DCDel

hi everyone. My family husband, me and kids (8 years, 10 years) have nine days and we start and finish in Moncton. We plan to hit PEI and Nova Scotia but struggling with the best route and must sees. Obviously Bay of Fundy region, wouldn't mind a few days in PEI on the beach (and area), Hailfax & Peggy's Cove. Cabot Trail - will time allow?
Also I would love advice on whether to head to PEI first then cross on ferry to NS, Cabot Trail to Halifax area then somehow back to Moncton? Or the other way around. Plan would be to see Bay of Fundy area at the start of the trip.

Any advice would be great! We are not much about hiking (minor but not hard core) and I am sure kids will get bored of the long drives I have read about so suggestions for great stops along the way would also be great. Also any advice on whale watching tours.
thanks

Tanyalynn

Can you please supply dates and times you will be arriving? Do the nine days include arrival and departure days? That would help.

By first reading of this, I would suggest you look at NB (Alma - Hopewell Rocks, Moncton, Shediac) and then PEI (Cavendish for at least 2 days on the beach). You could do Cape Breton, but it would mostly be driving - not sure the kids would enjoy that? Halifax has a lot going on, day trip to Peggy's Cove from there and the kids can go rock jumping. In Halifax Citadel Hill, the waterfront, and depending on the time you are here, lots of festivals.

DCDel

Thanks for the starter information. We start our travels on July 13th (I am there working up to the 12th) so we really have from Sat 13th first thing in the morning - in Moncton. Then we return home at 4 pm on the 22nd out of Moncton. I have been talking to a few people who have said that the Cabot Trail may be excessive but hit a couple highlights. Any information would be awesome. Thanks again.

Dani77

Aside from the beach near Cavendish there is Shining Waters for kids and a Ripley's Museum.

If you're going to PEI from NS I suggest taking the ferry (1h15m) from Caribou NS to Wood Islands PE and then when leaving take the Confed. bridge to NB.

NorthwestMale

The reason you <b>go</b> to the Cabot Trail (beyond the scenery, I mean) <I>is that it is not on the way to anywhere, and that you may not do so conveniently soon, if ever, and particularly not as a family unit</I>.

The kids will at times be bored with the driving, <b>but to start and end in Moncton, with the plan of seeing the Maritimes, affords a big edge over <I>lots of peoples' trips</I></b>.

For starters, <b>teach the kids about the tides - beginning <I>noooooooooow</I></b>. The Tidal Bore will defy everything they already thought they knew about rivers.

Kids will be really impressed by just how faaaaaaaaaar out into the surf you can go at low tide in various spots around the area. Perhaps you might find a convenient spot or two at which you can <b><I>first see the spot at extreme low tide</b> and take your kids' pictures in front of that backdrop</I> (<b>paying particular care to including <I>landmarks</I> which will be visible at extreme high tides, later</b>, so as to <I>prove</I> to their minds that indeed it was the same place)

(LOL - maybe even... dad and one child at the edge of the surf at low tide, waaaaaaaaaaay off/back in the distance, while mom takes a photo of the other child in the foreground, perhaps right next to a distinguishable tree, sign, dock, or building <I>(with the dad and sibling visible in the distant background)</I> )

(then, later, you return to the same spot at extreme high tide, and take the same kid's photo in the same spot, with the high tide clearly visible behind him)


It looks like you save a bit of money if you first drive toward Cape Breton, spend your time there, and then, eventually, take the ferry to PEI, only to leave via the Confederation Bridge with its staggering $44.50 <b>toll</b>.

(you don't pay a ferry fare when traveling <b>TO</b> PEI, but the ferry fare when leaving the island is even greater than is the bridge toll)

I think I would prepare for the trip by creating handy MAPS of the entire Maritimes area, suitable for kids' full understanding of where you ARE, and where you wish to GO. (Obviously these wouldn't quite be the <I>detailed maps</I> you would use for navigation in the moment, but they would afford a good overview)

Also, like I always say, <b>print out the tide tables for maybe 4 of 5 spots in the Bay of Fundy, <I>covering the ENTIRE window of your trip</I></b>, and have that ready to keep in the glove box, for easy reference. This is especially meaningful given that you want to give your kids the best possible sense for the <I>contrasts</I> between high and low tide, <b>without having to waste 6 hours in between the two</b>. (make every effort to maybe go a bit out of the way at times, to see the opposite extremes to those they may have already seen - it's less than a 40-minute drive from Moncton to Hopewell Cape, for example, and likely worth showing your kids the contrasting high tide at a later point)

Finally, I have plenty of posts here on NS, so if you click on my name and sort through, maybe you'll find some other useful details.