Please comment on my NS itinerary
 

Have booked flight into Halifax (from Toronto) arriving evening of July 1, 2005 and departing morning of July 9, 2005. I will be traveling with my husband and 7 year old. I was thinking we could stay in Halifax until the morning of July 4 (suggestions for a downtown hotel please). This would give us 2 full days to explore the area. From earlier posts I gather the must sees are Peggy's Cove, Mahone Bay and Lunenburg. Next, on the morning of July 4 we drive to Keltic Lodge, which I have tentatively booked for 3 nights. Then I thought we could possibly drive to Baddeck on the morning of July 7 and stay the night there returning to Halifax on July 8 since our flight home is early July 9. This is a barebones summary of our trip. Where would you fit in visiting the following (as these were recommended visits in prior posts): Maritime Museum of Atlantic, Titanic graveyard, Fortress of Louisbourg, Bay of Fundy tides, any other sites that I have overlooked? Have I allowed us enough time per location to visit the main sites of the area? Does it make sense to stay 1 night in Baddeck or should we just stay at Keltic Lodge and make that our base for visiting Cape Breton area? I haven't been able to find a schedule of the tides...any suggestions? Suggestions on how to plan our drive from Halifax to Keltic Lodge and back so that we can are not repeating the same drive both directions? Thats all I can think of asking right now. Thank you for your suggestions.

The best base for Cape Breton would be Baddeck, not Keltic Lodge in Ingonish. From Baddeck you can visit all the "must-sees" like Fortress of Louisburg. Maybe you consider staying one night at Keltic Lodge while doing the Cabot Trail. But you also can do it easily in one day from Baddeck. I also would suggest not to stay in Halifax and make daytrips to Lunenburg, Mahone Bay and all the other sights on the South Shore. Do it the other way round. Stay in the Lunenburg area and make a daytrip to Halifax. Try www.rosewoodonthecove.com for amazing waterfront cottages or www.oceanstone.ns.ca close to Peggy´s Cove. Just wonderful, you´ll love it!

I think you can get tide tables for anylocation at this link (at least, I used it for Hopewell Rocks)

http://www.lau.chs-shc.dfo-mpo.gc.ca...amp;stnnum=170

To KarenE: Thank you for your suggestions. If staying in Baddeck for 3 nights do you have any suggestions as to where to stay? Are you familiar with Castle Moffett? Besides the sites already mentioned what else would be of interest in the Baddeck/Cape Breton area? Which route would you take from Halifax to Baddeck and back to avoid the same scenery both ways? Thank you.

In Baddeck you could try www.watersedgeinn.com. I´ve not stayed there yet as they are brandnew. But I know the location - very nice. We will be staying there in fall this year. Another nice B&B is the Duffus House. I would never stay at the Castle Moffett. It´s kind of a "Plastic castle" - very bad taste if you ask me. Also the location is bad. They adverstise they are on the Bras D´Or Lake. They are but not in Baddeck. They are far outside close to (or even in) the Indian reservation. They are not located on the edge of the lake as they pretend but right on the main highway leading to Baddeck. VERY noisy!
When in the area take a boat tour of the Birds Islands. It goes out of English Town I think. From Halifax I would take the Marine Drive to Baddeck. Take some nice detours (Taylor Head Provincial Park, Sherbrook Village, Clam Bay Provincial Park...) If you want to overnight the Liscomb Lodge is nice or stay at Seawind Landing in Charlos Cove.
Have fun!

If you decide to stay in Baddeck,and I agree with KarenE's comments, you could try the Broadwater Inn. We stayed there a couple of years ago and enjoyed it very much,there are lovely views of the lake. They do B&B rooms and have cottages in the grounds
http://broadwater.baddeck.com/

When speaking with the representative at Keltic Lodge, I requested a room in the Main Lodge - b/c of the view people have described. She suggested that we would be more comfortable in the Inn or a cottage due to the fact that the rooms in the Main Lodge are smaller and there is no air conditioning. The Inn, on the other hand, has been recently renovated and has a/c. The cottage would give us more room being that we have our son with us. My reason for choosing the Keltic Lodge was for its location/view so I booked the Main Lodge. Comments?

KarenE has the right idea.....stay on the south shore and day trip to Halifax, Peggy's Cove and Mahone Bay. I would especially suggest this since you are coming to Nova Scotia from Toronto. Why stay in another city when you can stay in a picture postcard location. Lunenburg is my all time favorite destination. Great accomodations (I LOVE the Mariner King Inn), tons of restaurants (Magnolia's, Rum Runner, Fleur de Sel), lots of activities such as sailing, whale watching, harbour tours, walking tours, horse and buggy tours and don't forget about the history of the town with its boat building and UNESCO designation. Also, the first weekend of July they have an event there called Paint the Sea on Site where artists are all over town the entire weekend painting scenes around town. Then, at the end of the day there's a silent auction of the works. Fun event and a great way to pick up a very special souvenier. In case you're wondering, Mahone Bay is the town next to Lunenburg and both Halifax and Peggy's Cove are about an hour away.

Could not agree more with Karen E. about Castle Moffat!! As for Ingonish vs Baddeck, maybe do at least one night at the Keltic Lodge just to truly get away from it all. You asked about activities and where to fit them in. Here's some suggestions. When staying in Baddeck, daytrip to the Fortress (about 1.5 hours away, allow the better part of a day), and the Gaelic College (about 25 minutes away). See the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck itself and take a boat tour of part of the Bras d'Or lakes. Take a tour to Bird Island and see puffins, eagles and seals. Go whale watching. Get to a ceilidh (there will definitely be one happening at the Gaelic College on the 6th). Go to Glace Bay and tour the Ocean Deeps Colliery, a real mine, at the Miner's Museum (about 1.5 hours away, great for kids). See the world's largest fiddle in Sydney (about 50 minutes away). Golf at Bell Bay. Enjoy your holiday!!

Thank you Scotiagirl for your suggestions. Reading the different posts about the Keltic Lodge make me want to include it in my trip. I think I will spend less time there and more in Baddeck as it is more central. Are you familiar with the Keltic Lodge accomodations? If so could you please comment on staying in the Main Lodge as opposed to a cottage. Thank you.

TO, check out the Nova Scotia forum.....there's a pretty good thread going about the Keltic Lodge.

Hi, TO! I see no advantage to staying in The Inn or the cottages. Stay in The Main Lodge for its view & its historical significance. It is a spectacular property located on a peninsula which juts out into the Atlantic. Ask for one of the newly renovated rooms with hardwood floors. Ask for one of the larger rooms. You will not need A/C in Ingonish. If it is warm when you are there, it will cool down @ night. You can open the windows. As for the cottages & The Inn: The cottages are stuck in the woods. You see nothing. And, the last time I was there you had to share the living room w/ other guests. Don't know if that is still the case. The Inn is an ordinary "newer" building ("newer"relative to The Main Lodge!!). They can renovate it all they want but it will never compare to the experience of staying in The Main Lodge. It is just a very boring building w/ hotel rooms located down the hill from The Main Lodge. I do not know why they call it "The Inn" which conjures up images of country charm.The Inn has no charm. I always stay in The Main Lodge. The "main dining room" is located in "the main lodge". I hope this helps. Any other questions just post back.