Halifax

Our upcoming cruise to Canada/New England will be our first. What would you recommend Peggy's Cove or Lunenburg. We would like to have time left to explore the waterfront in Halifax.

Thanks

In Oct. 2015, while on a RCI cruise, we rented a car and headed straight down to Lunenberg, walked around, visited the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, had lunch, took pictures and headed for Peggy's Cove.

We briefly stopped by the Swiss Air flight 111 memorial which is very close to Peggy's Cove. If there are other cruise ships in port, Peggy's Cove will be crowded. It's all about taking the iconic pictures of the lighthouse and the fishing village with the colorful fishing boats. After leaving Peggy's Cove, we headed back to Halifax and visited the Fairview Cemetery before going back to the ship.

You can visit Lunenberg and Peggy's Cove and have still some time to walk around the Halifax harbor on your visit, but you need to watch your time and keep moving. It you want lots of leisure time at the harbor, then pick Lunenberg or Peggy's Cove, but probably not both.

A couple of shots from Peggy's Cove

If you want time on the wonderful waterfront then content yourself with Peggy's Cove. You do not need a guide so rent a car and get going before the tour busses.

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g154976-i327-k8118123-One_day_cruise-Halifax_Halifax_Region_Nova_Scotia.html#63960510

Our favorite was Lunenburg. It was scenic and relaxing, with great cafes and museums. We also walked the Halifax waterfront and visited Peggy's Cove. Halifax was incredibly crowded with cruise passengers at all of the waterfront restaurants and along the walkways. Peggy's Cove was so busy with tourists that the parking lots was overflowing with tour busses and rental cars. From a distance the abundance of tourists walking around the lighthouse looked like ants on a big rock. You may wish to consider your timing and the number of ships in port as you plan your day in Halifax.

Thanks so much. I am going to check on how many cruise ships in port that day.

Looks like 2 ships that day I guess it will be crowded everywhere.

What time do you dock and depart? We docked at 8 but they had to take a sick/injured person off so we had to wait. Also we departed at 2pm and it was light rain and low fog when we arrived. I had a car booked (Hertz) from the depot right at the pier (22) but due to the rain/fog and early departure decided at the last minute to cancel the car and do a ship tour to Peggy's Cove and Titanic grave site. Glad we did, far less stressful.

Peggy's Cove wasn't crowded for us, as we docked 1hr before the other ship and it also a small ship. So check these details to see what your situation will be.

We loved Peggy's Cove but may have gotten a different impression had it been overrun with people.

Our upcoming cruise to Canada/New England will be our first. What would you recommend Peggy's Cove or Lunenburg. We would like to have time left to explore the waterfront in Halifax.

 

Thanks

I would pick Lunenburg any day. It's a beautiful and historic town which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Peggy's Cove is over-rated and usually over-crowded. One could make an argument for visiting Peggy's at sunrise when no one else is around.

Try also to visit the village of Mahone Bay on your way to or from Lunenburg.

Good morning all,

Has anyone here taken a taxi from the cruise port to Peggy's Cove? If so, approx. how much was it and did you ask the cab to wait for you? Was it easy getting a cab to from the port and back?

Leaving next week. Any advice greatly appreciated!

Thanks. :)

Good morning all,

 

Has anyone here taken a taxi from the cruise port to Peggy's Cove? If so, approx. how much was it and did you ask the cab to wait for you? Was it easy getting a cab to from the port and back?

 

Leaving next week. Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks. :)

We did just that last year, no problem getting one at the port (in July). It was $60 per hour and we said we wanted to see Peggy's Cove and Fairview Cemetery. The man said that would take 3 hours. We also spent about 10 minutes at the Swissair Memorial on the way home. So it all cost $180 and we gave $200, which was fine for 6 of us. All the best, Tony

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Thank you so much Tony!

I've been killing myself trying to figure out these plan. @_@

I guess this is a better question for my roll call, but I'll need to start find people to share a cab with.

Did you think three hours was enough for all these places? (Super random question, though... When did you start and end your tour? I'm not 100% sure if we can get back to the Citadel in time for the noon gun.)

Thank you so much Tony!

 

I've been killing myself trying to figure out these plan. @_@

I guess this is a better question for my roll call, but I'll need to start find people to share a cab with.

 

Did you think three hours was enough for all these places? (Super random question, though... When did you start and end your tour? I'm not 100% sure if we can get back to the Citadel in time for the noon gun.)

I am doing this from memory and can't recall if it was exactly 3 hours. You agree the 3 hours at the start and if it drifted 10-15 minutes due to traffic or whatever our man didn't care. I am sure he thought it would be (3 hours), no doubt having done it a million times as we began with a sedate drive up to and around the Citadel and then through the town before heading to PC.

I'm not sure either about the gun unless you can leave at 8 am-ish. We were not trying to hit a deadline like that, so getting back anytime in the afternoon was fine by us. I think we left at 10 ish, back around 1.30 pm. Looking back, I should have asked to be dropped off at the Citadel for a real look round there and at other things but I was hungry and no-one else wanted to come with me so a ship full of free food and a swim in the warm pool got the vote :D

I think the roll call thing is the way to go, and if you have no luck there, depending on how deep into the cruise the Halifax day is you must have a good chance of finding others who want to do what you do. The lighthouse/cemetery combo is surely a popular one.

Good luck, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Links to the videos from all of that cruise are in the Atlantic Canada & New England link below.

Thanks everyone I think we will go with Lunenburg now should we do the ship excursion or rent a car

Definitely rent a car. Go to www.novascotia.com and ask for a map and guide in the mail.

https://goo.gl/maps/G1chJ4RAnrT2

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g154976-i327-k8118123-One_day_cruise-Halifax_Halifax_Region_Nova_Scotia.html#63960510

Thanks great link!!

TO: Cornishpastyman1: We did just that last year, no problem getting one at the port (in July). It was $60 per hour and we said we wanted to see Peggy's Cove and Fairview Cemetery. The man said that would take 3 hours. We also spent about 10 minutes at the Swissair Memorial on the way home. So it all cost $180 and we gave $200, which was fine for 6 of us. All the best, Tony

Q: For 6 people, what type of vehicle did you have? Van? Minivan? Did you pre-arrange it or did you just find the taxi near the pier. We arrive in Halifax on July 1 (a holiday) and wonder if taxis will be scarce, thus reserving the ride may be necessary.

We did just that last year, no problem getting one at the port (in July). It was $60 per hour and we said we wanted to see Peggy's Cove and Fairview Cemetery. The man said that would take 3 hours. We also spent about 10 minutes at the Swissair Memorial on the way home. So it all cost $180 and we gave $200, which was fine for 6 of us. All the best, Tony

 

For 6 people, what type of vehicle did you have? Van? Minivan? Did you pre-arrange it or did you just find the taxi near the pier. We arrive in Halifax on July 1 (a holiday) and wonder if taxis will be scarce, thus reserving the ride may be necessary.

 

When you exit the terminal (where there are lots of shops etc) you will see the taxi rank. There were 2, maybe 3 waiting, all big enough for 7 passengers. There are also boards stating the cost of tours, usually stating 2 destinations, one of which is always seemed to be Peggy's Cove. There wasn't a board for PC & the cemetery but we knew that the cemetery was on the way back from PC with a relatively minor detour so we just asked the next taxi off the rank how much that would be. He said 3 hours so $180. I think it actually was nearer 3.5 hours but maybe we had 10 mins extra at PC, and of course we also saw the Citadel and the SwissAir memorial (at his suggestion).

 

I have no idea if 1 July will be extra busy but if you know you want to do that sort of thing I would book one. All the best, Tony