Honeymoon in Halifax... east coast suggestions please
 

I'm spending my honeymoon this August down maritime way. August 14th-21st. Other then arriving in Halifax, we haven't made too many plans.

I want to stop by Dalhousie University. I want to hit PEI. Maybe drive the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton. I've heard about a Lighthouse Route too.

We are both Albertans who want to visit, but with no family/friends from the east, so I am looking for any advice from fellow tfpers.

Thanks.

Got this stuff off Canada's National Park and National Histortic Sites of Canada

Parks Canada

Map of the National Parks and National Historic Sites of Canada in Atlantic Canada

Nova Soctia

Halifax Citadel
Fort McNab
Georges Island
Prince of Wales Tower
Marconi
Canso Islands
St. Peters Canal
Cape Breton Highlands
Alexander Graham Bell
The Town of Lunenburg
Seaside Adjunct, Kejimkujik
Kejimkujik
Fort Anne
Port-Royal
Grand-Pré
New England Planters Exhibit
Fort Edward
York Redoubt

New Brunswick

Kouchibouguac
Fundy
Monument-Lefebvre
Fort Beauséjour
Beaubears Island
Wind, Wood and Sail Exhibit
Roosevelt Campobello
Saint Croix Island
St. Andrews Blockhouse
Carleton Martello Tower

Prince Edwards Island

Greenwich
Prince Edward Island National Park
Province House
Ardgowan
Port-la-Joye–Fort

Other than that, I haven't been to Altantic Canada, so I wouldn't know much about the ropes of it.

Have fun and take lots of pictures for us :)

I take no responsibility for anything bad that happens on your trip due to my suggestions ;)

HEY, no offense, but its PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.
And you forgot Green Gables in PEI, or basically the whole town of Cavendish. You can easily kill a day there. Charlottetown is an easy day to spend as well. I strongly suggest you hit up PEI, it's got waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than Halifax, (no matter what anybody else tells ya). Now there is a small matter of paying $40 just to get off the island, but that's nothing, right?

If you come East, bring a tent and stay at some parks. It's smarter than paying out your ass for in season hotel rates. Also, if your future wife golfs, bring your clubs, as there are some sweet courses here.

If you want further particulars from a guy who actually lives here, drop me a line.

My wife and I toured around the maritimes for our honeymoon in'99 and had a wonderful time. We stayed in B&B's, hotels and camped.

One favourite activity was attending a "Lobster Supper" in PEI near New Glasgow. For about $25 a person you get a lobster, all you can eat mussels, bread and a slice of pie. What really makes it fun is that you're one of about 500 people eating together in a large hall. They were originally run by local churces, but now as private restaurants. It was a hoot.

Our best lodgings were also in New Glasgow. We had a whole campsite to ourselves.

Best Oddball attraction? A storefront Computer History Museum in Annapolis, NS. They had all kinds of old models on display.

Enjoy!

Hey, You will love Halifax, its a very fun town in the summer time...walk along the water front, outdoor restaurants, lots of seafood places, great night life, etc...I am sure you will find lots to do.

You HAVE to go to Cape Breton and do the Cabot Trail tho...it is awesome...its always fun to drive that, plus there are lots of little B&B's and small motels you can stay at along the way up there..

Any questions feel free to ask...

I'm an hour outside of Halifax

/threadjack
I know but us Albertans don't have any material when it comes to picking on the tiny island of PEI. It's like calling people in NFLD "newfies", except this time, we ain't got shit for PEI :D

/threadjack off

Was out that way a few years back. PEI was the best. Similar to fresnelly, I went to a Lobster smorgasboard. Paid $30 bucks to eat unlimited lobster tails, clams, mussels etc,. in a church basement. Must have ate 10 good sized lobster tails.

I stayed away from B&B places just because I found them outlandishly expensive, almost to the point of ridiculous. But then, I'm not big on B&B's in the first place.

Funny thing though, I was actually in New Hampshire and took the ferry up to Nova Scotia.(expensive but fast) After 3 days I went back to the states because even with the exchange, it was cheaper. Go figure.

Thanks for the replies.

I used to be a camping man, but this woman I'm going to marry isn't, so it is hotels and motels and b&bs.

I've heard a bunch of suggestions, both here and elsewhere... almost too much. I also don't have much conception of how much travel time I need to allow for hopping around the area. I'm concerned that a week just isn't going to be enough.

Considering a limited time frame and a relatively modest budget, what are your top three 'must do' activities?

Also, how far in advance should I book lodging? I haven't booked anything other then a flight and a rental car. How 'outlandishly expensive' should I prepare myself for?

ummm the martimes are not expensive at all...its pretty cheap here..hotels would be 100 bucks a night for a nice one....as low as 50 bucks a night if ya want...

How long are you spending here?

I'd do Halifax, Cape Breton and PEI..but it depends on your time frame

Cape Berton native living in Halifax here. You should have no problem visiting halifax, Cape Breton and PEI in a trip that short. The Cabot Trail and the Cape Breton Highlands are better than you imagine. If you only plan on driving the trail, I'd bet you change your mind when you get there. It's the sort of place you'd want to slow down and enjoy for a while. The other must see in Cape Breton is the Fortress of Louisbourg http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/louisbourg/index_e.asp Allow youself a full day for this and you wont regret it.
Charlottetown on PEI is where we often head for the weekend. It's one of nicest smallest cities I've seen anywhere. Beautiful architecture, perfect size to wander around on foot, just really really nice. We don't care much for the Cavendish/Green Gables thing. There is a really nice beach there, but we find it touristy tacky at it's worst (or best depending on your interest i guess)
Halifax is always full of tourists in the summer, so I guess they like it ;) Living here it's hard to recommend things to see. Just head down to the waterfront and wonder. There are many nice restaurants, pubs (The original Granite Brewery now known as The Henry House is an institution among the pub cognoscenti), great museums and galleries... Stuff you find in any coastal city. The public gardens (formal Victorian garden downtown) and Point Pleasant Park (carriage roads and walking trails at the south end of the city) are both nice places to get away from the tourist thing and slow down a little. One other nice thing about Halifax is how central it can be for day trips to nearby places like Peggy's Cove, Lunenburg, The Annapolis Valley, etc. Just grab a map and hit the secondary roads.
People have been mentioning cost, but I find that things like hotels and restaurants are on the cheaper side here. Certainly much less than the US.
I guess my advice is get guidebooks and make some initial reservations, but leave some time open for wandering and happenstance It's that kind of place.

tip: call portereight and kulrblind and we'll come down to the Granite Brewery or the Split Crow and buy you and the Missus a pint. ;-)

I did a very similar vacation in 2003, you can see all my pictures here if you are so inclined: http://telusplanet.net/public/markus...3/FrameSet.htm

The best advice I can give you is; do not skip PEI. We only spent 4 days on the island I easily could have spent twice that.

Cavendish is great, the beaches are awesome and I even found the Anne of GG to be fairly paletable. :) Charlettown has some great places to eat and museums, not to mention Province House, where Canada was born, it's pretty sweet.

In Halifax I got hella sick eating some bad clams at some place on the harbour (sorry I forget the name). The pubs there were great, my favourite was the Golden (or Olden) Triangle, they had some great live music and the guys would play Stompin' Tom if you yell loud enough.

We also went to NB for a couple of days, the thing I liked best about it was the Hopewell Rocks. That's some amazing tide baby, we also took a sea kayak trip from a little town just north of Hopewell, hard work but worth the effort.

We had a car for most of the time, picked it up right in DT Halifax just down the street from the Citadel (Avis). I think it cost us less than $300/wk.

... what else do you want to know? As a fellow albertan who toured the area just recently I'm more than happy to dispense all the info you might want (or more:))

I spend about 6 weeks a year in NS for work, Lunenburg is one of the towns i like best if you are lucky the Bluenose could be in port. When in Halifax go to the Old Triangle Pub you won't regret it. If you can, spend a couple of nights in Scotsburn at the Stonehame Chalets my wife loved it there.

as a Haligonian. I suggest that you check out the Historic Properties on the water front. The Waterfront in general is a good place to find some nice shops, good places to eat, have a drink and just a good time in general.

The Citadel is pretty cool as well. Halifax has such a rich history that a lot of the tourist stuff is kind of based off our history.

I suggest checking out the Alexander Keith's Brewery for the tour (much entertainment and good beer if you like beer)

There is a boat load of great places to see live Maritime Music

Seeing the Cabot Trail is an absolute must. There's no point to vacationing in Nova Scotia if you don't see the Trail.

Peggie's Cove is the lighthouse you speak of.

If you like golfing between PEI and NS there are some truly world class courses.

The Fax is a great city to just walk around, you never know what interesting things you could run into.

If you want to do PEI, and you want to take both the ferry and the bridge, enter PEI on the bridge and leave on the ferry.

This costs more than doing the bridge, but the bridge only charges you going one way (leaving PEI, not coming).

I took the Ferry from PEI, then drove to cape breton & saw the sights. (unfortunetally, a migrane cut my cape breton trip short...)

Oh, and remember, on Cape Breton (espeically the remote parts), try to speak French to the locals if you know the language. That area is where the acadian diaspora came from (the forefathers of the lousiana cajuns are from cape breton, IIRC).

If you like military history/old forts, there are alot around Halifax. Everything from state-of-the-art 19th century up to WW2 fortifications.

Both the Ferry and fixed link are free on the way to the island. You only pay when you leave the Island.
Most people on Cape Breton do not speak french. There is an Acadian population on the west coast surrounding Cheticamp, but the rest of the island is very english. Most Cape Bretoners can trace their origin to the Scottish Highlands. You can still find a dwindling number of native Gaelic speakers in the Highlands, in and around the Mabou / Margaree area.

I just spent the last few days in the Cape Breton highlands recharging. My most recommended new find is that there are two companies offering whale watching on small (50' ish) schooners. One operates out of Ingonish right below the Cape Smokey Ski hill and the other out of Bay St. Lawrence on the Islands north coast. If you know of a better way to spend the afternoon than sailing on a wooden ship off Cape Breton I'd like to hear about it.

Pfah!

I visited Cape Breton, and arrived in a small town. All the signs where in french, and they where talking about an acadian festival.

Needing a bite to eat and a bottle of water, I stopped off at the local Tim's[1]. It was pretty crowded, and all the menus where posted in french only.

Now, my French is pretty rusty. Luckily for me, the lineups where reasonably long. So I looked up at the menu, and figured out how to order a boston creme and a bottle of water. Subvocally I practiced my french, and figured out how to say "May I have a water and a boston creme please". I would show my cultural sensativity!

When I got to the front of the line, I proudly recited my carefully rehersed request to the pretty cashere. She look at me, and said something back in French.

Oh crap! I must have mangled something. And I couldn't understand her french -- she spoke too quickly.

I wrinkled my brow, and said "Um, I'm sorry. I don't speak french well."

She replied "Thank goodness! Neither do I!"

[1] By local, I mean there where highway signs saying "200 km to Tim Hortons, that way --->" along the route.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm been neglecting this thread (and the tfp in general) for most the summer due to my work schedule, but I'm glad that this thread is being revived now and again.

I've let my wife to be handle most the planning (again, due to working far too many hours). I think the only problem is going to be trying to do too much.

We fly in on a Sunday evening, staying in Dartmouth that night. After spending the day in Halifax, we head to lunenburg and stay at a little 'friends of family' cottage for two nights (they have it rented out starting wednesday but are letting us stay for free monday and tuesday). We then head to Wolfville on Wednesday and drive to PEI for thursday and friday, staying at a cabin just outside of a place called 'North Rustico'. Saturday we head to Cape Breton and stay in Baddeck until tuesday morning. We drive back to halifax, spend the night, and fly out wednesday at 1.

The rest is just details that I'm not yet privy to. There is a boat involved at Cavindash. There are bikes rented in Breton Cove. Should be a nice trip, although our initial budget has almost doubled.

Hiiiiiiiiiii
 

Honeymoon travel should be something special, do you agree? Certainly, you have many ideas for this after-wedding period of time to be together. Consider the most popular and famous cruises offered by your honeymoon adventure.:oogle:

huh? what is that?

Either completely unclear of what's going on in the thread or a potential spammer setting us up. Or the anti-spam system working by not letting him post his link to his honeymoon cruise site.

A terminator.

Clearly.

aw crap, I thought a meetup was in the offing...:(

A meetup with a Terminator usually ends badly. Unless Hollywood's been lying to me all these years.

A meet up there would be fantastic. Do we have any Haligonians on the board?