Nova Scotia itinerary. Suggestions?
 

Hi,

I would appreciate suggestions about the planned trip below.

When: End of June
Duration: 3-4 days
Objective: Scenic beauty; things that I won't get to see anywhere else.

Day 1.
Arrive in Halifax airport before noon.
Rent car, drive down the lighthouse trail.
Stay overnight somewhere on the trail less than an hour from halifax (peggy's cove, lunenburg?)

Day 2.
Drive down to Baddeck/Ingonish. (leave early morning and get there in the the afternoon)
Check into a hotel.
Spend afternoon and evening enjoying local culture.

Day 3.
Drive the cabot trail
Spend time in the park
Spend night at Cheticamp/Inverness

Day 4.
Drive down to Halifax do some local sightseeing if the city and go take the plane home.

Given you've shared this:

Objective: Scenic beauty; things that I won't get to see anywhere else.

then I must direct you to the following link, with a long, drawn-out explanation of the TIDE watching in the Bay of Fundy. You have mentioned nothing of the Bay on your itinerary.


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34626579

Your trip invloves ALOT of driving. I visited last Jane. We spent the first night in Halifax, drove the nest day to peggy"s Cove, Chester and spent the night in Lunnenberg. Drove the next day across to Digby for a whale watch, spent the night and drove the next day to Wolfville (I think that's where we stayed.) The next day we drove back to Halifax and flew home. There is no way in that time period could we have made it comfortably to Cabot Trail and then enjoyed the trip around it. Do less, enjoy what you see and come back for another visit!

A question:Do you return home Day 4? If so, what time?

I like giovana's itinerary for a short visit. I personally hate rushing through things, but I think that your plan is doable, depending on when your plane leaves to return home.

Hey, what happened to my "D", and what does it mean, LOL! I hope nothing bad :)

while your plan is doable, it will be a ton of driving. i'm planning my first trip out there this summer and one thing people have warned me about is how long it takes to get between places. traffic moves much slower there then 100 km/hr on other highways. personally, i would pick either the south area (peggy's cove, mahone bay, lunnenburg, digby, anapolis royal and a little further up i believe there are some good spots to enjoy the tides) or, head from halifax to cabot trail and spend your nights there.
whatever you choose, have fun.

Thanks for the suggestions.

My plane leaves at 5:30 pm. I have decided to stay at Halifax the first night. I am not a big hiker and from what I gather Nova Scotia is a place to drive and see the scenery.

This is what i figure driving would look like:

Day 1:
I arrive at noon.
From halifax airport to hotel to drop off luggage.......... 40 min.
Take an afternoon drive upto peggy's cove areas and see a couple of lighthouses.......... 3 hours

Day 2:
Drive to Baddeck .... 5 hours
Drive from Baddeck to Ingonish (while doing a bit of sightseeing) .. 3 hours

Day 3.
Drive to Inverness (with sighseeing) .......... 3 hours
Spend time in the park and whale watch no driving

Day 4.
Drive back to halifax... 5 hours

Thats about an average of 5 hous a day out of which about 3 hours would be scenic. Although I would prefer driving about 4 hours a day (I am counting on the scenery to make it pleasant).

Most of the driving is to and from cabot trail. I cannot see how one can cut that short.

Just FYI...

I am "(certainly) NOT a big hiker" either... but despite that, I still got very excited to do the hike to the end of Cape Split, in the middle of the Bay of Fundy (2 1/2 hrs. each way).

I will confirm that NS is definitely a place where driving around and seeing the scenery (at far less than 100kph) is great entertainment.

There is something to be said for a place that isn't trampled through as society makes its way to somewhere else.

******I should mention that a wrench could land in your plans by way of the terrible FOG they can have in NS******

Hope the weather is nice for you!

Hi there! As others mentioned, your trip is very rushed.

Here's a suggestion that will likely be unpopular with some - skip Peggy's Cove or add it at the end (more on that later). Don't forget you will see lighthouses in Cape Breton anyway! My suggestion for your itinerary is to arrive in Halifax and then drive directly to Inverness or Mabou (great pub here called the Red Shoe - you'll get all the local culture you can handle). Spend the evening enjoying the area. Day two, drive from Mabou/Inverness towards Cheticamp, stopping to do whale watching and see smaller places like Meat Cove and Aspy Bay. Overnight somewhere in Ingonish. Day three, drive from Ingonish to Baddeck, stopping at the Gaelic College. Maybe do a sailing tour of the Bras d'Or Lakes (you'll be able to see Alexander Graham Bell's home and burial ground). Day four, get up early and drive back - either into Halifax if you really want to drive further, or just to the airport. It is possible, if you leave early, to have 2 or 3 hours to explore Halifax. It's about 4.5 hours from Baddeck to Halifax, so if you leave at, say, 8am, you can arrive at 12:30, explore for 3 hours, and head to the airport to be there for 4pm. If you left a bit earlier you could even schedule a quick trip to Peggy's Cove instead (it's about a 45 minute drive from Halifax and won't take any more than 40 minutes to see it). Rushed but doable.

Good luck with your planning. Post with more questions as they arise!

I agree with a previous post - just not enough time to do both Cape Breton and another area. You really need 3 days in CB to enjoy it.

Why not, as you suggested, spend your first day travelling to Peggy's Cove and take a liesurely drive along the coast towards Lunenburg. Stay the evening around this location and the next day head toward the Annapolis Valley. Explore Grand Pre, the winery, quaint Wolfville, drive out to the lookoff, have a lobster dinner on the wharf in Hall's Harbour and spend the night at one of the many Inns or B&B's in the area. Some great restaurants here as well. The next day you can take the back roads towards Halifax and spend at least one day exploring the city.

Thanks very much for the suggestions. I will report back what I managed to do and what I didn't.

There are some places that you just want to return to and Peggy's Cove is one of mine! Not much there, just sheer beauty, especially at sunset (if not fogged in), also if go there, be sure and see the memorial to the Swiss Air

We visited their last year and you certainly will do agreat deal of driving. The lunenberg, peggy's cove and chester area are close to Halifax and you will enjoy this area for the days excursion of overnight because it is beautiful part of N.S Halifax is certainly a beautiful city as well and lost of shops/restaurants and harbor area worth a day by itself. The cabot trail takes most of the day and that is with eating and stopping on the way. It takes a good time to drive from Halifax up to baddeck. Baddeck quite a nice place with good restaurants and easy to get to the cabot trail. I would advise to visit the first mentioned and then if you wish to head up to baddeck and explore cabot trail on your third day. Depending when you are leaving on the fourth day you have a good drive to Halifax otherwise. My best advice is Lunenburg,Chester, Peggy's cove and then up to Annapolis Valley Area and back to Halifax for this trip