We will be travelling to Nova Scotia, N.B., PEI and a bit of Quebec September 20 through October 11th. Sounds like a lot of folks planning to travel that way this September/October so we wonder if it's a must to make your hotel reservations before heading out.

Our normal mode of travel is to have a hotel for the last night before our flight back (and this time a hotel for the night we arrive) but while we are on the road we don't like to be tied to a tight schedule so we like to begin looking for a place to stay about 3 or 4 in the afternoon once we know where we've ended up. Will this be possible on this trip or do you think places will be too booked?

A nudge in the right direction would be appreciated.

Thanksgiving weekend Oct 9th, I would recommend a reservation - esp. for Cape Breton. Otherwise, you should be ok. If there is a specific place you want to stay - say Keltic Lodge in Cape Breton, make the reservation in advance. For NS, call check-ins while on the road to book 1-800-565-0000 or keep your Doer's and Dreamers guide handy and call directly asking for in-house reservations.

Thank you. I hadn't thought about Thanksgiving Weekend......I think I'll make 2 nights reservations right now. We appreicate the heads up on that one.

We did this in July once when we were home exchanging in Halifax. Whenever we needed a room, we just stopped at tourist information and never had a problem. Things should be even easier in the fall with the exception of Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

Another reason why Cape Breton might be busy at that time of the year is the Celtic Colour Festival (October 6-14, 2006). We were there a couple of years ago (great music festival) and quite a few places had no vacancies. Apart from that you should be able to go without booking in advance. It's a great time of the year to travel (and enjoy the fall colours), although you might find that some tourist attractions will be closed after the summer season.

If the hotels are full, tourist services will find you a bed and breakfast. I have never seen such well organized tourist services as those in Nova Scotia and PEI. I haven't been overnight in NB, so I cannot vouch for them, but it is probably similar.

And the people are so friendly! I have always wanted to go back for another trip to see what I missed in 1993. I did dip into NB during an elderhostel in Eastport, ME.

One of these days I want to go to Newfoundland.

Don't plan to get a hotel room last minute around Sept 23... the Rolling Stones concert on the 23rd has resulted in hotels being booked solid all around Halifax!

It would never have occured to me to stop at a tourist information centre to find a room. I'll certainly keep that in mind.

We will be long gone from Halifax by the 23rd......our 3 days in Halifax/Dartmouth will be over the Thanksgiving weekend and we have our rooms reserved. (Thanks to you all!)

Only 10 days to go!!

If you are driving around NS with no fixed plans, tourist information can generally find you a room. I have never seen such helpful tourist services as on NS.

I would not bet on getting a room, though, if the Rolling Stones are in town.

We just got back from NS.
Tourism is way down this year (gas and exchange rate) so as indicated during non festival time, rooms are not a problem.