Travel

One week in Nova Scotia (October)

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Sr. Member
Aug 3, 2011
661 posts
152 upvotes
Edmonton

One week in Nova Scotia (October)

Hi. My wife and I will visit Nova Scotia in October for one week. We almost booked a flight ticket to Vancouver island but changed the plan last night ( We love Vancouver island but we have been there 3 times already.)

As my wife will be 7 month pregnant I want to drive less than 3 hrs a day if possible.

We just want to drive around and see beautiful scenery and eat lots of seafood. We wouldn't do any hikes or other physical activities.

Here is my plan so far.

Sep 30 - 6AM arrive in Halifax. Take a nap and check out the city
Oct 1 - Drive to Peggys cove and Lunenburg and back to Halifax
Oct 2 - Drive to Pictou
Oct 3 - Drive to Mabou or Cheticamp. Which town is better for tourist?
Oct 4 - Ingonish
Oct 5 - Ingonish or Baddeck. Stay 2 nights in Ingonish or stay one night in Baddeck?
Oct 6 - Antigonish
Oct 7 - back to airport by 1:30 pm

If wife wasn't pregnant, we would have driven to PEI too but I tried my best to shorten the driving time.

How does my itinerary look?
6 replies
Sr. Member
Aug 3, 2011
661 posts
152 upvotes
Edmonton
TartanToed wrote: That's a very nice Cape Breton itinerary.

Too bad you can't fit PEI in. The ferry is still running from Pictou in October and is a lovely relaxing ride: https://www.ferries.ca/ns-pei-ferry/schedule/
Maybe we should cut one day in cape breton and spend a day in PEI. I didnt know there ferry from pictou to pei. I though the bridge is the only way to get Pei from NS

Thanks for the tip
Member
Nov 24, 2008
316 posts
143 upvotes
Dartmouth NS
Glad to help. October can be a really nice time of year and if you're early enough you'll catch the peak of fall colours.

Btw, if you wanted to drive to PEI then take the ferry there's plenty of opportunity to stop during the drive to help alleviate any driving discomfort to your wife. I'd suggest viewing the Tidal Bore in Truro and then visiting the Masstown Market for a bite. You'll need to check the tide table to see if you can create a good driving schedule to view it. Then, stop at the Sackville Waterfowl Park in Sackville NB, just beyond the PEI turnoff. The park has a very nice and easy walking trail that winds around the pond. Very pleasant on a good day.

Even if you decide against the driving to PEI, do check out the tidal bore as it's on your route to Pictou from Halifax. It's pretty cool if you can catch it. Masstown Market is only about 10min down the 104 from Truro towards NB if you feel like stopping there as it's not too much out of the way.

https://www.truro.ca/living-in-truro/th ... -bore.html
https://masstownmarket.com/
https://sackville.com/residents/parks-a ... our-parks/
Deal Addict
Dec 7, 2011
3586 posts
1993 upvotes
Whitehorse
I would forget about PEI, and maybe even about Halifax. Fly into Sydney and focus on Cape Breton.

I absolutely love Peggy's Cove, but most tourists, I think, spend too much time driving around and too little enjoying the spot where they are. It takes time to soak up the vibes. Who cares if the next bay over might be 3% nicer?

In any case, take the Cabot Trail the other way round. Anti-clockwise. You want to be closer to the water when to drive, so Chéticamp should not be your start.

I would also recommend going North of the Cabot Trail, to Bay St. Lawrence. Maybe take a whale watching tour there, if that's your thing.

Furthermore, I like Isle Madame. If you want to get away from tourists, explore the coast around Framboise, Fourchu. But there is hardly any tourism infrastructure there.
Sr. Member
Aug 3, 2011
661 posts
152 upvotes
Edmonton
sokolov wrote: I would forget about PEI, and maybe even about Halifax. Fly into Sydney and focus on Cape Breton.

I absolutely love Peggy's Cove, but most tourists, I think, spend too much time driving around and too little enjoying the spot where they are. It takes time to soak up the vibes. Who cares if the next bay over might be 3% nicer?

In any case, take the Cabot Trail the other way round. Anti-clockwise. You want to be closer to the water when to drive, so Chéticamp should not be your start.

I would also recommend going North of the Cabot Trail, to Bay St. Lawrence. Maybe take a whale watching tour there, if that's your thing.

Furthermore, I like Isle Madame. If you want to get away from tourists, explore the coast around Framboise, Fourchu. But there is hardly any tourism infrastructure there.
Driving counter clockwise made more sense to me but for some reason most people drive clockwise..I am not sure why.

And thanks for the tip. I will ask my wife if she wants to skip PEI or not. Thanks for the advice !!
Sr. Member
Aug 5, 2007
656 posts
133 upvotes
hogujak wrote: Driving counter clockwise made more sense to me but for some reason most people drive clockwise..I am not sure why.

And thanks for the tip. I will ask my wife if she wants to skip PEI or not. Thanks for the advice !!
The reason I drove clockwise was because google maps pointed us there when we searched for Cape breton national park. Took us straight to cheticamp lol. I really didn't mind the clock wise drive don't think being two meters closer to the water made much of a difference in my eyes :)

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