Leg 1 - Halifax - Cape Breton (Cabot Trail) - Halifax
Leg 2 - Halifax - Moncton - Toronto - Niagara Falls
My Canadian Adventure began with a short 6 hour flight with Air Canada to Halifax, I was on board the AC861 flight which has amazing leg room! The configuration on the plane was 3 by 3 and the extra space made the flight a really enjoyable experience.
Day 1 - Halifax Halifax was beautiful & who knew it had so much history, for example did you know it was the nearest port to the Titanic disaster and this is where they brought all the bodies recovered along with any wreckage from the sunken ship, a must see is the Maritime museum on the seafront. With the main city just 5 blocks x 5 blocks of bars & restaurants it is an amazing place to eat out - Try the 5 Fisherman - apparently haunted! Trust me, the food is so good you won't care!
Day 2 - Halifax to Baddeck, Cape Breton After spending an evening exploring Halifax we spend the night there and got ready for the big journey the next day to Cape Breton Island & a stay in Baddeck - Home to Alexander Graham Bell "ring ring"! Although a bit of a drive we broke the journey up with a stop at an amazing farmers market in Truro to have lunch & stock up on supplies. We were travelling this part of the journey on an actual tour with other guests - Andersons tours & the lovely Donna our host complimented by Wayne the bus driver! Guests were from all over the world, some in couples, a few group & many singles too.
We arrived at Baddeck, mouched around the Alexander Graham Bell museum before heading to our hotel - The Inverary Resort. where we had dinner with an amazing view followed by drinks & smores by the firepit.
Day 3 - Cabot Trail It is no wonder this has been voted one of the most scenic drives in the world, the views & stop off points were fantastic! My advice.... Hire an RV, stop off for a bit of whale watching along the way and wow! What a trip this would be!
Day 4 - Fortress of Luisbourg On Cape Breton’s rocky shoreline east of Sydney, Nova Scotia, the Fortress of Louisbourg brings you back into one of North America’s busiest 18th-century seaports. Founded by the French in 1713, this one-quarter reconstruction of the original French town and fortifications is the largest – and best – of its kind in North America where we enjoyed a traditional meal as it would have been served - just 1 spoon for soup, stew & pudding!
Day 5 - Halifax Back to Halifax today to spend the evening Day 6 - Halifax to Moncton, New Brunswick by via rail train. Wow what an experience the Canadian trains were! More like airports than stations where you check in your luggage, choose bewteen the sleeper cars or the seated cars (depending on how far you are going!) Free wi fi in the buffet car, and amazingly comfortable! Moncton was a very pleasant surprise, a beautiful looking city quickly becoming the fastest growing city in Atlantic Canada with a good mix of French & English speaking people. Home to the Tidal Bore which occurs everyday when the tide comes in brings tourists around for miles to wattch and sometimes surf the waves! We finished the day with dinner at the Catch 22 restaurant hosted by the Moncton tourist board was very tasty!
Day 7 - Hopewell Rocks, Largest Lobster in Canada then Flight home to Toronto The Hopewell Rocks is one of New Brunswick’s top attractions, we arrived on a super windy day to walk on the ocean floor amongst statue like rocks carved by erosion over thousands of years. Time and tide have carved these from the cliffs and the coves leaving distinctive sandstone formations topped with trees. During periods of low tide, you can walk 2 km of beach and explore several coves - It really was spectacular!
After our trip here our guide Justin took us to Shediac "Lobster capitol of the world!" which is a French-Acadian community located at about a 15 minute drive from Moncton. A sort of resort town, Shediac boasts many public and private beaches, quaint bed and breakfasts, and the worlds largest Lobster statue! It can get busy during the summer months. We also visited some other beautiful beaches & local Arcadian tourist attraction called the VILLAGE HISTORIQUE ACADIEN - Step into a real Acadian time with the interpreters as they go about their chores in period buildings - Then a quick dash to grab a plane from Moncton to Toronto!
Day 7 - Niagara Falls, Ziplining & Wine tasting My favourite day! Up early for a boat trip on the Hornblower from the Canadian side sailing alongside the Maid of the mist from the US side, grabbed my complimentary poncho, and enjoyed the view! Straight off the boat to go back up to Zipline along the side of the falls - Not as scary as it sounds, it was amazing fun! A little bit of souvenir shopping in Niagara, masses to do here for adults & children. After an amazing morning we headed off to the Sheraton on the Falls hotel for a buffet lunch with a view of the falls - Open to residents & non residents - Food was delicious!
Following on from our delicious lunch we headed out to Niagara on the Lake to enjoy some Wine tasting at the Chateau - my favourite was the Ice wine - Grapes are left on the vine into the winter months when they freeze and the small amount of juice is made into a sweet tasting after dinner wine which can also be used in cooking!
The winery was our last stop before heading to Toronto Airport for our flight home, it was my first wine tasting experience and i would definitely recommend it - Especially if you are heading on to a night flight home afterwards! I slept very well!!