Headed to Nova Scotia- Give me your suggestions

I've long wanted to travel from the heart of dixie to ride the Cabot Trail and explore Nova Scotia. I'm currently planning that trip and plan to arrive at Baddeck (via the Trans Canada Highway from Moncton) on Sun evening Jul 27. My plan is to ride the Cabot Trail counter clockwise on Mon, Jul 28. I'll be able to remain until Thurs, Jul 31 when I intend to take the Digby Ferry in the AM to Saint John and begin my return trip home. Don't plan to camp but rather stay in economical/ moderate priced motels.

I've been reviewing lots of materials on the web and have the Nova Scotia tour guide. Please give me your suggestions regarding routes and most important sites to visit with a very limited time in the area. Thanks in advance for all responses.

Meat Cove at the top north west of the Cabot, and when you get off the Cabot and into the mainland when you hit Antigonish, turn left until you hit the Atlantic. Ride the coast all the way to Dartmouth and Halifax, stop in Peggys Cove, Lunenburgh, and continue the coast down to Yarmouth and up to Digby.

lots of great fish and chip places the whole trip. The waterfront in Halifax is nice for a break and a stroll and an ice cream or brew.

good luck.

I posted on this topic last summer. I'm on my phone so I can't search that far back but I stand by what I said then. Get off the highway in Moncton and head for the coast. If you can't find my post I'll try when I get to a desktop.

Worney

O yeA!!! I did Nova Scotia a couple of years ago. Cabot trail, Peggy's cove, bay of fundy, meat cove....all awesome.

Maybe this will work:

https://plus.google.com/photos/116811512302801092027/albums/5210265273479025873?banner=pwa&authkey=CKDb67-63YGK2wE

Pics of my trip

Good luck

From Digby follow Digby Neck to the end. You'll be at the ferry terminal for Petite Passage. There is (was) a snack bar there that makes the best scallop roll I've ever tasted. Also enjoyed the NE part of Cape Breton near Sydney and some big french fort up that way. Nova Scotia is a great MC vacation destination. Enjoy

I would suggest stopping at a place called "Skyline Walkway" which is off the Cabot Trail. You'll have to google it. Anyway, you park, you take a short walk through the woods, then the trail turns into a boardwalk. Suddenly it opens up and you're on top of the world. I believe you can actually see the curvature of the earth while you sit on a bench enjoying the view.

The whole walk was about 1/2 hour. As an added bonus we saw a female mouse (edit: moose) and her two calves. They were about 10 feet from us!!

Mouse?

Mouse calves?



I think she meant moose...and her phone autocorrected her. ;-)

worney said:

I posted on this topic last summer. I'm on my phone so I can't search that far back but I stand by what I said then. Get off the highway in Moncton and head for the coast. If you can't find my post I'll try when I get to a desktop.
Worney

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Ok Google won't let me put in enough way points so here is the first part. https://goo.gl/maps/MtWIJ and this is the second https://goo.gl/maps/ViYQi There is lots to see and do. Stay off the highways and you should have lots of fun. Don't be scared to talk to people when you stop. NS is the kind of place where most people wave driving down the roads because they figure that they probably know you and they would rather wave at everyone than risk missing one of their neighbors.

Worney

Forgot to say that I had you starting at the Lower Deck in Hfx harbour for the second part. I disagree with Walt Disney... The Lower Deck is the happiest place on earth. If you are there on a Sat. you can sit outside and people and boat watch from Noon till 3am with (if it hasn't changed) 2 live maritime bands and cold draft. Ahh the memories.

Thanks for everyone's response. You've given me additional direction and some new activities and routes to consider. Also reaffirmed why I often get upset with "autocorrect".

Did 7 days around Quebec, skipped the Gaspe so that w could get to NS quicker. This was a trip I took the week before my wife and I headed back to our home in Montana, after working 2 year assignments at a hospital in Plattsburgh NY.

My first suggestion is go see the Gaspe and let me know what I missed. I did not overly enjoy NS, we did cape Breton. Which was nice, but fairly boring compared to Oregon Idaho Utah Washington and just about everyplace out west.

We did camp two nights in a row, before and after the Cape Breton trail, in a town called Antigonish. (Annie ganish) great campsite (tents the first night, the second night we did a trailer home in the same campground as rain was coming and we needed some serious planning space for the rest of our trip.Whidden Park Campground & Cottages. Nice town. Drink what ever red beers their offering.

(My real advice would be to head west, if you haven't seen the west you don't know what your missing)

Did NS in'96 on my FJ. Great time. Stayed at mom and pop motels. Ate lobster rolls every day and roadside stands . Check out the Alexander Graham Bell museum.

wheatonFJR said:

Mouse calves?

I think she meant moose...and her phone autocorrected her. ;-)

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LOL. Yeah really humongous mouse .....with calves.

Yes I meant moose. Hehehehe

HelzBelz said:

Did 7 days around Quebec, skipped the Gaspe so that w could get to NS quicker. This was a trip I took the week before my wife and I headed back to our home in Montana, after working 2 year assignments at a hospital in Plattsburgh NY.My first suggestion is go see the Gaspe and let me know what I missed. I did not overly enjoy NS, we did cape Breton. Which was nice, but fairly boring compared to Oregon Idaho Utah Washington and just about everyplace out west.

We did camp two nights in a row, before and after the Cape Breton trail, in a town called Antigonish. (Annie ganish) great campsite (tents the first night, the second night we did a trailer home in the same campground as rain was coming and we needed some serious planning space for the rest of our trip.Whidden Park Campground & Cottages. Nice town. Drink what ever red beers their offering.

(My real advice would be to head west, if you haven't seen the west you don't know what your missing)

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Proof positive that Likes and Dislikes are subjective

I've ridden in UT, OR, and WA. Utah is spectacular - period; my ride over the Northern Cascades was one of my best day rides ever; and I'm anxious to spend more time on the Oregon coast. That said, I've ridden LOTS of boring-assed roads in the west, too

I totally disagree with your recommendation / advice to give NS and the Cabot Trail a miss - especially since the OP has decided his trip and simply asked for helpful input. The Cabot Trail is highly rated as a groovy motorcycle road and Alexander Graham Bell (know that dude?) allegedly said: "...I have traveled around the world. I have seen the Canadian and American Rockies, the Andes, the Alps, and the Highlands of Scotland, but for simple beauty, Cape Breton outrivals them all." (his opinion)

Regarding what you missed on the Gaspésie, riding that peninsula I had the sense of it being a cross between the Cabot Trail and the Hana Highway in Maui (my opinion only)

ps - Antigonish is NOT pronounced Annie ganish

Take the bridge up to Prince Edward Island and ferry back across on the other side.

TommyBwell said:

Take the bridge up to Prince Edward Island and ferry back across on the other side.

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You only pay to get off the island. Bridge (for motorcycles) is cheaper than the ferry so its cheaper to take the ferry over from Pictou and the bridge back to cape Tormentine. Otherwise, I agree that its a worthwhile side trip.