We have visited all US states except the New England states. We have avoided it because they say it is crowded and you had better make reservations or you won't find a place to park. We never make reservations except here in Florida's state parks. We don't like being on someone else's schedule.What experience have others had traveling New England and the Canadian Provinces?Looking for any advice you feel would be helpful.With Quebec being French speaking is there anything non French speaking folks should know about there?Thanks in advancePete n Doll

Reservations are certainly needed in the July/Aug time frame. Campgrounds/State Parks are very fully in the summer. Some State parks are frequently completely book for popular weeks/weekends by Feb/Mar. Seasonals fill a lot of the private CGs around here as well during the summer.Don't miss the area, just plan were possible. Some CGs will put you in overflow areas if they don't have any sites. Not sure about the New Bruinswick/NS areas as it has been many many years. Safe Travels

We did a three week trip from NJ to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (mainly Cape Breton) back in June 2008. No reservations, no problems. We got the impression that June was before the "season", especially for Cape Breton.In September that year we did two weeks in VT and NH. Again, no reservations, no problems. BTW, we planned the trip to hit the Tunbridge World's Fair in VT. Had such a great time, we went back for a second day.We avoid travel when kids are out of school as we like the freedom of wandering around without a set schedule or reservations. Spring and Fall work great for us.

If you want "on the water" in the summer in CT, RI, or MA, it won't happen without reservations. We also never make reservations and we never stayed on the beach in CT but have never found a full RV park that wasn't on the ocean. New England and north have some very nice spots. Maine and Nova Scotia food make me fat every time we go.

Like most anywhere, needing reservations in New England is more a matter of when and where you are than an overall blanket requirement. During foliage season and holidays and possibly summer vacation weekends they are advisable, particularly at popular campgrounds. Quebec gets its fair share of non-French speaking tourists and somehow they manage to put up with them. You should be able to get by; virtually everybody can speak and understand English, certainly those who you're likely to make contact with. Road signage is in French only, but most things are fairly straightforward to figure out. (For example, a red octagonal sign with Arrête means you should come to a complete stop, and it's clear enough without knowing the French.)Do of course be aware of the border crossing requirements for Canada and the US. It's not a big problem in general, but you do need to be aware of the paperwork/ID requirements (more for reentry into the US) and the regulations on what may be brought across the border (e.g. Canadian gun laws if you carry a gun).By and large, northern New England is a fair amount more rural than southern New England. I certainly wouldn't consider the north woods of Maine (for example) to be crowded in any sense of the word. Boston, on the other hand....

The people of Quebec City know where their income comes from and will extend themselves to speak English. Montreal, not so much. I used to be a fire fighter and I would always stop at a firehouse in whatever city I was in to get information on the local points of interest.I went to the main firehouse in Montreal and ran into a firefighter on the apparatus floor. I said Hi and asked "parlez vous English?" (that's the end of my French) He returned with the question " parlez vous francais?". When I replied in the negative, he said to me, in English, that he would not talk to me and walked away. Luckily another fire fighter witnessed this and went and found someone that did speak English. He was happy to speak to me because he was trying to improve his English. I have several other examples where I had problems with the language barrier. But Montreal is a nice city.If you get a chance, investigate the Bay of Fundy. It has some beautiful scenery and it is know for the largest tidal range (vertical difference between the high tide and the succeeding low tide) in the world. Depending on where you are, it can be between 35 -50 feet. The St. John River flows through the City of St. John NS and it has what is called the "reversing falls".Nova Scotia is kind of stark, but pretty. It looks like they are changing the provincial parks to self service and laying off or cutting back on park employees. ((clicky)

New England, New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia

CloudDriver
Explorer
Mar 06, 2015
We did a three week trip from NJ to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (mainly Cape Breton) back in June 2008. No reservations, no problems. We got the impression that June was before the "season", especially for Cape Breton.

In September that year we did two weeks in VT and NH. Again, no reservations, no problems. BTW, we planned the trip to hit the Tunbridge World's Fair in VT. Had such a great time, we went back for a second day.

We avoid travel when kids are out of school as we like the freedom of wandering around without a set schedule or reservations. Spring and Fall work great for us.
wkswenson
Explorer
Mar 06, 2015
Reservations are certainly needed in the July/Aug time frame. Campgrounds/State Parks are very fully in the summer. Some State parks are frequently completely book for popular weeks/weekends by Feb/Mar. Seasonals fill a lot of the private CGs around here as well during the summer.

Don't miss the area, just plan were possible. Some CGs will put you in overflow areas if they don't have any sites. Not sure about the New Bruinswick/NS areas as it has been many many years.

Safe Travels

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