Feedback on 2-week road-trip itinerary in Nova Scotia

Hi there, Our son is in Canada for a year on a Working Holiday Visa, and we’re planning to join him around September 20th for a 15-day campervan road trip in Nova Scotia. I was thinking of going with Canadream, but if you have other rental companies to recommend, don’t hesitate! Here’s the itinerary I’ve been considering—I tried not to cram in too many stops so we’re not just driving the whole time.

Day 1: Pick up campervan in Halifax at 3 PM. Stop at Peggy’s Cove, then drive to Lunenburg and Blue Rocks (151 km) Day 2: Explore Lunenburg, then head to Kejimkujik National Park for hikes or other activities. Overnight in the park (91 km) Day 3: Drive to Annapolis Royal (visit), Port-Royal National Historic Site, then on to Digby (111 km) Day 4: Ferry to Saint John (visit Reversing Falls), then drive to St. Andrews (103 km) Day 5: Whale-watching excursion and explore St. Andrews Day 6: Drive to Alma and Fundy National Park (233 km—we’ll probably leave St. Andrews the night before to split the drive and arrive earlier in Alma) Day 7: Hopewell Rocks (check tides) (43 km) Day 8: Hopewell Rocks—Tatamagouche (dinner train)—Pictou (237 km). Any suggestions for this day? Day 9: Drive to Baddeck, Cabot Trail to Chéticamp (317 km). Ideas for breaking up the drive? I thought of Pomquet Beach Provincial Park for a walk on the boardwalks, but any other suggestions are welcome. Day 10–11: Cape Breton Highlands National Park for hikes and Cabot Trail to Baddeck (208 km) Day 12: Explore Baddeck, Graham Bell Museum, and Bras d’Or Lake Drive. Drive to Louisbourg (118 km) Day 13: Fortress of Louisbourg, then drive to Liscomb (302 km) Day 14: Drive back to Halifax via Lawrencetown Beach (or other suggestions?). Fisherman’s Cove (205 km) Day 15: Return campervan by 10 AM

- All suggestions are welcome, as long as they don’t add too much detour from the main stops. We’d rather skip some places to fully enjoy the ones we visit. We love hiking in beautiful landscapes, charming and lively towns or villages, etc. - I wanted to add a museum dedicated to Acadian culture, but I didn’t find anything along the route—or they’re closed this time of year. Maybe there are places to listen to folk music? - If you have any campgrounds or wild camping spots to recommend, I’d love to hear about them. - Do we need to book the ferry this time of year?

Thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions!

Claire

Anyone able to answer me??

In the meantime, I’ve made a bit more progress and still have a few questions: - For budget reasons, especially the cost of renting the RV, we’re considering this trip from 09/30 to 10/14 (instead of 09/20 to 10/04 as initially planned). Is the weather still manageable during that period? - We’d visit the Fortress of Louisbourg on Sunday, 10/02. Their website mentions the shoulder season—are there still some activities on weekends? - Any idea of the price for the Digby–St. John ferry for an RV? Their site mentions vehicles over 7' in height and 20' in length. I don’t know what that is in meters, but I assume an RV qualifies. So, we’d need to call to book, and calling from Belgium could get expensive... Is it absolutely necessary to reserve at this time of year? - Is there another alternative to St. Andrews along our route for whale-watching by Zodiac? - For Fundy National Park and the Hopewell Rocks, is it better to take the ferry from Digby and head up the New Brunswick coast (after a detour to St. Andrews) or go via the west coast of Nova Scotia (and in that case, skip St. Andrews for whale-watching, hence my previous question)?

Thanks

Sorry I can’t answer everything—I haven’t been to Nova Scotia beyond Lunenburg in quite a while. Your itinerary is generally well planned, but you haven’t set aside any time for Halifax? On the way to Lunenburg, take the coastal road; the village of Mahone Bay is very photogenic.

St. Andrews is pretty time-consuming in your itinerary. If it’s just for whale watching, there are excursions from Brier Island near Digby, NS (link). Usually, people who go to St. Andrews also visit Grand Manan and Campobello Islands.

For Acadian sites, there’s an Acadian village in Pubnico on the southern tip of N.S. that’s open until September 26 (link). I don’t know if it’s worth it, though. Otherwise, the Acadian Museum at the University of Moncton is open year-round—I’ve never been, but I understand it’s a real museum, not just "3-4 old barns." :) You’ll have to pass through Moncton after Hopewell Rocks anyway, and it’s also a classic spot to see the tidal bore (the incoming tide). I rarely recommend zoos unless there are kids, but Moncton Zoo has a large number of big cats—it’s impressive. The rest of the city isn’t particularly interesting.

In the small town of Antigonish, there’s the St. Francis Xavier University campus. It’s a charming, classic little campus, and I think it’d be a better stop than Pictou/New Glasgow, though you’ll have fewer lodging options.

For the Cabot Trail, you’ll find plenty of sites debating whether it’s better to do it clockwise or counterclockwise. Personally, I prefer counterclockwise, so a loop like Baddeck-Ingonish-Cheticamp-Baddeck.

About the ferry: you can ask your rental company for the dimensions to see if it exceeds the limit. Either way, for the Cabot Trail, you’ll want a small RV, but it might be 7’ tall anyway (7 feet = 2.10 m). I doubt there’ll be a space issue at this time of year, but personally, I wouldn’t take the chance.

Hello,

Thanks for your great tips 🙂 I took them into account to tweak the itinerary a bit: - Stop in Mahone Bay on the way to Lunenburg - Skip St. Andrews and head to Brier Island instead to see the whales and spend a night on the island, which looks really nice. From what I saw, both ferry crossings are free. - After Hopewell Rocks, we’d spend the night in Moncton and take the chance to visit the Acadian Museum and see the tidal bore. - We’d stop in Antigonish instead of Pictou

For the Saint John ferry: we’d automatically get a large RV (with 1 fixed double bed and 1 bed above the driver’s seat) since there are 3 adults, and the smaller ones are reserved for 2 adults and 1 child 🙁. I saw on the website that the price is $9.90 CAD per foot. Still need to check how many feet the RV would be. You mentioned "for the Cabot Trail, you want a small RV"—is it still doable with a large one? This itinerary (skipping St. Andrews) saves us 1 day (and a few km!), which we’d spend in Halifax. Because yes, Halifax is definitely on the program, but given the exorbitant accommodation prices, we could stay in the RV (I hope it’s possible to park on a street or in a lot near the downtown area).

Anyway, I’m speaking in hypotheticals because we’d still like to add Quebec and Montreal to the plan, and my calculations show the transportation budget ballooning!! So, I’m also considering a road trip in Quebec instead (which I initially ruled out since I’ve been there before, but that was a long time ago and without my husband and son) and maybe saving Nova Scotia for later, just the two of us in a small RV 😉

Best regards,

Claire

Regarding the size of your RV, you can contact your rental company directly and let them know you plan to do the Cabot Trail—they’ll be able to guide you. What’s considered "big" or not is also a matter of perspective. Here in Quebec, there are quite a few Safari Condo trucks (link). They don’t seem "big" to me, and several models can sleep 3-4 people. With that kind of setup, the Cabot Trail won’t be an issue. But if you go for a Class A (link), it might be doable, but it won’t be fun for the driver—there are still 2-3 tight turns.

Quebec is definitely a whole different trip. There’s about 1000 km between Halifax and Quebec, not to mention Montreal, the Saguenay, etc.

Prices are higher in Quebec this year because many Quebecers are staying here instead of going to the U.S. It’s true across Canada, but it might be a little less bad in the Maritimes due to their remoteness. That said, Quebec is certainly more familiar for Europeans!