Thinking about taking a tour of Maine and the Maritimes next fall.
Day 1: Fly into Boston, drive to Portland, spend the night on the ferry to Yarmouth
Day 2: Drive to Halifax, spend the afternoon doing something in the area
Day 3: Drive to Sydney,
Day 4: See Sydney and the Celtic Colors festival
Day 5: Drive to Charlottetown
Day 6: See the Green Gables farmhouse
Day 7: Drive from Charlottetown to the Boston environs
Day 8: Fly Home.
Questions:
Good place/s for seafood / lobster, preferably as cheap and unfancy as possible.
Where in the world do people stay? I normally stay in Holiday Inn Expresses, and there’s only a couple of any kind of IHG properties in the Maritimes, I’d have to settle for a regular Holiday Inn in Sydney. I checked Wyndham too, and they only have 8 properties in Nova Scotia, and they’re all the potentially sketchy budget chains.
Thoughts on the general itinerary? Is PEI to Boston a ridiculous drive for a day?
Things to do in Halifax for the afternoon? Of course we probably won’t get much sleep on the ferry so we might want to just turn in early at our hotel room.
I grew up in the Maritimes, New Brunswick, to be specific.
Thoughts:
The Fall is a great time to go - the leaves will be changing and it is very pretty. Fall is a very long season there.
Boston to PEI will be a long day, but far from un-doable. As I recall, it was about 5 hours from Saint John to Boston, and about 2 from Saint John to the bridge. With a border crossing, I’d allow for a full day to make that journey. There is no toll to get onto PEI, only off.
I can’t help much on the seafood. Maritimers who like seafood eat it at home. It’s kind of like asking what a good restaurant for barbeque is. If you can find something that throws in a lobster dinner as part of a tour, I’d go for that. You can always have a McLobster sandwich at McDonald’s. I kid a bit, though they are pretty good value for the money. I also recall being in PEI in the 80s and seeing signs at hockey rinks - “Lobster dinner tonight”. It would be ultra low-budget - an empty rink full of picnic tables. Cheap and good. I don’t know if they still do that - it was literally 30+ years ago.
Are you staying in each place for multiple days? Have you considered B&B? If you like to roll the dice and meet interesting people, it’s a fun way to go. I toured NFLD this way and don’t regret a thing. Plus the locals might know more about good restaurants.
If you’re driving up toward Halifax, a stop in Lunenburg might be nice. It’s a little town on the coast with a very strong seafaring and boat-building tradition. Check ahead to see if any of the ships will be in port and open for tours. There are also some interesting stores and a wooden dory shop.
Be aware of the distances - Yarmouth to Halifax is three hours, Halifax to PEI is about the same. PEI to Boston - at least eight hours, probably more.
Halifax is a lovely city - tour the old star fort on top of the hill, see the Maritime Museum and the harborfront, visit the cemetery where many of the Titanic victims are buried. PEI is indeed lovely, but a one-day flying visit is probably not a great way to see it. Consider Cape Breton instead.
Maybe you’re a bigger Anne of Green Gables fan than I am, but one day and two nights in PEI would be hard to justify for me personally. I took a bus tour of the maritime provinces and PEI wasn’t the highlight, although we did have a nice lobster dinner there.
I think there are more interesting things to see and do in Nova Scotia.
People stay where they want to. I’ve travelled through the Maritimes many times, and always been able to find clean and comfortable accommodation that fits my budget.
I had a look at the Wyndham properties in Halifax, and I see a choice of Travelodge, Days Inn, Ramada, and Howard Johnson–not exactly what I’d call “potentially sketchy,” but having suffered through a stay at a poorly-run Days Inn in Toronto, I can understand your hesitation. Note that three of those properties are in Dartmouth, which is the city across the harbour from Halifax. There isn’t a heckuva lot for tourists in Dartmouth, so expect to be riding the harbour ferry or driving across a bridge to get into Halifax itself.
Anyway, those chains (plus Comfort Inns, Best Westerns, etc.) are typical of what you’ll find. Other possibilities include Delta hotels (a chain, but more upscale than your typical Comfort Inn), Cambridge Suites (again, a little nicer than a Comfort Inn), local chains (Rodd Hotels operates in NS, NB, and PEI only), and independents (ranging from Mom ‘n’ Pop motel operations up to the Lord Nelson in Halifax). I’ve stayed at all of the above at various times, and never had a bad experience.
HMCS Sackville. This is a WWII Corvette that provided convoy escort services across the Atlantic. It’s a floating museum.
Wander around the Historic Properties on the waterfront. Plenty of shops and restaurants and other things. I seem to recall watching a glassblowing demonstration there, and there are always a few pretty good buskers to entertain you.
The Maritime Museum. Lots of interesting displays on ships and shipping, and a few Titanic artifacts also.
The Citadel, the Public Garden, the Grand Parade, the church with the ghost in the window (cannot remember its name)–there plenty to see if you end up doing nothing more than going for a walk.
FWIW, Google maps claims 9 hours 45 minutes for a drive from Charlottetown to Boston. Given how long it took for me to drive from DownEast Maine to Boston, I believe it. And then there’s the joy that clearing Customs seems to be these days… It might take awhile.
Both of the lobster pounds I’ve been to (Young’s in Belfast, Red’s/Spragues in Wiscasset) are well off your path. No doubt there are plenty of others in the Maritimes to choose from. I’d just recommend the Cheese Ironin Scarborough, ME, (southern suburb of Portland) if you like cheese. Fantastic selection of local and not-so-local cheeses.
If you’ve the time, and really like beer, Allagash Brewing Company is worth your time. (It’s also in a suburb of Portland.) The tour is fun and the beer is tasty, not incredibly expensive, and good. Geary’s Brewing is down the street, didn’t make it when I was there, but I’ve heard it’s good too.
All I’ve got. If you’re a William Wegman fan, the giant rest area in Kennebunk (on 95, so you’ll see it driving back to Boston) has a very large print of his work, “Flock”. Three guesses as to why I’d be mentioning it…
I strongly recommend seeing the restored fort and village of Louisbourg, near Sydney. I was there in 1994 and spent a very enjoyable day. Also, another vote for the corvette HMCS Sackville and the Halifax maritime museum and the star fort.
Also, if you are crossing from Dartmouth to Halifax on the big toll bridge, be advised it only takes quarters. I fed it nickels and dimes and to this day I still look over my shoulder for Mounties, who I am told, never give up. Fortunately, there aren’t many Mounties in Los Angeles, but still…
i think, if you’ve made it this far without Mounties chasing you, you’re fine.
But that’s something for the OP to consider. There are two bridges across Halifax harbour: the Mackay (pronounced “ma-KAI”) and the McDonald. Both are toll bridges. If the OP plans to drive across either, he or she would do well to have Canadian change to facilitate the crossing.
I took a 4 day cruise on the sailing ship Stephen Taber (Rockland, ME) a couple of years ago-highly recommended, trip of a lifetime really (and I’ll never be caught dead on one of those huge cruise ships). If you have the time, natch…
I appreciate the Halifax suggestions, and good point on the Halifax Bridges. I would have assumed that there would be manned cash lanes that would take American currency.
Had too many bad experiences at Days Inn / Super 8 / Econolodge places to ever want to go back to one.
I don’t like Bed and Breakfasts for a number of reasons, so generic chain hotels are what we’re looking for. I checked Delta and they don’t have a hotel in the Glace Bay / Sydney area. I’ve never stayed at a Hampton Inn but there is one of those and it seems to be about what we like, although I’m not a member of their rewards program like IHG and Wyndham.
I don’t like Bed and Breakfasts for a number of reasons, so generic chain hotels are what we’re looking for. I checked Delta and they don’t have a hotel in the Glace Bay / Sydney area. I’ve never stayed at a Hampton Inn but there is one of those and it seems to be about what we like, although I’m not a member of their rewards program like IHG and Wyndham.
Would the week of Oct 10 be too late to see peak fall color? Or any fall color?
The whole point of the trip is to see Prince Edward Island, so skipping it isn’t an option. We plan to spend a day and two nights on PEI and the same on Cape Breton.
Columbus Day weekend is usually around peak foliage in the White Mountains of NH, so it will be well past further north. Obviously it varies from year to year but you may be lucky seeing good color.
IMO, you’re going to spend a long time in the car for a relatively brief amount of sightseeing. But if that’s your goal the plan is workable.
So we’re definitely doing this, and adding an extra night to see Salem, MA before heading to Portland.
Anything to do for an hour or two for the drive across New Brunswick between the Confederation Bridge and Houlton, Maine?
Since the Maritimes seem to have no rest areas do you use gas stations and fast food restaurants?
Do coin washing machines, like in a hotel take quarters or loonies? And best method to get some Canadian cash for laundry and the Halifax bridges- I have a Wells Fargo ATM card but shudder to think what the fees would be.
Lobster? Pick up a big cooking pot at a thrift shop, and buy lobster at any supermarket in the Maritimes, and go to a beach and start a fire and cook your own lobster, every day. That will meet your “cheap and unfancy” criteria. You’ll save money (and enjoy it more) even if you have to buy your pot at Walmart. Look for fish plants that have a retail outlet, eat seafood every day.
Yep. The roads you’ll be travelling on aren’t exactly Interstates, so it’s generally easy to get on and off. Gas stations and fast food joints know this, so they’re typically pretty handy to the highway.
If you have time before you leave, order some Canadian cash from your US bank. If you don’t have time, but are carrying US currency on your trip, don’t worry–every Canadian bank will be glad to exchange US currency for Canadian currency, on the spot.
We toured NS a few years ago. I suggest driving the Cabot Trail. Its a really beautiful area. I could easily spend a week to ten days in Cape Breton. Baddeck was one of the places we stayed. We tented about half the time with B&B/motels the rest. (Well, one night in a nice hotel in Halifax). Be sure to go whale watching, if you’re into that sort of thing at all.