CA/NE Shore Excursions in July

We are on the Maasdam in July cruising from Montreal to Boston. Am looking for recommendations from those who have been to the ports of Quebec City, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, and Bar Harbor. Which HAL shore excursions are your favorites and which ports can be easily seen on your own. Any excursions to avoid would also be appreciated. No physical limitations and we are interested in all types of activities. Thank you.

I haven't looked at the HAL shore tour guide but have spent a lot of time in Sydney and Quebec City and visited Halifax last year on a cruise.
Bar Harbor is old vacation stomping grounds and one thing in found there a couple of years ago was the "Lobster Boat Lulu" -- you can actually go out with the lobsterman to watch him bring in traps etc.. very inexpensive. There's also a trolley there that you can take up to the park loop and around town. Check out [url="http://www.barharbormaine.com/activities"]http://www.barharbormaine.com/activities[/url]

If you will look about two posts down on this board there is a thread about Sydney... please check it out. I recommend arranging with locals beforehand or when you get there. Louisbourg is wonderful but ship tours don't allow enough time. Also see[url="http://www.richmondcounty.ca/tourism/index.htm"]http://www.richmondcounty.ca/tourism/index.htm[/url]

In Quebec City, one of "the" coolest places on the planet IMHO hopefully you have a long port call and time to experience this great walled city and its lower town. You definitely don't need a tour to do this -- the are wonderful carriage rides through the upper town all day long and you can easily walk the Dufferin Terrace up to the Citadelle. There are numerous churches and museums in the lower and upper city that you can visit for free or a nominal fee. There many excellent restaurants -one that we always enjoy is the Ancient Canadian, which as a wonderful fixed price menu before 4:30 (or 5:00) that almost mimics the more expensive evening menu. You can make resrevations there before you leave [url="http://www.auxancienscanadiens.qc.ca/Homeang.html"]http://www.auxancienscanadiens.qc.ca/Homeang.html[/url]. Check out [url="http://www.quebecregion.com/"]http://www.quebecregion.com/[/url]

In Halifax we took an English cab tour with Aberdeen Tours around the city; they also go to Peggy's Cove and it's very personal service. You will dock right at the center of everything in the harbor area. Vendors near the dock for last minute shopping. Harbor cruises, harbor hopper, Fortress, excellent seafood, Maritime Museum.. it's a lovely city.. check out [url="http://www.halifaxinfo.com/"]http://www.halifaxinfo.com/[/url] Feel free to ask if any questions on this.. it's a wonderful itinerary.. one of my favorites.

Host Caroline
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Caroline,
Thank you for all the helpful information. We love to explore on our own or hire locals for guides----much more personal and we get to see and do more. Had no problems last summer hiring locals while in the Med (including 2 ports in Turkey) and hope to be able to find local guides for help this year too. We love to walk and are happy to hear that the ship docks near the center of many of these cities.

A local tour company located in Sydney Nova Scotia is Tartan Tours @ 902 578 4501 or the web site is [url="http://www.tartantours.ca/"]www.tartantours.ca[/url] belive me these people know how to treat there customers.:) :)

Now, now Capebreton!!!!!