Fodor's Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada
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For many, Nova Scotia evokes images of seascapes. To the south and east, the Atlantic crashes against rocky outcrops or washes placidly over white sand. To the northwest, Fundy tides—the highest in the world—recede to reveal mudflats, then rush back in, raising the sea level by more than 50 feet. To the north, warm, relatively shallow Northumberland Strait flows between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, providing a livelihood for fishermen on both sides. Nova Scotia is one of the world’s largest exporters of seafood, particularly lobsters. But the province is much more than its coastline alone; its coastal capital, Halifax, is a lively and attractive business and tourism hub.
It was Thomas Chandler Haliburton who first said "seeing is believing," and the observation applies to...
Read MoreFor many, Nova Scotia evokes images of seascapes. To the south and east, the Atlantic crashes against rocky outcrops or washes placidly over white sand. To the northwest, Fundy tides—the highest in the world—recede to reveal mudflats, then rush back in, raising the sea level by more than 50 feet. To the north, warm, relatively shallow Northumberland Strait flows between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, providing a livelihood for fishermen on both sides. Nova Scotia is one of the world’s largest exporters of seafood, particularly lobsters. But the province is much more than its coastline alone; its coastal capital, Halifax, is a lively and attractive business and tourism hub.
It was Thomas Chandler Haliburton who first said "seeing is believing," and the observation applies to his home province because it's hard to fathom such a variety of cultures and landscapes packed into an area smaller than West Virginia without witnessing it firsthand. Within the perimeter drawn by that convoluted coastline, lie the rolling farmlands of the Annapolis Valley, which yields vintner’s grapes, apples, corn, peaches, and plums. In the middle of the province, dense forests are interspersed with blueberry patches, cranberry bogs, and, in spring and summer, open fields of wildflowers—purple and blue lupines, yellow coltsfoot, pink fireweed—that blanket the ground with color. In Cape Breton are highlands that rival Scotland's, rugged rock-rimmed inlets, woodlands that provide spectacular fall foliage, and mountains that plunge dramatically down to meet the waves. Throughout the province there is great biodiversity, including a number of endangered and threatened species that are being actively protected. In the western arm, the Southwest Nova UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the second largest in Canada, includes the remote Kejimkujik National Park, which protects old-growth transitional woodland and all the wildlife that depends upon it.
The people of Nova Scotia are equally diverse. The original inhabitants, the Mi'Kmaqs, have been here for 10,000 years and remain a major cultural presence. In the early days of European exploration, they were joined by the French and English who settled on the shores and harvested the sea. Later, waves of immigrants came: Germans in Lunenburg County; Highland Scots displaced by their landlords' preference for sheep; New England Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution; freedmen or escaped slaves; then Ukrainians, Poles, West Indians, Italians, and Lebanese drawn to the industrial centers of Halifax and Sydney.
That multicultural mélange accounts for the fact that you’ll see Gaelic signs in Mabou and Iona, German sausage and sauerkraut prominently featured on menus in Lunenburg, and Francophones proudly flying their own tricolor flag in Acadian communities along the western Fundy coast and places such as Chéticamp in Cape Breton. It also helps explain why Nova Scotians, who originally hailed from so many different places themselves, are so famously hospitable to "people from away."
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Top Destinations
Top Destinations

South Shore and Annapolis Valley

Cape Breton Island

Halifax

The Eastern Shore and Northern Nova Scotia

Lunenburg

Wolfville

Sydney

Annapolis Royal

Baddeck

Liverpool

Parrsboro

Mahone Bay

St. Ann's Bay and Around

Cheticamp

Yarmouth

Chester

Pictou

Truro

Mabou

Antigonish

Windsor

Pointe de l'Église (Church Point)

Louisbourg

Digby

Cape Chignecto and Cape d'Or

Peggy's Cove

Shelburne

Tatamagouche

Guysborough

Cape North

Amherst

Pleasant Bay

Long Island and Brier Island

Kejimkujik National Park and Historic Site

Ingonish

Arichat

Sherbrooke and Sherbrooke Village

Margaree Harbour

Five Islands

Barrington and Cape Sable Island

Springhill

Big Pond

Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Judique

Canso

Halifax

Lunenburg

Sydney

Wolfville

Annapolis Royal

Baddeck

Liverpool

Mahone Bay

Parrsboro

Chester

Cheticamp

Yarmouth

Truro

Pictou

Mabou

Antigonish

Windsor

Pointe de l'Église (Church Point)

Louisbourg

Digby

Shelburne

Peggy's Cove

Tatamagouche

Guysborough

Amherst

Cape North

Pleasant Bay

Ingonish

Arichat

Sherbrooke and Sherbrooke Village

Margaree Harbour

Springhill

Judique

Big Pond

Canso
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Recent Forum Posts
Recent Forum Posts
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Road trip, NYC to Nova Scotia, PEI. Home to Australia via San Francisco.
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Solo trip to Nova Scotia
Caroladams0274 started Jul 16, 2022 |Last reply Jul 27, 2022 8 replies 545 views -
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Cabot Trail and Nova Scotia itinerary and questions
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