East Coast Road Trip from Halifax to Toronto
 

Hi All
Myself and my partner are flying from Vancouver to Halifax in a couple of weeks, and planning on renting a car in Halifax and driving to Toronto.
The main places we want to see are Halifax, Cape Breton, New Brunswick, PEI, Newfoundland, Quebec city and Montreal. But at this stage Im not sure what the best route would be. Would we go to Cape Breton first and then to NB and then NB to PEI and then Newfoundland?
Im not sure if we will be doubling up on ourselves doing it this way, so Im really looking for advice on the logistics of it all, and maybe a suggested itinerary for approx 3 weeks?

Any advice from fellow travellers would be appreciated! We are an Irish couple who will be flying from Toronto back to Ireland then, so we really want to make the most of it!

Thanks in advance

Have you checked the cost of renting a car in Halifax and abandoning it in Toronto?

The only ferries to Newfoundland from the Maritime provinces are from North Sydney, NS, so that really determines the order of things.

So it would be Halifax, Cape Breton, ferry to Argentia or Port aux Basques, NL, return ferry to Sydney from Port aux Basques or Argentia, Cape Breton again, ferry from Caribou to Wood Islands, PEI, Confederation Bridge from PEI to New Brunswick, then Quebec, Montreal and Toronto.

Map it on google to see what`s involved. The ferry to PEI is fairly short, but the ferries to Newfoundland are 6 to 8 hours to/from Port aux Basques and 16 hours from/to Argentia. When you map it, you will see why you want to do both ferry routes.

You are trying to cram in an awful lot in 3 short weeks: 4 cities, 6 provinces across 3 time zones, at least two long ferry rides. Do you have any sense of the distances involved? New Brunswick is about the size of Ireland, Newfoundland larger at about 112,000 sq. km. Take ron's suggestion and use Google maps to rough out an itinerary.

Newfoundland is wonderful and unique, but IMHO it takes 10 days to do it justice and should be left to a separate trip. Everyone's travel style is different, but for me "making the most of it" allows some time to explore and savour, not a rushed trip and a quick view of 'highlights" .

There is so much to enjoy and marvel at I'm sure you will have a great time, and want to come back.