Got any good tips or insight to share for New England/Canadian itinerary???

[Kimjergen]

Hello all,

 

We are sailing on the 5/30 Maasdam out of Boston and visiting the ports of Bar Harbour, Halifax, Sydney, Prince Edward Island, Montreal and Quebec and would like to combine the exploration of the town/city as well as going off the beaten path and enjoying the hidden treasures of the area.(we hope to combine walking around with renting a car to go further out from the port to other interesting towns or sights or possibly even doing some sea kayaking for an hour or some other active fun too) Any suggestions appreciated for any of these ports!

 

Anyone out there reading this, what's the coolest or most fun thing you did on shore in Bar Harbour, Halifax, Sydney, Prince Edward Island, Montreal or Quebec? (we are mid 40's with 11 and 13 year old son traveling but we all love history, museums, nature, and adventure)

 

Truthfully two of the important and enjoyable parts of cruise travel to me are the anticipation, research and planning part as well as looking back at past adventures and sharing tips and experiences with fellow travelers.

Thanks and hope to hear from you soon!:D

[Delray2002]

Did a 2 week drive of that part of the world last summer.

 

In Bar Harbor: Rent a car and spend the day at Acadia National Park. Bring a picnic lunch. There are self-guided tours with map and CD that are handy. Walk the 4 mile loop at Jordan pond (see: http://www.trekearth.com/viewphotos.php?l=3&p=915584 ) and pre-book tea at the Jordan Pond house on the lawn. The ice-cream filled hot popovers are great. http://www.jordanpond.com/

 

Like lobster? As you head toward the mainland on Rt. 3 from Bar Harbor, right before the causeway, there's a lobster pound that's the best deal around for lobster. Anything from typical 1.5 pounders to 4+ pounds at a v. good price. Any of the locals will tell you the name.

 

Halifax/Sydney: We picked up a local half day tour of Halifax (they run constantly ... don't need a reservation) that covered the Citadel, the Titanic victims cemetary and a few other spots.

 

Our Sydney highlight was the tour of Louisbourg .... sort of a smaller version of Williamsburg with reenactors, shops, inns .... that sort of thing. There's a lot to see there ... could spend the better part of a day.

[Kimjergen]

Did a 2 week drive of that part of the world last summer.

 

In Bar Harbor: Rent a car and spend the day at Acadia National Park. Bring a picnic lunch. There are self-guided tours with map and CD that are handy. Walk the 4 mile loop at Jordan pond (see: http://www.trekearth.com/viewphotos.php?l=3&p=915584 ) and pre-book tea at the Jordan Pond house on the lawn. The ice-cream filled hot popovers are great. http://www.jordanpond.com/

 

Like lobster? As you head toward the mainland on Rt. 3 from Bar Harbor, right before the causeway, there's a lobster pound that's the best deal around for lobster. Anything from typical 1.5 pounders to 4+ pounds at a v. good price. Any of the locals will tell you the name.

 

Halifax/Sydney: We picked up a local half day tour of Halifax (they run constantly ... don't need a reservation) that covered the Citadel, the Titanic victims cemetary and a few other spots.

 

Our Sydney highlight was the tour of Louisbourg .... sort of a smaller version of Williamsburg with reenactors, shops, inns .... that sort of thing. There's a lot to see there ... could spend the better part of a day.

 

Delray 2002,

 

Thanks so much for your suggestions!

 

I love the idea of the picnic lunch in Acadia Park and the thought of ice cream pop overs sounds amazing. What's not to love about lobster:D, we will definitely give the Route 3 lobster pound a try. Ps - I LOVE the photos at the link you provided, did you take them? Very nice composition and really intriques the viewer to yearn to explore the places in the photos. I'm hoping to get lots of nice pictures too on this cruise.

 

I've reserved car rentals in Sydney and Halifax and hope to visit some of the places you suggested for Halifax as well. Although in Sydney we hope to visit Baddeck as my kids are fascinated with Alexander Graham Bell. Then we plan on driving parts of Cabot Trail and stopping to walk around and enjoy the area. Or we might try and go to bird island as seeing a colony of enigmatic puffins is very tempting too.

 

What month of summer did you visit in? We will be there the first week of June. Did you only need a light sweater or a warm jacket etc? I'm trying to figure out what to pack. I figure long pants for sure, but should I do long sleeved shirts and sweaters or short sleeve with jackets so we can layer and unlayer different times of the day etc My husband is Canadian and never gets cold (or hot, maybe he is cold-bloodded :cool:) but my kids and I are native Miamians and I noticed you are in Delray so maybe you too are more sensitive to cooler temps. But I really do love cooler crisp weather just not the icy cold snow except for skiing. It's always a challenge packing for the four of us.

[float]

dh & i went to baddeck and did the bell museum the kids will love it i learned many things about bell very fascinating scenery beautiful the massdam is great have been on her 5 times love canada marie

[Delray2002]

Your early June trip is pre-season. When you're in Sydney, if you go over to Baddeck and the Cabot Trail, be prepared for v. foggy mornings and cold sea air over the land. We were there the last week of June, 2008 and it was still cool/AM foggy.

 

The Bell museum is the highlight in Baddeck We spent about 3 hours there.

 

Many walking trails on your trip around the Cabot trail. We went counter-clockwise from Baddeck. The rocky beach at Ingonish was eerie - rock-strewn and silent. http://www.trekearth.com/viewphotos.php?l=5&p=916004

 

Whale watching at Pleasant Bay on Zodiac boats was fantastic. Didn't need a reservation ... just show up, but check ahead for when they'e going out. (Can also pick them up in Cheticamp, a bit further along the trail.

 

I mentioned the Bar Harbor lobster pound, but the best one was in Margaree Harbor at the Island Beach Resort (here's what we saw while knocking off 4 pound lobsters @$7.50/pound) http://www.trekearth.com/viewphotos.php?l=5&p=923129

 

By the way, it's a longggggg drive around the Cabot trail and you'll want to stop for photos, walks, and the like. We took all day to drive from Baddeck to our B&B in Glenville on the far side of the trail. Left around 8 AM. Dinner in Margaree Harbor around 6 PM, and reached Glenville around 8:30.

[Kimjergen]

Hi Delray and Float,

 

Thanks! It all sounds so wonderful, we can't wait to see Nova Scotia! But I definitely have to figure out our time constraints and plan accordingly. I'm thinking about driving from Sydney to the Bell Museum first and spend about 1 1 1/2 hours and then driving a bit on cabot trail and finding a place for lunch and just meanandering a bit and taking in nature before heading back to port. I know they say you should go clockwise on the cabot trail but which way has better views if you can only take in a few hours of the cabot trail? Any chance of seeing puffins, seals or whales either way before turning around and heading back to sydney?

 

Ps - I found out the name of the lobster pound, "the trenton bridge lobster pound" but unfortunately we will be in Bar Harbor on a Sunday and they are closed on Sunday:mad: How far of a drive is Margaree bay?

 

pps- Yes, there probably will be fog, cold etc but we've driven in Alaska in the same conditions and although we live in sunny & hot Miami, my husband was born and raised in an extremely rural area in Canada and learned to drive in that kind of weather combined with snow, ice, and black ice etc and he has good vision, in his 40's and a private pilot but we will use caution and stick to the speed limit as I've heard about the tickets too.

 

Thanks again!

Kim

[Delray2002]

Kim, I don't know how much time you have in port, but it'll take you at least 45 min to drive from Sydney to St. Anns (north of Baddeck on the east side of Cape Breton) and then another 70 minutes to get to Ingonish Beach, and the "good stuff" on the Cabot trail won't have even started yet. The best part of the trail starts at Ingonish Beach and runs around to Margaree Harbor. Suggest you go to http://www.cabottrail.travel/map.cfm - an intereactive map - to get a sense of just how big the area is. You can also phone 1-800-565-0000 a copy of their Cabot Trail tourism map.

 

If you want just a taste of the trail, (going clockwise from Baddeck) - Baddeck to Margaree Harbor is 45 min (53 km). We didn't do that section of road on our trip, so I can't tell you what the drive is like.

 

You might do better, if time's at a premium, to take a Puffin-watching tour. http://puffinboattours.com/ It leaves out of Englishtown - Much closer to Sydney - and might still leave you with enough time to get to the Bell Museum in Baddeck. You can download a brochure and locator map from this site.

[Kimjergen]

thank you again for the info Delray2002! Seeing even a wee bit of the Cabot Trail will still be nice and leave us hungry to come back on a land visit some time in the future which would be delightful. I see this cruise as a taste of this part of the world that has always intrigued me and my husband and sons are equally excited about visiting there too so I know that whatever we do, we will have a great time together making new discoveries.

 

I had just discovered that very puffin tour boat company earlier today and it looks like a lot of fun so we will probably book it. It's also the only one that listed a head onboard which I see as a plus:p

 

Have a great weekend!

Kim