Maritime Road Trip from Ottawa - HELP !
 

Hi all !

My husband and I are planning a summer road trip from Ottawa to the Maritime provinces.. we are first time East coast travelers and I have just begun the research. Wondering if anyone can suggest an itinerary (9-10 days). I don't really have a sense of what is reasonable/priority.
Wishlist : Bay of Fundy, Charlottetown, Cabot Trail, Halifax, Peggy's Cove...
Open to all suggestions and so grateful to anyone who takes the time to help us !

You certainly have a good list to begin with, and I can't endorse enough the idea of visiting Nova Scotia.

Looking at just the basics of your trip (didn't even add PEI), it looks like 2500 MILES, and perhaps 43 hours of time to cover them.

No doubt you should probably expedite the process between home and New Brunswick so that you can stop and smell the roses upon arrival in the far east.

I think a <b>top priority should be <I>Hopewell Cape, NB</i></b> and thus I would direct all maps to there first.

The next priority should probably be something akin to 2 or 3 nights in/near Baddeck, NS, affording time to circle the Cabot Trail <b>on a sunny day</b>. (some like to stop for a night along that path somewehre, so decide if that's for you)

Then, I would target Halifax next, after you leave Cape Breton. Ideally, perhaps 2 nights there, with a day trip in between to <b>Lunenburg and/or Peggy's Cove</b>.

(sigh) Oh heck, lets try this night-by-night:


Night in:

Riviere-du-Loup, QC (388 miles)
Moncton, NB (350 miles)
Baddeck, NS (after Moncton-Hopewell Cape-Moncton-Baddeck) (303 mi)

Baddeck, NS (after circuit of Cabot Trail) 190 miles / 4.5hr DRIVE time

Halifax, NS (220 miles) (4 hours on the MAIN roads)
Halifax, NS (after RT to Lunenburg) 120 miles, 2 1/2 hrs

(at this point it may be CRAZY to throw-in a night in Charlottetown, but I'm game if you are... LOL)

Charlottetown, PEI (202 miles, 3 1/2 hours via the bridge)

<i>(from there you COULD go up the east shore of NB, but I'm guessing you'll want to make tracks and put yourself in position for an easier final leg)</i>


So what if you stay on PEI for a good chunk of the day, and then make a 4-hour drive to Fredericton, NB for that 8th night???)

<b>From Fredericton</b> you'd have 630 miles and 10 1/2 hours of <i>driving</i> to get back to Ottawa... <U>with ONE night to plot along that path wherever you choose</u>.

<b>Obviously some of these days are LONG, laborious ones on the road... BUT</b> it seems obvious that <I>IF</i> you <b>are</b> going to do such a trip, that you have to put in all of those miles in some way.

At least my outline got you there, and got you home...


FYI - I have lots of posts about NS itineraries, if you just click on my name and scroll down for a while.

Hope this helps, or at least makes for an initial outline.

Thank you so much for the reply, I am so grateful ! It is so nice to have an outline and an idea of the distances covered during the initial planning stages.
Happy Monday !

Oh, another thing... go to this website

http://bayoffundytourism.com/tides/times/


and plot the TIDE TIMES for perhaps 3 or 4 spots around the Bay of Fundy (definitely including Hopewell Cape), for the entire duration of your time in the area (just in case) and then have the printout in the glove box.

At the moment when you know on which dates you will make such a trip, you can then pinpoint the time for extreme <b>low tide</b> on the morning you would project to reach <i>Hopewell Cape, NB</i>, as that is when you'd want to be there.

Also, perhaps find the schedule for the <i>"Tidal Bore"</i> at Moncton, NB... in case you are there and it's convenient to see.