Trip to Nova Scotia

[mquade]

We are planning a trip in our BFT to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island area in Sept. Haven't decided the exact route yet. For those of you that have traveled in these areas, could you suggest places to stay, and areas /places to visit. We would appreciate any help. Thanking you in advance. Miles and Karrie

[al1florida]

It would be helpful if you gave more details of your interests & amount of time you have.
Do you prefer the cities, or country?
Do you prefer RV Parks w/hookups or are you happy dry camping?
Do you like to see the major historic sites?
Will you take 4-6 weeks for the trip or 1-2 weeks?

A trip like this for us would take us at least 4 weeks and be much enjoyable if we spent 8 weeks in the two Providences. There is a huge amount to see.

In 2008 we spent 2.5 weeks in Cape Breton alone and still didn't see everything we wanted. From NS we went to Newfoundland & Labrador for 7 weeks.

[Hawkeye111]

Each to his/her own, but I would not go to Nova Scotia without attending at least two days of the Folk Harbor Festiva that is held each year in Lunenburg (sp?). The music is superb, the venues are historic and the town is a wonderful visit. Same for Newfoundland--Gros Marne park is wonderful, St John's is a trip and the bird sanctuaries are unbelieveable.
Understand that not all can be done at once, but I would gladly give up Capre Breton for Lunenburg and Gros Marne.

[Dallas Baillio]

It has been more than 10 years since we last visited Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Here is the route we followed.

http://nsonline.com/maps/

Took the ferry from St. John, New Brunswick to Digby, Nova Scotia then drove along the coast to Yarmouth, Shelburne, and on to Lunenburg, Peggy's Cove, Halifax, Sheet Harbor, Antigonish and on to Cape Breton Island. Then Inverness, Cheticamp, Cape Breton National Park and finally Meat Cove at the northern tip. Most memorable--Acadian areas around Yarmouth, Lunenburg, Halifax, Road from Antigonish to Meat Cove and Meat Cove itself. Campgrounds were satisfactory, but nothing special except Meat Cove which was exceptional for the view and the remoteness of the area. Campground in Lunenburg was centrally located and we walked to the waterfront, restaurants and bars.

On another trip we drove to Sydney and took the ferry to Newfoundland.
Don't recall much of significance as it was just an enroute stop to our final destination.

Prince Edward Island is a nice place, but we did not find a lot to see there. The House at Green Gables being the exception (look out for Japanese tourist).

http://www.gov.pe.ca/greengables/

I would suggest starting at Digby, NS and when you return from Cape Breton Island take the ferry from Pictou, NS to Wood Island, PEI. The area between New Glasgow and Digby is not as interesting as the areas you have already seen. This ferry will allow you to see a bit of PEI, pass through Charlottetown, the capital, and you can then take the Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick.

Have a good trip. If you have the opportunity see Newfoundland. It is often overlooked and it takes a special effort to get there, but is well worth at least a two week visit.

[wxtoad]

You'll have a great time. We spent several weeks up there two years ago and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. We honey-mooned on the Cabot Trail in a little tent back in 1967; on the more recent trip we stayed in the same campground. Louisburg is a great village to visit: nice city campground right on the waterfront downtown and near Fortress Louisburg - a must-see. There's a theater within walking distance with nightly concerts of Cape Breton music.

The provincial parks are very nice. One is located on Campobello Island near the FDR home. You can drive to Campobello from Maine and then take ferries on across to New Brunswick.

While passing through New Brunswick on your way up, you have to stop at MacKay's Blueberries. Fresh hot pies and muffins straight out of the oven - absolutely fantastic.

We documented our trip at:

http://www.wxtoad.com/index.asp?page=tr ... breton.htm

Enjoy your trip!

Ted H.

[wjhgolf]

We are planning a trip next August to go whale watching in the Bay of Fundy. We want to maximize our long trip from Michigan and it appears as though there is plenty tio do in NB, let alone PEI and NS......not to mention Newfoundland. Don't think we'll take the ferry to Newfoundland (this time), but what about NB, PEI and NS - are they all worth it or should we (perhaps) focus on just NB? Are the people friendly? Should we try and only stay in the Provincial Parks or not? Thanks!

[al1florida]

We are planning a trip next August to go whale watching in the Bay of Fundy. We want to maximize our long trip from Michigan and it appears as though there is plenty tio do in NB, let alone PEI and NS......not to mention Newfoundland. Don't think we'll take the ferry to Newfoundland (this time), but what about NB, PEI and NS - are they all worth it or should we (perhaps) focus on just NB? Are the people friendly? Should we try and only stay in the Provincial Parks or not? Thanks!

First of all, how much time do you have? 2 weeks or the entire month of Aug?

In 2008 we spent 2 months in NB, NS & NL in our 40 diesel pusher (we were fulltimeing then). The highlight of the trip was the 7 weeks we spent touring the big island of Newfoundland & several days in Labrador. We did not visit PEI.

NB: The tides in the Bay of Fundy were awesome! Be sure and visit Hopewell Rocks and make sure you visit is long enough to see both the high and low tides. It takes about 6 hours to go from one to the other if I remember correctly.

If you have the time, visit the reversing falls in Saint John. We stayed at Rockwell Park & campground in Saint John. From there we spent a week in St. Martins relaxing and visiting Fundy Trail Provincial Park. The Century Farm RV Park has RV sites right on the water with a nice beach. If you swim in Lake Superior, you could swim here. Water is a little cold.

NS: We only visited the northern end of NS. Cape Breton and Cabot Trail is well worth seeing. We really loved staying in Louisbourg. We spent 2 days visiting the Fortress of Louisbourg. There is lots more to see on the island of Cape Breton that you could spend a couple of weeks or more there.

NL: Don't go unless you can spend at least 3 weeks on the island. If you can plan on 4-8 weeks and take your time touring the island.

For places to stay, go http://www.rvparkreviews.com/. There are reviews on the campgrounds I mentioned above.

We didn't visit PEI because we felt it is more of an urban setting than we like. I could be wrong, but that was our impression of the island, lots of golf courses & towns/cities. We much prefer the more rugged open scenic areas.

You might try visiting some other forums, such as the Escapees RV Club's forum: http://www.rvnetwork.com/ and searching for New Brunswick & Nova Scotia. You should find lots of comments on what to see and do there.

[wjhgolf]

Thanks! At this time, we're planning the entire month of August, but we're also coming across upstate NY, VT and NH (we love) to get to Acadia NP (we love) where we'll stay a few days. Then, we're heading to NB and beyond. Thanks for the tip on PEI - maybe we won't go there. We are planning just the northern half of NS and certainly Cape Breton Island. What did it cost for your ferry to NL? Do you think two weeks there could be enough? We've got a magazine on NB and are expecting one on NS, too.

[al1florida]

For the cost of the ferry to NL go to their website:
http://www.marine-atlantic.ca/eng/index.asp
They charge by the length and it changes year to year.

Touring NL is an "adventure" to take your time and enjoy. The hwy from Port-aux-Basques to St Johns is about 600 miles one way. A side trip, you don't want to miss, is L'Anse au Meadow the site of the Viking settlement in about the year 1000 AD. It is a side trip of about 280 miles one way. Many other side trips are 50 or more miles off the main road hwy 1. Roads are al 2 lane (parts of hwy 1 are 4 lane). Lots of driving is at 35-50mph.

The ferry trip is essentially a 24 hour project. The ferry ride is about 5 hours, but you need to drive an about an hour or so to get to the ferry an hour or two before departure, load, ride & unload and go to where you are going to stay. Many of the departures are at night or before sun up. Some departures are delayed 1-5 hours.

As I mentioned earlier, 3 weeks is the minimum I would recommend. Even at that you won't be able to stop and smell the roses. I think most caravan tours spend some 15-20 days on the island. Those trips are move in the am, tour in pm, move the next am. Some days you stay 2 nights before moving. Rush, rush, rush.

[wjhgolf]

Did you make reservations ahead of time for all of your camgrounds? Do you think that is necesary in most parks or not? Obviously, ferry reservations are required, but if you can adjust your lodging as you go, that would help.

[al1florida]

Did you make reservations ahead of time for all of your camgrounds? Do you think that is necesary in most parks or not? Obviously, ferry reservations are required, but if you can adjust your lodging as you go, that would help.

In NL the RV Parks seldom fill up. The exception typically is when a caravan with 15-20 rigs has reservations. We were in NB & NS in June, well before the season begins, so I don't know what that area is like in early August.

Our mode of travel is very relaxed, we seldom know more than a few days to a week ahead of time precisely where we will be. Once we determine we will be in a popular area we do call ahead to a RV Park to be sure we have a place to stay. We also do a lot of dry camping and boondocking so we stay in out of the way places which are public campgrounds or in places with no camping facilities or designated campsites.

[ddpjep]

We didn't visit PEI because we felt it is more of an urban setting than we like. I could be wrong, but that was our impression of the island, lots of golf courses & towns/cities. We much prefer the more rugged open scenic areas.

PEI is very rural and very beautiful. It only has two cities, the small capitol city of Charlottetown and the very small port city of Summerside. There are several villages, many of which are so small you don't notice them. The primary industries are agriculture (potatoes), tourism (Ann of Green Gables), and fishing (lobsters). There are essentially no rocks on the island, so that gravel for road building must be imported via ship. The island is connected to Nova Scotia by ferry and to New Brunswick by a long bridge. There are no fees to go onto the island, you only pay to depart. Check tourism guides for what to see.