Charlottetown and Sydney: need ideas

[spleenstomper]

Hello, so DH and I waited too long to book excursions and there isn’t much left. Also, I’m wondering about the weather anyway, first days of May and how any outside excursions will go. Uncertainty.

 

Quebec City, I guess we will just take an Uber anywhere and walk around on our own etc. I would like to see that fancy hotel. 

Charlottetown, any ideas? I’m not particularly interested in Anne of Green Gables. 
 

Sydney, I guess we will do the Alexander Graham Bell museum ?

 

Any input? We like museums, food, not much on shopping. LOVE boats. 

Edited March 22, 2023 by spleenstomper

[Denise T]

Last year I visited both Charlottetown and Sydney. My sister and I just walked around the ports. They are very walkable. I really enjoyed walking around the harbors which if I remember were well paved. We also walked in some of the neighborhoods which I loved. It was these two ports that made me want to live in a coastal town such as these. It helped that the weather was beautiful both days. We sailed mid-October last year. 

[spleenstomper]

@Denise T thank you. That may be exactly what we do. 

[skittlebug83]

I'll be doing the same cruise a few weeks following you!

 

Just a FYI, the Alexander Graham Bell Museum doesn't open until May 19th.

https://www.novascotia.com/see-do/attractions/alexander-graham-bell-national-historic-site/1562

 

I originally had a tour booked with this as part of the itinerary. Might be back to the drawing board for me.

[jdavid]

12 hours ago, spleenstomper said:

Hello, so DH and I waited too long to book excursions and there isn’t much left. Also, I’m wondering about the weather anyway, first days of May and how any outside excursions will go. Uncertainty.

 

Quebec City, I guess we will just take an Uber anywhere and walk around on our own etc. I would like to see that fancy hotel. 

Charlottetown, any ideas? I’m not particularly interested in Anne of Green Gables. 
 

Sydney, I guess we will do the Alexander Graham Bell museum ?

 

Any input? We like museums, food, not much on shopping. LOVE boats. 

I live in Halifax so commenting. Expect weather to be 18 to 22 that’s 60 to 75 Fah if sunny and nice. Of course you could also have fog or rain. That said you are on an early Canada New England so layers are good. Sydney and Charlottetown will be easy Port walks. Especially Charlottetown with historic district if not planning a trip out to Cavendish or a golf game. In Sydney, not sure if Louisbourg Fortress will be open but that is good for a private tour from a local vendor. Halifax has many great options for private tours as well. Happy travels 

[spleenstomper]

@skittlebug83 great catch, thank you. Bummer. 
 

@jdavid thank you very much 

[1kaper]

If you like museums there is the Fortress of Louisbourg as well. It’s about 30 minutes outside of Sydney. 

[genealogyfan]

On 3/22/2023 at 2:14 PM, spleenstomper said:

Hello, so DH and I waited too long to book excursions and there isn’t much left. Also, I’m wondering about the weather anyway, first days of May and how any outside excursions will go. Uncertainty.

 

Quebec City, I guess we will just take an Uber anywhere and walk around on our own etc. I would like to see that fancy hotel. 

Charlottetown, any ideas? I’m not particularly interested in Anne of Green Gables. 
 

Sydney, I guess we will do the Alexander Graham Bell museum ?

 

Any input? We like museums, food, not much on shopping. LOVE boats. 

 

We didn't see much of Sydney, since we arrived on Labor Day and pretty much everything was closed (poor planning on the city). We went to the telephone museum, it was ok, not that great.

 

In Charlottetown, in addition to a ship excursion, I took a walking tour of Charlottetown. It was very interesting, with an  enthusiastic, interesting guide and a small group. Easy location to find for the meeting place. I made a reservation ahead of time, but others on our tour paid when they arrived. The tour was called "Secrets of Charlottetown"  https://www.secretsofcharlottetown.com/

 

In regards to food, in Charlottetown, I ate lunch at the Merchantman Fresh Seafood and Oyster Bar. Good food and nice ambience. The walking tour happened to meet right outside this restaurant, so convenient to eat lunch before the tour.

 

In Halifax, I ate at The Henry House. Really good food, and the dessert was amazing. I got a gingerbread cake which was incredible. On a separate cruise, we ate at the The Brown Hound Public House, which also had good food. Personally I liked The Henry House better. I also went and saw the "Maritime Museum of the Atlantic" along the waterfront. Interesting museum and was pretty cheap too.

 

Quebec City: We stayed three extra days after our cruise ended there. The old section of the town is really nice, lots of restaurants. If you have time, take a walking tour. We used the company  Tours Voir Quebec. They met outside the tourist information office. We took the funicular (cash only, same price for Canadian dollars or US dollars. We saw someone argue about being cheated for the exchange rate, which is ridiculous because they had big signs). We had an incredible meal at "Bistro Sous le Fort", really good food and service. 

 

https://www.toursvoirquebec.com/en/tours/the-grand-tour/

[spleenstomper]

Thank you 

[tring]

On 3/25/2023 at 7:11 PM, 1kaper said:

If you like museums there is the Fortress of Louisbourg as well. It’s about 30 minutes outside of Sydney. 

 

We have been on a trip to Louisbourg, off season, previously, but the guide talked at us most of the time about various acts of war and we got about 20 mins on our own, so missed much of the fun.  We would like to return and have longer on our own, what is the possibility of getting there/back without a tour or hire car?  Or perhaps someone could recommend a private tour company who are good - but we want to hear, and interact with, the resident actors there, not a tour guide.

 

We may also be interested in the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, if anyone can provide info. about a recommended tour operator.

 

 

[ddaz]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:48 PM, tring said:

 

 Louisbourg, what is the possibility of getting there/back without a tour or hire car?

 

 

Howdy tring,

 

I would recommend a rental car and driving yourself out to the Fortress of Louisbourg and the nearby Louisbourg Lighthouse.  This permits you to be on your own time and you can spend as much or as little in both locations.

 

ddaz

 

On Edit:  We rented our vehicle from Budget Rental at 224 Welton St, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada-(YY5)

 

Edited April 2, 2023 by ddaz

[tring]

20 minutes ago, ddaz said:

 

Howdy tring,

 

I would recommend a rental car and driving yourself out to the Fortress of Louisbourg and the nearby Louisbourg Lighthouse.  This permits you to be on your own time and you can spend as much or as little in both locations.

 

ddaz

 

On Edit:  We rented our vehicle from Budget Rental at 224 Welton St, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada-(YY5)

 

 

Thanks for the reply.  I can see the sense in that, in fact realistically I think your answer is spot on considering what we want to do.  However, we are in our mid 70's and rarely drive abroad, so are not used to driving on the RHS. 

 

We are now thinking we will either take the ship's tour to Louisbourg, which is likely to be a cheaper option at  £65pp (£80 US$),  or decide on something different.  That tour is only 4 hours, but that could mean about 2.5 hours in Louisbourg and we should be able to ask the tour guide to just let us meet up when the coach is due to depart as we have been through "the introductory guided tour" previously.  Doing that would also give us some free time in Sydney, which is somewhere we only spent about two hours in, during our previous visit and are unlikely to return there.

 

Thanks again,

 

Barbara

 

[1island2go]

On 3/26/2023 at 7:49 PM, genealogyfan said:

 

We didn't see much of Sydney, since we arrived on Labor Day and pretty much everything was closed (poor planning on the city). We went to the telephone museum, it was ok, not that great.

 

In Charlottetown, in addition to a ship excursion, I took a walking tour of Charlottetown. It was very interesting, with an  enthusiastic, interesting guide and a small group. Easy location to find for the meeting place. I made a reservation ahead of time, but others on our tour paid when they arrived. The tour was called "Secrets of Charlottetown"  https://www.secretsofcharlottetown.com/

 

In regards to food, in Charlottetown, I ate lunch at the Merchantman Fresh Seafood and Oyster Bar. Good food and nice ambience. The walking tour happened to meet right outside this restaurant, so convenient to eat lunch before the tour.

 

In Halifax, I ate at The Henry House. Really good food, and the dessert was amazing. I got a gingerbread cake which was incredible. On a separate cruise, we ate at the The Brown Hound Public House, which also had good food. Personally I liked The Henry House better. I also went and saw the "Maritime Museum of the Atlantic" along the waterfront. Interesting museum and was pretty cheap too.

 

Quebec City: We stayed three extra days after our cruise ended there. The old section of the town is really nice, lots of restaurants. If you have time, take a walking tour. We used the company  Tours Voir Quebec. They met outside the tourist information office. We took the funicular (cash only, same price for Canadian dollars or US dollars. We saw someone argue about being cheated for the exchange rate, which is ridiculous because they had big signs). We had an incredible meal at "Bistro Sous le Fort", really good food and service. 

 

https://www.toursvoirquebec.com/en/tours/the-grand-tour/

 

[1island2go]

Could you tell me where you stayed in Quebec City and your thoughts on it?

[genealogyfan]

1 hour ago, 1island2go said:

Could you tell me where you stayed in Quebec City and your thoughts on it?

We stayed at the Hilton. We were able to walk to the old town area. 

[1island2go]

On 4/3/2023 at 3:28 PM, genealogyfan said:

We stayed at the Hilton. We were able to walk to the old town area. 

Thanks, how was the hotel and how far from old town and the port?

[genealogyfan]

1 minute ago, 1island2go said:

Thanks, how was the hotel and how far from old town and the port?

Here's the link to the hotel. Don't remember the exact time from the port (we took a taxi), but we could walk to the old town area - maybe a 10 minute walk. It was a nice hotel, nice room, friendly staff. I know Norwegian uses this hotel, we saw alot of future cruise passengers in the lobby.

 

 https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/yqbhihh-hilton-quebec/

[1island2go]

Thanks again

NCL has us in Montreal at Westin all three night pre and we would prefer QC. I have booked a room in QC old town that I can cancel if Hilton doesn’t become available or more expensive. If we do on our own we will have to arrange our own transfers but trains and buses are readily available at reasonable prices from what I am seeing. Has anyone taken the Orleans Express bus? Thoughts?

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, 1island2go said:

Thanks again

NCL has us in Montreal at Westin all three night pre and we would prefer QC. I have booked a room in QC old town that I can cancel if Hilton doesn’t become available or more expensive. If we do on our own we will have to arrange our own transfers but trains and buses are readily available at reasonable prices from what I am seeing. Has anyone taken the Orleans Express bus? Thoughts?

Do they supply a shuttle to QC?

Do you have choice of hotel locations with NCL?

seems odd  to have a hotel in Montreal when the ship sails from Quebec city

[roomba920]

On 3/25/2023 at 3:11 PM, 1kaper said:

If you like museums there is the Fortress of Louisbourg as well. It’s about 30 minutes outside of Sydney. 

They will be in "low season" until May 22nd, so you can only walk around on the grounds. No entry inside any building.

[tring]

1 hour ago, roomba920 said:

They will be in "low season" until May 22nd, so you can only walk around on the grounds. No entry inside any building.

 

We are due to be in Sydney on 9th September, do you know which season that is in?  I have seen mention that high season does not finish until mid September, but also that September is in shoulder season and cannot find exact dates. 

 

Our previous visit to Louisbourg was during the first few days of June, so it was shoulder season, hence not fully operational, but some of buildings were open and a couple of costumed actors were around.

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by tring

[tring]

4 hours ago, roomba920 said:

They will be in "low season" until May 22nd, so you can only walk around on the grounds. No entry inside any building.

 

I have found the details now, so looks like we will be there during high season.  A useful link for others perhaps:-  https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/louisbourg/activ/quotidien-daily

 

[SueMo]

If your cruise line offers the excursion, "Fun with Falcons", in Charlottetown, do it!  If not, check out https://www.experiencepei.ca/tour/fun-with-falcons/ and try going on your own.

[ladysail2]

On 3/26/2023 at 8:49 PM, genealogyfan said:

 

We didn't see much of Sydney, since we arrived on Labor Day and pretty much everything was closed (poor planning on the city). 

Labour Day is meant as a celebration of the labour force and its accomplishments. If anything, stores, etc. should be closed to give the workers a day off to celebrate their hard work. Arriving at a port on a Sunday is poor planning, if you consider it that,  of the cruise line, not the city.  

[genealogyfan]

16 hours ago, ladysail2 said:

Labour Day is meant as a celebration of the labour force and its accomplishments. If anything, stores, etc. should be closed to give the workers a day off to celebrate their hard work. Arriving at a port on a Sunday is poor planning, if you consider it that,  of the cruise line, not the city.  

In the United States, we have Labor day too and most touristy areas and places with alot of tourists open retail stores and restaurants, etc to attract  tourists and their money on Labor Day. As I said I think it was extremely poor planning on the city of Sydney, as they lost so much potential money lrom the ship passengers and crew that day. Also poor planning on Norwegian too.