Maine to Canada Trip in August

[Anonymous]

Looking to take a road trip with DH and DC (middle school) to Maine and possibly nearby Canada. We haven’t been to Maine or this part of Canada before.

Any recs or feedback on the following itinerary, flying into Maine/ out of Canada? I’d love any thoughts on Kennebunkport, Bar Harbor and Nova Scotia. Is it worth it to fit in Newfoundland or PEI to the Canada leg of our trip?

-Fly into Portland, ME
-Kennebunkport (2-3 days)
-Bar Harbor & Acadia (2 days)
-Nova Scotia (2 days)
-Fly out of Halifax, NS

[Anonymous]

I flew into maine and rented a car to do the auto ferry across the bay of fundy. We saw a bunch of whales. Then we drove across and down New Brunswick to go back to the states.

NB is so beautiful and green. It really did look like a postcard!

[Anonymous]

I’d think twice about this - and only because of the rental car. I don’t think there are any companies that allow you to rent the car in the us and drop it off in Canada. If they do, it’s going to cost you big time

[Anonymous]

PEI is a quick drive across a bridge fron New Brunswick, and an easy add on. You can drive across the whole province in three hours.

Newfoundland is much further and really needs to be it's own trip - you could easily spend two weeks just in Newfoundland.

[Anonymous]

The western part of NS is not that interesting. Bar Harbor, while crowded, is beautiful.

Consider spending more time in Acadia and saving Canada another trip.

[Anonymous]

Cape Breton Island is stunning but a long drive from any airports. We did a 10 day trip (4 PEI and 6 Cape Breton Island) and I’m glad we had all that time. We didn’t even get to other parts of Nova Scotia.

Do your days include travel time or are those full days in the locations? I agree with PP that I’d pick Maine or Canada but not both. (I went to Bar Harbor in my early 20s with my mom and Cape Breton pre kids / mid 30s with my husband a decade ago - so my info is dated). Cape Breton is still a favorite all time trip.

[Anonymous]

If you only have two days to cross the border, then just do things near the border. You can't visit multiple provinces in 2 days.

[Anonymous]

Too little time in each of those places. Choose either Acadia or Nova Scotia and spend all of your time there.

[Anonymous]

They might not let you in. Canada may build a wall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cape Breton Island is stunning but a long drive from any airports. We did a 10 day trip (4 PEI and 6 Cape Breton Island) and I’m glad we had all that time. We didn’t even get to other parts of Nova Scotia.

Do your days include travel time or are those full days in the locations? I agree with PP that I’d pick Maine or Canada but not both. (I went to Bar Harbor in my early 20s with my mom and Cape Breton pre kids / mid 30s with my husband a decade ago - so my info is dated). Cape Breton is still a favorite all time trip.

We spent about 8 days in Nova Scotia. Two days seems way too short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Too little time in each of those places. Choose either Acadia or Nova Scotia and spend all of your time there.

+1. OP’s itinerary could easily be 3 separate trips.

Kennebunkport is a long weekend trip at best - it doesn’t make sense to spend more time there than Acadia.

[Anonymous]

I think flying into Portland and out of Halifax will not only be expensive with the airfare but also, maybe, expensive and problematic with the car rental. Not sure about renting in US and returning in Canada.

We’ve done two Maine>Nova Scotia trips. We flew into and out of Bangor both times. We visited Acadia and NS both times. There is a fair amount of driving needed and depending on where you go in NS, a lot of driving.

[Anonymous]

Agree with others that your itinerary probably needs to be shaved down. If it were me, I think I'd combine Maine and New Brunswick, that way you could dip into NB and then fly back out of Bangor. Or maybe you do Maine this trip and do NB/Nova Scotia/PEI on another trip. St Andrews and St Stephen (both just across the border in NB) are truly charming, with some cute B&Bs. The Bay of Fundy national park is stunning--one of those types of places that will linger in your mind forever because it is so unique. I love the Canadian Maritimes because they are one of the few places in Canada and the US that retain a very specific regional culture, and I don't think you'd get to really experience that in just two days--I think you'd barely manage the travel logistics in that time!

[Anonymous]

^^ Agree with this poster. We did a trip to NS and we still talk about it as one of the best vacations we've done. Our kid was in 4th grade or so and he enjoyed all the activities, too.

I booked a flight into Portland and out of Halifax. And tbh it was a mistake. At that time, the airfare was not expensive, I jumped on it without factoring in that driving a rental into Canada and drop off in Halifax would be problematic. So our final itinerary went something like this below (I just found pieces of our itinerary and it's bringing back a lot of memories):

-Portland 2 nights and then took a ferry and overnight Yarmouth. Kid loved this. Ferry was comfortable and fun.
-From Yarmouth we drove along Route 1/along the beach to Digby. Went clam digging at Smugglers Cove Provincial Park. Stopped at the Cape Forchu Lighthouse (beautiful). Also seem to remember stopping at a small museum about Acadian culture?
-In Digby, we went whale watching (best whale watching we've ever done)
-From Digby we drove to Blomidon Provincial Park & Five Islands Provincial Park (stayed 1 night around here)
-Drove next to Cape d'Or/Advocate Harbour. It was stunning. Went kayaking, hiking, observe changing tides/tidal bores around Cape Fundy I think?
-Next stop was Antigonish where we went to a music show/traditional music?
-Next was our drive around Cape Breton Island, starting at Cheticamp
-We did a lobster boil at a national park somewhere near Cheticamp sponsored by Canadian Parks. It was magical. Just before sunset, on the beach. The park ranger gave us a talk about lobster and its importance in the area. There was a lobster boil and then we ate on picnic tables on the beach. Was a very small group.
-Things get fuzzy for me here, but we spent about 3 nights on the Cabot Trail in B&Bs, but just stopped at places that looked interesting to us. One night we camped somewhere next to the water. It was gorgeous.
-On our drive back to Halifax (before Ingonish Beach) we saw a sign for a waterfall and took a detour down a long, dirt road. Found the waterfalls, tons of kids and families (looked local) were swimming there. Some local kids were jumping off the falls (which looked incredibly dangerous) so we did not do that.
-Stopped at Ingonish Beach (everyone loved this) on the way to Baddeck
-Stayed 1 night in Halifax. Walked around, went to museum, got some pub food. Flight out next day.

This was such an easygoing trip; I think we had about 2 weeks? Planned it so that we would never have to drive more than 2-3 hours on any one day.

Oh, and we stayed at this lighthouse on Cape d'Or. Absolutely gorgeous. There's a chef there who makes a nice dinner each night.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g499210-d292386-Reviews-The_Lighthouse_on_Cape_d_Or-Advocate_Harbour_Nova_Scotia.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too little time in each of those places. Choose either Acadia or Nova Scotia and spend all of your time there.

+1. OP’s itinerary could easily be 3 separate trips.

Kennebunkport is a long weekend trip at best - it doesn’t make sense to spend more time there than Acadia.

One night in Kennebunkport is plenty.