Nova Scotia or PEI, short vacation, cottage rental,pls help with ???
 

We are a family of four, in NYC and Boston - my son will be graduating college end of May, leaving for the Peace Corps in July- we are trying to squeeze in, with his sisters work schedule in a new job, 5 days somewhere together middle to end of June- since we are not sure how long it will be until we are all together again -

We'd thought of Bermuda and a few other spots, but my son loves Nova Scotia and has always wanted to go to PEI, so he mentioned considering one of them.

We don't want a "city"
We were thinking cottage rental (which there seems to be may in both places
Somewhere we could sit on the deck and have a great view and chat and take long walks, ride bikes, moderate hikes, maybe kayak/canoe, bbq, play games and watch movies at night type of thing -

Also nice if some sight to see, or dine out a few nights, but mostly we want to chill together -

I am, as always when first looking into something, getting confused -

To maximize the small amt of time we have, best for all to fly direct to Nova Scotia or PEI? from Bos and NYC?

OR to have the NYC person come to Boston, and drive up and take a ferry across ?

I've found some wonderful rentals, - then I have trouble narrowing down which area?

Lunenberg -Cape Breton-Peggy Cove- St Margaret's Bay?

I think for what we want, maybe I should limit my criteria to the quickest I can get us all to (to maximize our time together vs. traveling) - we will work around a weeekend, with my daughter taking 3 full days off from work -

that will also give us a the view and somewhat quiet we want.

Does anyone have any advice or a special spot that they love that we should consider?

Thank you for any ideas -

lunenburg/mahone bay area would be quite to get to from halifax. there are several places you could go to from there for 1/2 day or full day trips.
5 days on pei would be a perfect amount of time too. you could see a good part of the island in 5 days.

ltt - is it easy or difficult to get there from Halifax? I think a word missing in your sentence perhaps?
And do you think better to bring our own car and go by ferry and then drive vs. flying and renting a car there?

thanks!

PEI has sandy beaches with reasonably warm water, even in June.

Nova Scotia has fewer beaches, and much colder water.

Think of PEI as sort of like Cape Cod and NS as sort of like Maine.

For relaxation, PEI wins; for interesting things to do, places to go, etc., I'd give the nod to Nova Scotia.

BAK

I would fly since you only have 5 days and you can get a direct flight to PEI from both Boston and NY...For relaxation PEI sounds like what you are looking for and 5 days would give you plenty of time to do the things you have listed.

Here's a cottage rental site for PEI. http://www.peivacationrentals.com/
We've rented this one - http://www.peivacationrentals.com/elizabeth/index.html - on three occasions and enjoy the cottage and the location very much. It's a quiet area of the Island, but the beach is very nice. Other activities you listed are quite possible here, too. You can walk for miles on the beach, buy lobsters from a nearby pound, boil them up at the cottage, and enjoy a feed, Maritime style. Good luck with whatever choice you make.

Sorry I was away for a few day s-

thanks everyone for all the info -
I will look into flights and rentals this weekend -

geebee: we had started to poke around on rentals at NS and PEI and the one you have rented is actually one we saw and commented on !! Thanks for the referral -

I am sure I will be back with more questions in a few days - thanks again

Wow Nellie!!!! These cottage rates seem really high for PEI. Try Craigslist to see if there is anything more reasonable.
PEI and Cape Breton are really nice and quite different from the other. The beaches are better in PEI and the island is lovely. Cape Breton has some dramatic scenery and is quite nice too. You can't go wrong with either place. Look around for better rates than those websites because they are really outrageous. Its not the Hamptons!

I checked craigslist and saw rentals for PEI well under $1000 per week and more like $700-$800 Canadian. Best of luck.

Thanks for all the info -with flights and time frame and wanting not to be rushed, we have decided this is not the time for us to go to PEI - we want to go when we will have a full week and now it is down to my daughter being able to leave NYC on Wed night or Thurs morning and having to be back Sunday night - it just doens't seem to be working out with coordinating flights for her and us to meet there and have enough time to really enjoy it.

I don't want to get there late on Thursday to a cottage and have to leave on Sunday morning !! too much of a tease -

We will save this for another trip - and are looking into some cottages a few hours from NYC or in VT instead...

but thanks for all the info I have saved it for planning.

You are wise not to go all the way to PEI just fro a few days. Now Bermuda sounds like a good alternative. We are going in the summer for 5 nights. I just love it there too. Plus its so convenient from the east coast.

travelme: so far, no go on Bermuda, not much left for weekends in June and the flights weren't matching up, so as of now we are going to Mohonk in NY and have a cottage there for four nights - this is an easy spot for us since my daughter can take a bus from port authority in nyc and be there in 90 minutes and we can drive - and on the way home we'll drop her off in the city -

it actually gives us more time at a place, if you know what I mean - as we will have three full days and the day we leave, since we can all arrive around 7pm arrival night - a wednesday - have 3 full days and leave on the 4th....

so many places to go - the list keeps growing !

That sounds like a good plan and you could stay at really nice place then. Have a great trip and enjoy the time with your family.
PS. So true about so many places and not enough time.

travelme:
thanks for all your comments.
have fun in bermuda.
make sure to post a trip report, i will look for it ! :)