We will be arriving in Halifax in early August, after spending a week on a walking tour of NL. We would like to spend some time on Cape Breton Island, but are having some difficulty judging what is feasable.
1. Is there a preferred way to drive the Cabot Trail, i.e., clockwise or cc?
2. What is driving time from Louisbourg to Cheticamp, via the Cabot Trail?
3. From Cheticamp to Mabou?
4. From Mabou to Halifax airport?
5. We need to be at the Halifax airport by 4 pm. to catch our flight to NL. Is it practical to drive down to Peggy's Cove and back, from an airport hotel, and still make the flight?

The Cabot Trail can be driven either way. Some say to go clockwise, so you don't have to drive on the outside of the road near the tall cliffs, but I'm a cautious driver and even driving counter-clockwise was never fearful. You may want to make your decision based on where you want to eat lunch or dinner. Cheticamp offers Acadien food and Ingonish's Keltic Lodge is supposed to have a fabulous restaurnat. Someone who lives in Nova Scotia can better help you with the rest of your questions.

Either direction on the trail is fine - again depends on where you want to wind up. I assume if you are arriving from Newfoundland (NL?), you will be entering Cape Breton at Sydney? If that is the case, I would suggest doing Louisbourg first. From Louisbourg to Cheticamp is probably a good 3-4 hours. If you are spending a day at Louisbourg, you could leave around suppertime and arrive in Baddeck by 7. We did this a few years ago, and then did the Trail counterclockwise. The second day you could wind up either in Cheticamp or Mabou? From there you are probably a good 4-5 hours from the airport. Peggy's Cove from the airport hotel is about 1 hour away each way - give or take depending on traffic towards Peggy's Cove. If you are going to go to Peggy's Cove before heading to the airport, you might want to look at staying closer than the airport hotel.

All of our flights will be in and out of Halifax airport. When we arrive, prior to the NL leg of the trip, I thought we might go to Peggy's Cove. Maybe the best way to fit this is to drive from the airport and spend the night in an inn in the Peggy's Cove area, do some sightseeing in the morning, drive one hour back to the airport by 4 pm, and fly off to NL.
After NL, we will be flying in to Halifax again, this time by 10 am. I thought to drive the 5-6 hours to Louisbourg that same day, and then spend the entire next day in Louisbourg. After that, driving counterclockwise, we would head to Cheticamp, if the drive is 5-6 hours again.

You may want to check to see if you can fly into Sydney airport instead of Halifax on your trip from Nfld. Not sure if any flights still do ??

Dear Va Walker, the preffered way of driving the trail is clock wise better scenery. The driving time from louisbourg to cheticamp is approx 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Cheticamp to Mabou is approx. 1 hour. Mabou to halifax approx 4 hrs. It depends on what time you arrive in halifax. the drive to peggys cove from halifax is approx 1hr each way. its up to you. any way have fun & enjoy cape breton island.