treasures, etc. along our route.

Enjoy your travels...
Colleen

I have a question regarding public transportation near Ottawa. We're going to be staying about an hour outside of Ottawa at Calabogie Peaks Resort. I'd like to take a day to tour Ottawa or would like even more to visit on Canada Day. The question I have is how to get there without fighting traffic in the city on such a busy day.

Is there a lot near a bus station between Calabogie and Ottawa that would allow me to park my car outside of the city and ride in on public transport?

Thanks for your help.
Colleen
www.reviewtravels.com

Hello from Calabogie!

Well we've updated the travel journal online at http://216.147.127.90/ be sure to sign our guestbook!

Take care,
Colleen