Yarmouth/Halifax Round Trip recommendations
 

My husband and I are planning a summer trip to the Maine coast and are hoping to include a side-trip to Nova Scotia on the CAT round trip from Bar Harbor for the end of our vacation. We will only have 3 nights to spend in Nova Scotia. I know, I know, it isn't enough time, but it's either that or not go at all! Here are my thoughts:
Take the 8AM CAT to Yarmouth to arrive about noon?)and spend the afternoon leisurely driving up the Atlantic coast to Halifax. Spend day 2 in Halifax. Leave early on day 3 and leisurely drive the Bay of Fundy coast staying overnight either in or near Yarmouth. Day 4 take the 11AM CAT back to Bar Harbor.

Does this seem manageable? We were thinking of spending 2 nights in Halifax, possibly at the Waverley Inn. Any suggestions on our last night? Is there a better alternative than Yarmouth which will still be close enough to get us to the ferry on time?

Thanks for your advice,
Linda

Hi. I can't help you with the Yarmouth portion, but your trip certainly does seem manageable, albeit quick. Your first day will be a lot of travel, between the CAT and the drive to Hfx. The Waverley Inn has a great reputation and is quite central. When will you be in Halifax? If you're here at the right time you might consider taking in the International Tattoo or the Busker Festival.

between yarmouth and halifax some places i hear to stop at are mahone bay, lunenburg and peggy's cove.

We'll be staying in Halifax the evenings of July 24th and 25th. A customer mentioned the Tattoo to me. She experienced it and said it was fabulous, but she remembered it at a different time than when we'll be there. ScotiaGirl, do you know if our dates concide with either of these events?

We had planned to stop at Mahone Bay, Lunenburg and Peggy's Cove enroute to Halifax. I guess the real issue is whether we can spend enough time in these places and other scenic stops and make it to Halifax before it's very late, or should we spend the first night around Lunenburg and then continue on to Halifax the next morning? We would then have less than a full day in Halifax since the 3rd day, travelling back along the Bay of Fundy(and hopefully taking in the tides experience) seems quite time-consuming too.

Hi! Unfortunately you'll be almost a month late for the Tattoo and a week early for the Buskers! The good thing about coming at that time of year though is that you have light until about 9:15 or so, so you have a lot of time to play with when driving from Yarmouth to Halifax. Peggy's Cove, Mahone Bay and Lunenburg are on your way to the city, but as for your itinerary I'd say it depends on what you are interested in as to whether or not you spend a night in Lunenburg. The Boxwood Festival is happening at the time you'll be there (www.boxwood.com) but you could definitely fill more than a full day in Halifax. In Halifax, see the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Pier 21, The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Keith's Brewery, the Historic Properties, the Citadel, and some local pubs (Lower Deck, The Old Triangle). I suspect I may be confusing matters rather than helping! Basically, you can make it to Halifax the first day and still stop in the the places you mentioned for a quick taste of each, or you can devote more time to the smaller places and less to Halifax. Also keep in mind that Peggy's Cove is a very doable day trip from Halifax. Let me know what interests you and I'll be happy to give more details!

Sorry, that should be www.boxwood.org

Hi ScotiaGirl,

Been so busy working I haven't had time to check Fodors!!

Your suggestions all seem great. We love the outdoors- both driving and exploring on foot. We also like historic places such as in Halifax. It's so hard to choose when everything is appealing. I looked up the Boxwood Festval and that sounds really interesting. I could explore the availability of rooms and tickets for the 24th. Any suggestions where to stay?

If we elected to stay over in Luneburg, how long a drive distance and time-wise is it to Halifax? How far is Peggy's Cove from Luneburg and from Halifax? Are there a lot of interesting sites between Luneburg and Halifax which would further limit our time in Halifax itself? Perhaps some answers to these could make it easier to decide. Thanks!!

Lunenburg is a great spot to set up your base camp. It's exactly an hour to Halifax, and about the same to Peggy's Cove. While there, you could easily visit Mahone Bay (10 minutes away) and Chester (25 minutes away). If you like exploring the outdoors, I would recommend spending some time in The Ovens (20 minutes from Lunenburg)....a beautiful nature area with easy hiking trails on the ocean cliffs. You can also take a boat ride and explore the sea caves. Too bad you only have 3 days in Nova Scotia since there's soooooo much to see and do. If you stay in Lunenburg, check out the Mariner King Inn. I've stayed there before and it's great!

Thanks for the info on Luneburg. I looked up the Inn and it looks lovely!It is a pity we can't stay longer. We really had only planned a Maine trip and after listening to some friends and associates rave about Nova Scotia that we decided to add a few days at the end of our vacation. But unfortunately we have no more time. Hopefully we'll get back again.

So do you recommend staying the 2 nights in Luneburg and not staying over at all in Halifax? That way we would drive to Halifax the next day only as a day trip. Would that give us enough time there? And then would it be convenient to leave from Luneburg on our third day to see the tides and drive the Bay of Bundy coast?

Thanks!
Linda

Hi Ivs. Should you stay in Lunenburg 1 or 2 nights? That really depends what you're looking to see and do during your visit to Nova Scotia, and also to some extent, where you're from. While Halifax to a great place to visit, with lots to see and do, it is a city.....in fact the largest city in Nova Scotia. But "large" is relative here. In reality it's somewhat like a small Partland, Maine. Personally, I find that when people come to Nova Scotia to visit me, they want to see the picturesque lobster fishing villages, beautiful rugged coast, sailing ships and lighthouses. You can certainly do Halifax and Peggy's Cove as a day trip from Lunenburg no problem. Also driving to the Fundy Coast and back to Yarmouth to cath the ferry is doable....just depends how much time you want to spend in the car. One very important bit of advice about Peggy's Cove.....get there right after breakfast in the morning before all the tour buses start arriving!! It can get really crowded there in the summer.

Personally I can't imagine coming to NS and not staying at least one night in Halifax, at least so that you get a taste of both rural and urban NS. I suppose it all just depends though on what you are looking for. Halifax is a great walking city, and you'll be here at a great time of year to wander around. A nice day would be strolling the waterfront stopping at pubs to meet some locals, seeing the Historic Properties, visiting the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, doing a Keith's Brewery Tour, stopping at Pier 21 and seeing the Citadel. All of those things are downtown within walking distance of each other and will give you a taste of the history of the area. SailorGirl has some great suggestions on Lunenburg and the things you can see/do from that area, so I think you have a tough decision to make! I second the motion to visit The Ovens. Really consider whether you are looking for rural or urban, unscheduled or planned, and make your decisions based on that. My suggestion is to use this trip to get a good overview, decide if there's anything you'd like to see in more detail, and come back and visit us again!!

I don't quite want to agree that Halifax is like so many cities that people visit and think of when hearing such a phrase.

Halifax is uniquely compact and the harbor adds to its uniqueness. I liked the Citadel and, for Titanic fans, a trip to the maritime museum of the Atlantic make sense. (truth be told, they took the Titanic theme and then had to work hard to enhance it with other seemingly relevant items)

Many quaint restaurants and the harbor-shore touristy area is fun to walk through.

A round trip ferry ride across to Dartmouth (never getting off the boat) is a fun little jaunt. Some time on Spring Garden Road with all of the college types is fun too.

My first trip to NS was more brief than yours will be and I drove 800 miles from Boston just to see it. (tacking time onto a vacation just like you)

My best warning/suggestion to you is:

"DO NOT skimp on your 3rd day path down the Fundy shore" ...

and do your research so you know what the tides will be doing as you approach.

If I were having to view the Fundy shore in one day, driving from Truro to Yarmouth... I'd time my path just past Truro with LOW tide... and then walk waaaaaaaay out in the surf at whatever beach access I chose.

If your timing doesn't work that particular way, then do stop for a meal at a place where you can observe the significant change in a rising tide during the time you are eating. The tide differences are most pronounced in the Bay of Fundy very near to the Truro end.

Unfortunately it isn't often easy to get the full effect by having something to do for SIX HOURS between high and low tide.

Another thing to enjoy about Nova Scotia (and Maine too, for that matter)... is the relatively light traffic and laid-back serenity because those places aren't really "on the way to anywhere".

(translation: not overrun by society or tourism)

We just got back from an out-of-town business meeting. Work is really cutting into my vacation planning!

Thanks for so much good information. Everything sounds so wonderful. My husband and I talked it over tonight and thought the following itinerary might work. It gives us a bit of the outdoors and city. What do you all think?:

Day 1: Drive the Atlantic coast from Yarmouth and overnight in Lunenburg. Should give us time to explore coast, the ovens, Mahone Bay etc. and attend the Boxwood Festival concert.

Day 2: Drive to Peggy's Cove after breakfast before the busloads arrive and continue to Halifax to explore for the rest of the day and overnight there.

Day 3: Check out the tides and Fundy coast. We were thinking of an overnight in Digby. That would give us more leisurely time to explore without getting all the way to Yarmouth.

A few questions I would appreciate help with:

Does Digby make sense for our last overnight? The CAT leaves Yarmouth the following day at 1:00 PM which means we have to be there by 12:00. Is that easy enough to do from Digby? Is there a better choice? Any suggestions where to stay?

A friend mentioned that she took a staircase down to walk on the ocean floor during low tide but she couldn't remember exactly where that was. Anyone know?

Do inns like the Waverly Inn in Halifax have off-street parking? Any issues with parked cars in Halifax? We will probably be driving a sports car (real practical!) and my husband is a little concerned (it's new).

Is gas/petrol very expensive compared to the US? Are the prices pretty standard around the route we are taking?

Thanks again for all the help!
Linda

First of all, my instinct about the staircase down to walk on the ocean floor is a place in NEW BRUNSWICK called "Hopewell Cape" or the "Flower Pot Rocks".

Surely there could be a number of other such areas, and heaven knows that the ocean floor can be had all over the place in the Bay of Fundy, stairway or not.

As for gas, Nova Scotia just isn't THAT big, so your gas expenses will be survive-able. Generally Canada has higher gas prices, and Nova Scotia should be somewhat standard in most places... a bit cheaper in Halifax area, most likely.

Gas right now is between $0.96 and $1.00 per liter, depending on where you buy it. There are about 4 liters to a US gallon.

Your detailed plans in your latest post sound fine. Lunenburg, where I live, is definitely worth the day of arrival and your first night. Try Magnolia's Cafe if you can get in within 30 minutes--we don't even try going between April and October. A long wait might cut into the Boxwood timing, so the Knot Pub might be faster, though still wildly popular. The Lunenburg Arms has both rooms and a very good restaurant itself. If you really wanted to do dinner to the exclusion of much else, try the Fleur de Sel, though you might think you were somewhere near Lyon rather than Lunenburg.

Doing a Bluenose II, Eastern Star or whalewatching Bay cruise right from the center of town would take you by the Ovens with a better view than by land, though you could stop by there before settling into your B&B in town.

Halifax is 1.25 hours to the Dalhousie University area, according to my commuting husband, but that is via the highway. You could go through Mahone Bay on Rte. 3 without a real stop except to look at the three-church view, or else to get a very expensive quilt or outfit at Suttles and Seawinds. Either get back on the highway outside of Mahone Bay at Exit 10 and go through to Exit 5, down 333 to Peggy's Cove through Tantallon, etc., and then on to Halifax, or spend longer on the slower Rte. 3 to 333. Lots to do in Halifax, as people have posted. I find Cambridge Suites quite convenient and reasonable for my brief conferences in town, and it has underground parking. The Lord Nelson Hotel is an old landmark that has been nicely redone, is on the Public Gardens and the Spring Garden shop/restaurant beat, and has valet parking. The Westin is a bit out of the way for everything except Pier 21, but has good do-it-yourself outside parking.

Day 3, you could get to Digby on the 101 even with a late start,but would suggest concentrating on the Windsor, Grand Pre, Blomidon area for a real look at the Fundy phenomenon, then streak on to Digby on the highway. The ferry time on the next day will be easy enough to make.

Have attempted to pick a few highlights that will give a good overview but won't leave you exhausted or stumbling around in the middle of the night. Enjoy, and come back sometime.