A Grand Nova Scotia Itinerary

When To Visit Nova Scotia

The peninsula can be visited all year round but May to September are widely regarded as the best times, with July and August being the peak tourist season. Autumn is a popular time to visit when the leaves on the trees are turning to display glorious colours but some attractions may close as early as late September. Activities such as whale watching will be dependent on the weather and even if you book in advance, trips may be cancelled at short notice.

Getting to Nova Scotia

Most international visitors will fly into Halifax airport. There is an arrivals procedure to ensure that you aren’t bringing prohibited goods into the country.

Process: On entering the immigration area, before you show your passport, go to the machine with all members of your party. Answer the questions on the screen. You will need to declare any food. If you only have sweets/biscuits and that won’t be a problem,  but fruit/meat/cheese is not allowed and will be confiscated. Get a receipt and proceed through immigration. Keep the receipt after you have collected your luggage and hand it in. 

Many visitors travelling from Canada/USA may drive across or catch a ferry from the mainland. You can drive from New Brunswick on Trans Canada Highway 104. And there are ferries from Maine to Yarmouth, Saint John (New Brunswick) to Digby, and Prince Edward Island to Caribou.

Getting Around Nova Scotia

The easiest way to get around is to rent a car. As Europeans we found the cars to be enormous, certainly compared with the cars we are used to driving. However, the roads are very wide, largely clear of traffic and the parking spaces are big as well. We found that fuel costs were much cheaper than at home.  

If you don’t fancy driving, there are public bus services between Halifax and the major regions, which will allow you to reach many of Nova Scotia’s loveliest areas.

There are also several guided tours and day trips to places such as Lunenburg and the Annapolis Valley from Halifax.

Nova Scotia Itinerary

Our itinerary is very flexible. We generally stayed in each location for a day or two. This trip took us two weeks to complete but you could add more days if you wish. The minimum time to do this itinerary would be around 10 days.

Halifax

We start our trip in Halifax, Nova Scotia’s laid-back capital city. The waterfront is a lively district with loads of restaurants and bars.

There are plenty of things to do in Halifax. The Citadel, strategically positioned on top of the hill overlooking the harbour, offers a social and military history of the city.

Lunenburg (100km from Halifax)

Stop by Peggy’s Cove lighthouse on your way to Lunenburg. It is the most touristy lighthouse in the region and often very busy. But it is very pretty. As you travel around the coast, you will see a number of these charming lighthouses.

Then drive on to Lunenburg, a very colourful town with a pretty harbour and a UNESCO world heritage site.

It has an excellent Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic where you can learn all about the sea life in the area and the fishing industry. The museum has loads of friendly guides and offers talks about various subjects, including lobster fishing.

You can visit a schooner to see what life aboard was like.

If you are spending some time in the area you can arrange a trip on the Bluenose II – a replica of the famous fishing schooner the Bluenose.

Lunenburg Accommodation: The Rum Runner Inn offers comfortable accommodation. Be aware that street parking must be paid for until 5pm. We parked in the main car park on the shore front and then moved the car closer to the accommodation in the evening when we checked in.

Lunenburg Food: The seafood is amazingly good. There are so many fantastic seafood restaurants in the town – just take your pick. Don’t forget to enjoy a lobster dinner here. Even the local Subway offers lobster rolls at a very good price! The Grand Banker Bar & Grill offered lobster mac ‘n’ cheese and the Lunenburger – a smashed beef patty with lobster and a scallop. Note that lunchtimes are likely to be busy as there will be a lot of day trippers from Halifax visiting.

Yarmouth itself is a small town with a waterfront and couple of museums. We recommend a visit to the Cape Forchu lighthouse (road 304 off Route 1) where you can climb to the top to get a view of the seascape. The local area has a nature trail to explore as well.

Digby (100km from Yarmouth)

Take the Evangeline Trail (route 1) to Digby. Make sure to stop off at the delightful Gilbert Cove lighthouse en route. It has a friendly welcome and a small museum.

Digby is a small town at the top of the Digby Gut which links to the Bay of Fundy. Whale watching expeditions into the bay are popular here. Be prepared for the weather to scupper your plans, so if you are able to spend more time in the area and can be flexible with your timing, you have a better chance of being able to enjoy the excursions.

If you can’t get out whale watching, there are some coastal walks on the area. The town of Digby itself is small but has a couple of museums and a cute lighthouse.

Foodies should definitely include Digby on their itinerary as it is the scallop capital of the world! Make sure to scoff as many of these delectable, juicy shellfish as possible.

Digby Accommodation: Come From Away B&B was a lovely place to stay – an old family house with big rooms and a great brekkie.

Digby Food: The Crow’s Nest is a great place to get seafood, especially the scallops. Make sure to check out their chowder too. It can get busy, so we recommend booking.

And, we don’t really have a sweet tooth, but Ava’s Sweet Treats had a range of excellent desserts. It’s not often your expectations are exceeded, but check out the actual ice-cream sandwich compared with the picture!

Wolfville (140km from Digby)

A short drive from Digby, Annapolis Royal is the oldest European settlement in Nova Scotia. Port Royal is Canada’s oldest national historic site.

Fort Anne is a historic fort built by Scottish settlers in 1629 to protect the harbour. The fort has an interesting museum which showcases the history of the area, including that of the indigenous Mi’kmaw, a heritage that goes back thousands of years.

The town also has botanical gardens to visit.

Drive onwards to Wolfville, a university town in the heart of Nova Scotia’s wine country. This valley within a valley has a microclimate which is perfect for growing grapes so there are plentiful vineyards in the area. Now, if you’re driving, you can’t enjoy a tasting, so we recommend a wine tour.  The Magic Bus Winery tour involves boarding an old red London Routemaster double-decker bus and being driven to local wineries where you get to taste their delicious offerings. Lunch is also included in some of the tours.

Make sure to visit Grand Pre, a historic park which is a UNESCO heritage site. This beautiful area has an interpretive centre, which offers a lot of information about the history of the region notably the Mi’kmaq and the Acadians.  

It is an important place to learn about the deportation of the Acadians, French settlers forced to leave by the British, many of whom eventually ended up in Louisiana, where they became known as Cajun. There is a memorial church dedicated to the Acadians.

Driving up from Yarmouth you will no doubt have travelled along at least a part of the Evangeline Trail. It is here that you can discover who Evangeline was – ‘Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie’ is a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow telling the tragic story of these horrible deportations.

Accommodation: Tattingstone Inn was the poshest hotel on our trip. Located about a 20 minute walk from the centre, this offered a large room in a historic house. Breakfast was included and had plenty of options on the menu. 

Truro (120km from Digby)

To be honest, this was a stop-off on our way to Cape Breton to break up the journey. But we did have a plan to enjoy one of the most exciting activities in the area. The Bay of Fundy, which lies between Nova Scotia and mainland Canada, has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. A billion tonnes of water move in and out of the bay twice a day – more than the entire freshwater rivers of the world. The interpretation centre by the river on route 289 is free to visit and has some interesting information about the area.

Tidal bore rafting on the Shubenacadie river is a fun activity – you drift along the river as the tide goes out, then, when the tide turns, the river reverses, the bore comes in and, as the river basin fills, you get standing waves, which can be up to 6 feet tall! This video sums up how much fun it is.

Tips for Bore Rafting: Wear old clothes. Don’t take anything of value. If you wear glasses, either don’t wear them or put them on a string or chain. You can borrow a wetsuit but the water is surprisingly warm in September – about 20 DegC.

Drive on to Truro. It has a lovely and extensive park – Victoria Gardens – which has lots of trails and delightful waterfalls. You can climb the jacob’s ladder – if you have any energy left.

If you’re lucky you may be able to get tickets for an evening cèilidh in town – a social gathering with music and/or dance – in the town hall. Be sure you get tickets early, they do sell out.

Baddeck Food: If you haven’t eaten enough lobster, make sure to go for an all-you-can-eat seafood feast at Baddeck Lobster Suppers. (All you can eat chowder and mussels, plus lobster or snow crab and a dessert!)

Cabot Trail

The Cabot Trail is known as one of the world’s most beautiful coastal drives. It is a circular route through beautiful countryside with gorgeous seascapes along the way. There are plenty of stopping points. We drove the trail anti-clockwise so that the car passenger could have sea views but it’s perfectly fine to drive the other way round.

Important: The Cabot Trail goes through several national parks. If you are just driving through, you don’t need to pay the entrance fee but if you are stopping off at any attraction inside the park, buy a ticket at the entrance booths. If you arrive in the afternoon, the ticket will be valid for most of the following day. Check to see whether you can get a multiple person discount if you have travelling companions.

Cheticamp (115km from Ingonish)

Continue along the Cabot Trail. Don’t forget to stop at the St Paul Museum and Lighthouse, on the Dingwall road.

The road on the western coast of the trail is just charming and there are lots of stopping points.

Cheticamp wears its Acadian heritage with pride. There are lots of hikes in the area, including a coastal walk that takes in a historic Acadian village, now in ruins, but with infographics.

And there are river walks and waterfalls to enjoy as well.

Les Trois Pignons, on the Cabot Trail, is a museum that offers an introduction to Acadian culture and the history of Chéticamp, as well as an impressive collection of hooked rugs.

Cheticamp Accommodation: Auberge Doucet is slightly out of town (a five minute drive) but its setting on a hill affords lovely views of the area. The sit-down breakfast made to order will set you up for the day.

Cheticamp Food: Seafood Stop Restaurant (conveniently walkable from the hotel) does exactly what it says – great seafood, especially lobster. Harbour Restaurant and Bar offered Acadian-Style Morue en Cabane which was a cod dish cooked with chives (used as a vegetable rather than a garnish) and pork scraps.