It has bagpipes, whisky and tartan, but don’t be fooled – Nova Scotia is as Canadian as it comes. This coastal playground is familiar but different, just five hours away, and perfect for a road trip
Canada’s Nova Scotia is a maritime province anchored off North America’s eastern seaboard, between Newfoundland (Canada’s furthest Atlantic outpost) and Maine, just over the American border. Standing in Halifax, you’re actually closer to Edinburgh than Vancouver.
Made up of a main peninsula – slightly longer than Ireland, but much narrower – plus Cape Breton Island, it takes about nine hours to drive from one end of the province to the other. Or a lot longer if you follow the 8,000 miles of sawtooth coastline.
Our route was somewhere in between the two. But more on that later – first, here are some travel tips and highlights.
Nova Scotia travel tips: what to see and do
Egypt Falls
The 18-metre-high, three-tier Egypt Falls is one of Cape Breton’s best-kept secrets (perhaps until now). Half the fun is finding it. Just north of Lake Ainslie, off Highway 395, the trailhead starts at the end of a 1km gravel track known as Pipers Glen Road. It’s then another 1km of moderately difficult trekking down a steep path, with guide ropes on the trickier sections. It’s worth it when you get there.Alexander Graham Bell Museum, Baddeck
He’s best known for inventing the telephone, but Alexander Graham Bell was a prolific inventor who spent a lifetime dreaming up all sorts of incredible and useful things – including Canada’s first powered aircraft, and hydrofoil boats. Born in Scotland, he later settled here, where his work is celebrated in this surprisingly huge and brilliant museum.Ride the tidal bore
The Bay of Fundy is home to the highest tides in the world. Every 12 hours, the incoming waters rush up the Shubenacadie River, creating a spectacular tidal bore. From the lookout at the Fundy Tidal Centre you can see it coming up the riverbed, until the trickle becomes a muddy torrent when the incoming tide collides with the outflowing river – followed by a flotilla of motorised rafts and boats, packed with thrill-seekers riding the rapids. Find out more, and book a ride, here.
Fortress of Louisbourg and Halifax Citadel
Rifle-firing action at Louisbourg’s fort. Credit: Tom Salt.
On the very eastern tip of Cape Breton, the former French port town of Louisbourg (twice captured by the Brits) has been faithfully recreated and brought to life as a living museum, with roving actors including soldiers, tavern landlords, housemaids and choristers. Spend a few hours exploring all the buildings. In Halifax, the Citadel is a former British fort, also brought to life and watched over by Scots Guard sentries.
Wildlife spotting
Nova Scotia’s roster of wildlife is long and varied. In the skies: golden eagles, bald eagles, osprey and all sorts of seabirds and songbirds. In the woods: black bears, moose, coyotes, lynx and deer. Elsewhere: beavers, racoons, porcupines, hares, chipmunks and skunks. In the sea: whales including humpbacks, minkes and others, also dolphins and sharks. Several companies offer trips and tours, all around the province.
Walk the skyline trail
Hiking in Cape Breton. Credit: Tom Salt.
One of many walking routes off the Cabot Trail highway, this five-mile loop takes you through forest and moorland to a dramatic clifftop viewing point.
How to get there, and get around
We flew direct to Halifax from Edinburgh with WestJet (three flights per week, June– Sept). WestJet also has direct flights to Halifax from Gatwick, while Air Canada flies direct to Halifax from Heathrow. Flight time is between six and seven hours outbound, and as little as five hours on the way back.
Planning your itinerary
Boundless partner Barrhead Travel has a dedicated team of Canadian travel specialists who helped us to create the perfect itinerary. Their ‘Celtic Trail Self Drive’ package takes in many of the places we visited and includes return flights to Halifax, six nights’ hotel accommodation, intermediate hire car, and access to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, Canso Islands, the Fortress of Louisbourg, and the Halifax Citadel. Prices start from £1,999pp (at the time of our trip in July 2024), and Boundless members can save up to 10% with Barrhead Travel.
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Not yet a member? If you're working in or retired from the public sector or civil service, Boundless has two great membership options to choose from: Boundless and Boundless Plus. Enjoy unlimited access or discounted entry to many of the UK’s top attractions, as well as year-round deals on restaurants, holidays, shopping and much more.
This is how I spent my week in Nova Scotia
Credit: Tom Salt.
High above us, a pair of golden eagles spiral upwards, higher and higher until they’re lost in the blaze of the midday sun. To our left, miles of forest stretch into the highlands, where black bears and huge moose wander among the firs, spruce and sugar maples. To our right, way down over the rusty red cliffs, surf breaks into a froth of silver. Beyond that, we scan the navy-blue waters for puffs of mist, a tell-tale sign of a surfacing humpback.
Honestly, it’s too hard to choose a view. So instead I settle on the road ahead, which itself is one of the greatest sights you could hope to see through a windscreen. “Whale!” comes a shout from the back seat. “Where?” comes the reply from the front. “You missed it, daddy”. Time to pull over.
Looking out over the Atlantic, back towards home, it’s hard to believe the UK is just a five-hour direct flight away from this blockbuster scene.
First leg: to Cape Breton
Whale-watching in Nova Scotia. Credit: Tom Salt.
We’ve given ourselves a week to explore as much as possible on a friends-and-family road trip. Five adults, three kids, two cars, well over 1,000 miles, and a different town almost every night. We’ll need to keep moving if we’re to see it all, from the lively heart of downtown Halifax, to salty fishing towns, pastures, vineyards, colonial forts and ports, weather-beaten coasts, white-sand beaches, waterfalls, marine life and more. But first we’re heading north, about four hours up the Trans-Canada highway from Halifax (we’ll come back later) to Cape Breton, an island tethered to the rest of the province by a short causeway, and to its past by a lingering Celtic legacy.
Nova Scotia has a knotty history, having been squabbled over by the French and British since the 17th century. But it was the Scots who first named it, and later arrived here in huge numbers after the Highland Clearances forced many from their homeland. Of course, this New Scotland wasn’t new at all, having been home to the Mi’kmaq people for thousands of years before that. But on Cape Breton the Caledonian influence is strong.
After crossing the causeway we follow the Ceilidh Trail into Inverness county, home to Canada’s first single-malt distillery, Glenora. The Cape is also home to several world-renowned links golf courses. It has its own tartan. And this area has the largest Scottish Gaelic-speaking community outside of Scotland. Even the gift shops give it a go – as one sign puts it, “If it’s nae Scottish, it’s craaaaaap”.
On the Cabot Trail
Heading clockwise around the Cape, the road soon becomes the Cabot Trail. Named after explorer John Cabot – otherwise known as Giovanni Caboto, the earliest known European to find these lands – it’s a 185-mile loop of driving joy. Swooping along the clifftops, dipping down into bays and harbours, and eventually cutting through the Highlands National Park, it’s a king among roads. Wide and flowing, with long sweeping corners, it’s the sort you drive with one hand on the wheel and another pointing at soaring birds, constant views (there are 26 official lookout points) and roadside restaurants serving lobster rolls, oysters and seafood sharers.
Traffic is easygoing and eclectic, with everything from rental cars, muscle cars, RVs, vans and long processions of Harley-Davidsons. Like any proper bikers, their riders sport stone-wash jeans, heavy leather boots, outlaw beards and reaper tattoos. But there’s no Hells Angels insignia here – the bikers are as cheery as everyone else we meet.
Cheery bikers on the road. Credit: Tom Salt.
We base ourselves in Baddeck for a few nights, at the southern end of the trail, from where you can day-trip to other bits of the Cape. We spend a happy afternoon exploring Louisbourg, an immaculate brick-by-brick reconstruction (the largest in all of North America) of a French fortress town complete with wandering actors, farm animals and vintage rifle-firing demos.
In Pleasant Bay, we board a whale-watching tour, bobbing around the Gulf of St Lawrence until we glimpse the grey dorsal fins of two minke whales feeding and diving near the boat (I didn’t miss these ones). On another day we could have seen any of the 12 whale species that call this home, or even one of the great white sharks that are increasingly fond of these waters.
Like a lot of Canada, Nova Scotia sees dramatic swings between seasons. Earlier this year it endured ‘Snowmageddon 2024’ and dropped to 30 degrees below zero. Today it’s easily 30 degrees above, the air is sticky, so to cool off we go in search of some refreshing wild swimming at the mysteriously named Egypt Falls.
Descending a steep path through firs and jungle-like ferns, we plunge into a valley, the kids clambering down steep earth banks, grabbing guide ropes and searching for footholds on roots and rocks. About 20 minutes later, T-shirts wringing with sweat, we’re rewarded with a view of the spectacular, three-tier cascade of the falls. We splash and paddle in the cooling pools below, before braving the ascent (the children suddenly choosing to ride on dads’ shoulders on the way back up).
Over the next few days we drive back south, past towns including New Glasgow, Liverpool, Dartmouth, Bedford and Chester. Those early settlers were either very homesick or deeply unimaginative. Back on the northern side of the main peninsula, the landscape turns from forest to farmland. Horses graze in fenced-off paddocks. Orchards and vineyards line out in orderly rows. Tastefully painted clapboard houses are set back from the road, and although some look grander than others, all are tidy. This may be one of Canada’s least wealthy provinces, but it’s possibly its proudest. Canadian flags flutter on porches. Gardens burst with hostas and lupins. Lawns are neatly mown. Rusty farm machinery and tired old cars are turned into centrepieces for flower beds. Lobster traps become outdoor ornaments.
Tide marks, Nova Scotia-style
Burncoat Head Park, which looks out over the Bay of Fundy. Credit: Tom Salt.
Soon the road runs alongside the Bay of Fundy, an enormous estuary dividing Nova Scotia from New Brunswick. Home to the highest tides in the world, with a range of up to 16 metres between low tide and high, the estuary displaces 100 billion tonnes of water every day. That’s more than the flow of all of the world’s freshwater rivers combined. This relentless, twice-daily phenomenon has created otherworldly landscapes, like the one at Burntcoat Head Park. At first glance it’s like Arizona’s monument valley, with red rock sculpted and eroded into strange formations. Just offshore – walkable at low tide – is what’s known locally as Flowerpot Island, stolen by the sea and named for its shape and the spray of trees that burst from the top. If we stay here for too long we’ll soon be under several storeys of sea, so we beat our retreat.
We stay the night in Wolfville, a pleasant university town (Nova Scotia has several) with an old-fashioned main street, a few traditional pubs, an art-deco cinema and plenty of eateries. The next morning we cross back to the south side of the peninsula, swapping the coffee-brown estuary for the clear-blue Atlantic. The sun slowly burns off a morning sea fog, like a desk lamp through linen sheets, revealing the white-sand crescents of Carters Beach. Dodging jellyfish, the kids play in the shallows, before jumping back in the cars with sandy shoes and wet towels (sorry, Hertz).
Going out on a high
Driving back up the coast for an hour or so, we reach the historic fishing and shipbuilding town of Lunenburg. With its rows of red, blue and yellow wooden houses it has the air of some Norwegian fjord-side village. Steep streets spill down to the dockside, where tall ships moor alongside wooden piers. Originally built by the British in 1753, it’s one of only two communities in the whole of North America to be designated a Unesco World Heritage Site, thanks to its well-preserved layout and architecture. The town has a homely, lived-in feel, and every building holds a story. We stay in the Bluenose Lodge, an elegant, slightly gothic old home with weathered shingles, creaky floorboards and the general vibe of a doll’s house brought to life.
Our lap of the province almost complete, we follow the coast back towards Halifax, on the home stretch. Just north of Lunenburg, we stop for bubblegum ice cream in Mahone Bay, the town that answers the question ‘how many beautiful churches could you squeeze into a few hundred yards of picture-postcard waterfront?’.
The much-photographed lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove. Credit: Tom Salt.
From here it’s around to Peggy’s Cove, a collection of houses and shacks arranged around a small fishing harbour. Its bright-white lighthouse, standing on a field of rocks like a giant saltshaker, is apparently the most photographed in the entire world. And going by the forest of selfie sticks, it might just be true.
From over the rocks drifts the skirl of bagpipes (the Scottish spirits are good for tourism), which may not be everyone’s cup of tea but they add a touch of Highland romance to the occasion. And they get us into gear for the musical pubs and bars of Halifax, the capital of the province and home to nearly half of Nova Scotia’s million residents.
All hail Halifax
The boardwalk in Halifax. Credit: Tom Salt.
We enter through suburbia (there isn’t some mega highway through town) and quickly find ourselves in a mini-San Francisco, driving up and down steep streets laid out in a grid. It doesn’t have a classic skyline, but once in the city there’s a sort of compact grandness – and the downtown attractions are all walkable. Built along one of the deepest, ice-free harbours in the world, it was – and still is – an important navy base. In the middle of town, atop the highest hill, is the star-shaped citadel – once a British fort, and still watched over by Scots Guards, albeit these days they’re mostly uni students doing holiday jobs.
It’s Friday night, and down on the boardwalk it seems like half the city has come out to enjoy the warm evening. The food shacks of Salt Yard serve all the seafood you can eat. The harbour hums to the sound of speedboats and the slap of jet-skis on sea. The restaurants and waterside patios are packed with diners. Children play hopscotch and climb on a giant whale-tail sculpture next to a pirate-themed park. String lights provide a gentle glow while a full moon rises from the sunset. Buskers play sea shanties, fiddles and saxophones. Rock ’n’ roll spills from the bars. And pop-up concerts fill the air with African rhythms and sambas, while a 50-person conga line forms out of nowhere. Who knew Halifax was the family-friendly party capital of the world?
The next morning, we set off on the 2.5-mile harbour walk, past the markets, museums, murals and endless other activities. Towards the eastern end we reach the Last Steps, the wharf where 350,000 Canadian men and women embarked on ships during the First World War. Along from that is Pier 21, a former ocean liner terminal and immigration shed, where Cunard ships departed, and one million migrants arrived in Canada between 1928 and 1971. Then, as now, that trans-Atlantic connection to Europe, and to old Scotland, is what makes this feel unlike any other place on the American continent. You can even fly direct from Edinburgh (London too). And with just a four-hour time difference to the UK, jetlag barely registers, giving you more time – and energy – to explore it all.
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