Help with planning a trip to Nova Scotia or Newfoundland

[Anonymous]

I’m looking into planning a trip to either Nova Scotia or Newfoundland in late July or early August and don’t know where to start. We won’t have kids with us and love being outdoors, hiking, beautiful scenery, kayaking (or other outdoor activities) etc. Don’t care too much about food but since we are vegetarian (no fish), we need to have at least some basic vegetarian options.

Would love input on either of the destinations, activities, and just whether it’s too late to plan this trip. I’d love to kayak to see orcas during their migration if that’s possible. Trip planning is not the most fun for me but I also don’t want to be disappointed about activities my husband picks if I haven’t offered to help at all! Thank you!

[Anonymous]

My g/f and I have been to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and loved both. The ferry from Maine to Nova Scotia cuts out ~5 hours of driving each way, so take it!
The tide in the Bay of Fundy is like a roaring river - you can actually whitewater raft it. It scours the sea floor so you can walk on it in some areas - no sand, no mud, no moss.
The northen part of NS has fantastic hiking up around the Cabot Trail.
I know nothing about Newfoundland, except that it's a lot further!

[Anonymous]

Le Caveau restaurant is amazing!!! Go whale watching in Westport. Take the ferry from Portland to cut the drive time. The birthplace of hockey and Howard Dill’s pumpkin farm - home of the giant pumpkins!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My g/f and I have been to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and loved both. The ferry from Maine to Nova Scotia cuts out ~5 hours of driving each way, so take it!
The tide in the Bay of Fundy is like a roaring river - you can actually whitewater raft it. It scours the sea floor so you can walk on it in some areas - no sand, no mud, no moss.
The northen part of NS has fantastic hiking up around the Cabot Trail.
I know nothing about Newfoundland, except that it's a lot further!

DP agree with this poster and on the ferry I saw so many whales! From Nova Scotia we drove around to New Brunswick and it is so pretty there.

[Anonymous]

So many great hiking trails on the Cabot trail. Stay one night in Ingonish and one night in Cheticamp. But reverse the order - cheticamp then north to loop to Ingonish.

[Anonymous]

We stayed in Baddeck. We did the Cabot trail drive from there (no time for hiking) and also visited Fort Louisburg as a day trip. We also attended a ceilidh music concert in a church hall that was simple but fun. We enjoyed the Alexander Graham Bell museum.

The weather changes every ten minutes and every ten miles so pack the sunscreen and the rain gear.

We spent another block of time south of Halifax touring around that region.

We flew into Halifax and rented a car there. The prices at the airport were very high so we saved money by taking an Uber to a suburban rental office.

[Anonymous]

There's a film called Maudie all about Maud Lewis who was a folk artist in Nova Scotia. We saw some of her work while we were there.

[Anonymous]

Cape Bretton is amazing. Not a ton of lodging options so start looking. PEI is another favorite. Very chill and also beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m looking into planning a trip to either Nova Scotia or Newfoundland in late July or early August and don’t know where to start. We won’t have kids with us and love being outdoors, hiking, beautiful scenery, kayaking (or other outdoor activities) etc. Don’t care too much about food but since we are vegetarian (no fish), we need to have at least some basic vegetarian options.

Would love input on either of the destinations, activities, and just whether it’s too late to plan this trip. I’d love to kayak to see orcas during their migration if that’s possible. Trip planning is not the most fun for me but I also don’t want to be disappointed about activities my husband picks if I haven’t offered to help at all! Thank you!

I've never been to Newfoundland, so this is about Nova Scotia.

How much time do you have for this trip? How do you plan to get there? Nova Scotia is big, and if you want time to hike, you probably need two weeks once you get there. The Cabot trail takes 5-6 hours to drive around, and it takes about 6-7 hours to drive there from Halifax (if you're flying in). If you drive there, or take the ferry from Bar Harbor, that's an even longer trip.

Also, the thought of being a vegetarian there--hmm. The place is all about seafood, specifically lobster. You will be able to find vegetarian options in Halifax, and maybe a few other places like Baddeck, but you might have trouble finding them in other more rural places. In fact, some restaurants in rural areas close early, open late, or are closed on Sundays. Check in advance wherever you plan to go.

Having said all that, the Cabot trail is a beautiful place to hike, and if you go early to the trails, you can see moose (be careful!) You could probably rent ocean kayaks in Cheticamp, but we went with the zodiac whale watch from there and it was fantastic. I've also heard good things about the zodiac tour of the puffin island off the coast of Cape Breton (puffins only live on the ocean side).

The "whitewater rafting" (tidal boring) of the Shubie river during high tide of the Bay of Fundy is great fun. Highly recommend this.

[Anonymous]

I'll have to respond more later but we did a whole Maritimes vacation (granted, we were with our kids) and I'm also a vegetarian. One of the best trips ever and I'd love to return.