Visiting The Maritime Provinces

[slowe]

I am planning a trip to  the Maritime Provinces this spring-summer.

I would appreciate any information about this area. What to see.

Where to stay. your experiences. We will visit Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and New Brunswick before heading to Quebec City.

Thanks

Steve

[manholt]

Hi Steve.  Butler has an excellent Blog on this subject, that will answer all your questions...just click on Blogs.  2015 or 16.

Carl

[tbutler]

Thanks for the shout-out Carl!  Here is the link to my article which is mostly about Newfoundland but does include a little information on the maritime provinces.  We made our major foray into the Maritime Provinces in 2005, before blogging had begun here so there isn't a record of our travels.

We really enjoyed the MP greatly.  What to see depends on what interests you have.  We tend to focus on scenic, wild and outdoor experiences and they abound.  Being into nature, one of the major things to see is the fantastic tides of the Bay of Fundy.  From high to low tide the water level will change by as much as 50 feet.  This creates some spectacular events to watch.  At Hopewell Rocks you can walk around strange rock pillars they call flower pots because they have trees and other vegetation growing on the top. That is what you see at low tide.  Wait six hours, yes it is worth the wait, and you will see islands with trees and people kayaking around them.  You will also see many kids with mud well above their knees, they've been wading at low tide in the muddy bottom there at Hopewell Rocks.  At St. John, you can witness a river flowing to sea running through rapids and falls then watch as six hours later the water reverses and sailboats go up over the area where the falls were.  That is on the south shore of New Brunswick.  Go to the north shore of Nova Scotia and at Truro you can watch a river flow upstream and can actually canoe or kayak on one.  There are places where you can join the crowd and watch a tidal bore sweep upriver.  At Burncoat Lighthouse (near Noel) you can walk on a rocky sea floor at low tide.  You can wander way out from shore looking at what is living in little tidal pools.  But don't wander too far, when the tide comes it it advances rapidly.  There is a large pillar/island there that has a rope hanging from a tree.  It is for people who get surprised by the tide, they can grab the rope and hang on to get to the top of the island if they are caught by surprise by the advancing tide.

Tides are fun, there is so much more. The provincial museum in St. John is great, lots of seafaring history, boat building, etc.  We stayed at Fundy National Park for several days and enjoyed hiking the forests and lakes there.  We also visited Halifax, touring the fort there and walking the town.  The cemetery with many of the recovered bodies from the Titanic is there.  We had a nice lunch at a restaurant on the pier, watched a cruise liner turn around in the harbor, and had to laugh at the tug boat painted to look like a cartoon character.

From there we headed to the eastern shore of Nova Scotia.  Cape Breton is a must see.  Spectacular scenery, moose, fog, cool but inviting.  We made the whole loop through Cape Breton Highlands National Park with our 40 footer and car in tow.  We stayed in several campgrounds in the park.  There is much to see around Sydney Harour and Victoria Mines.  A coal mine that goes under the sea, they have a tour and great museum.  The Marconi site where the first transatlantic wireless message was sent or received, I can't remember.  There is also the Alexander Bell Museum in that area.  We returned to mainland Nova Scotia via the southern road, identified on my map as the East Bay Highway.  It was barely a highway, you might skip that one but it is the shortest way back from Sydney Harbour.  By the way, Sydney Harbour is the departure point for the ferry to/from Newfoundland. 

PEI is a different experience.  We didn't stay long there.  We took the ferry from NS to PEI, free and left via the Confederation Bridge which at the time had a lower toll than the ferry fare.  We stayed at a small rural campground along the old rail route which has been converted into a bike and hiking trail.  We rode our bicycles into Charlottetown and had lunch at a restaurant on the harbour then rode back home.  We did a little exploring but not much more.  The old rails to trail bike trail runs the length of the island. 

There is much more to see in the Maritimes.  We had friends that ran a whale watching tour out of Grand Manan Island.  We've taken the motor home on the ferry several times to visit them.  They sold their boat last year but there are other tours from there and the whale watching is spectacular in the area.  They had the best tours I've ever taken.  We would drift near a pod of Humbacks for 20 or 30 minutes watching them surface again and again. 

Going to Quebec, Hwy 2 in NB along the Maine border is a spectacular scenic drive.  Driving through the St. John River valley the scenery is one stunning view after another.  That takes you to AUT-20 which skirts the southern shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Fleuve St-Laurent.  You will learn a little French while in Quebec.  The traffic signs are in French only!  Drive slowly and read fast!  We took our time on this drive as we made our way to Quebec City.  We stayed on the south shore and took the ferry into the old city and spent a day there with friends. 

Reviewing the trip has been a joy, have to put a return trip on the calendar in the next few years.  We always promise ourselves we'll go back to see this or that thing that we had to skip on this trip.  Enjoy Canada, we love traveling there.