Atlantic Canada
Nova Scotia coast
The Cabot Trail at peak colour, fishing villages after the season, and the world’s highest tides.
- Best months
- June · September–October
Nova Scotia has 13,000 km of coastline and nowhere is more than an hour from the sea. September is warmer than June, the sea is still near its warmest, and the Cabot Trail turns red around the middle of October while the Celtic Colours festival fills Cape Breton’s halls with fiddle music.
Things to do
The Cabot Trail
A 300 km loop around northern Cape Breton through the highlands national park. Either direction works, though clockwise puts you in the cliff-edge lane on the west coast; walk the Skyline Trail at sunset for the moose and the view.
Celtic Colours
Nine days of concerts in community halls across Cape Breton in the middle of October, timed to the foliage. Book the concerts and the inns together; both sell out.
Lunenburg and the South Shore
A UNESCO-listed shipbuilding town an hour from Halifax, with sea kayaking at Blue Rocks and Mahone Bay next door. Peggy’s Cove is a short detour on the coast road; go at dawn.
Bay of Fundy
The highest tides on earth, 16 m at the head of the bay. Rafting the tidal bore on the Shubenacadie runs May to October; Brier Island boats see humpbacks from June to October.
Wolfville wine
The Annapolis Valley’s Tidal Bay appellation, Benjamin Bridge sparkling, and the Gaspereau valley just over an hour from Halifax. Harvest runs September into October with harvest events at many wineries.
Halifax
The waterfront boardwalk, Pier 21 immigration museum, the Seaport farmers’ market and a donair at 2 am. The Titanic graves are in Fairview Lawn Cemetery.
When to go
September
The sea still near its warmest on the Northumberland Strait beaches, everything still open, and the summer visitors gone after Labour Day.
Late September to mid-October
Foliage on the Cabot Trail and in the Annapolis Valley, Celtic Colours, and the wine harvest. Post-tropical storms are possible; travel insurance is sensible.
June
Lupins on the roadsides, nearly 16 hours of daylight and whale season opening. Cooler than September but before school holidays.
Late November
The South Shore lobster season opens on the last Monday of November. Many Cabot Trail businesses close from late October to May, so winter is a Halifax-and-South-Shore trip.
How to get there
Fly to Halifax (YHZ)
Year-round nonstop from London Heathrow, seasonal flights from Dublin and Frankfurt, and connections through Toronto and Montreal all day.
A car is essential
Cape Breton is four hours from Halifax; Lunenburg is one. There is no rail, and only a once-daily bus to Cape Breton. Book rentals early for October.
By sea
Ferries from Saint John, New Brunswick to Digby year-round, and from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth in summer, if the CAT is running. Check ferries.ca.
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