Travelling to the Canadian East Coast

I will be looking forward to seeing what you come up with. This is one of our possible trips for 2017...but starting from Idaho and traveling north to Alberta and then headed
east to visit friends in New Brunswick.

Take the Autoroute 30 bypass around the south shore of Montreal, there is a small toll but it's worth it. Puts you on the AR20 side of the river so you would have to cross the bridge to get to Quebec City itself, and last time I was through there was still a lot of construction going on around QC. Bridge on to PEI and Ferry off is the more expensive way to do it, but it works for your route so that's fine. The ferry lands near Pictou, which is kind of neat, and you can do a tour of the Grohmann Knife factory and get factory seconds. Absolute top quality kitchen and sporting knives. Fortress Louisbourg (pronounced "Lewisberg" so you know who won that particular war) is a wonderful recreation of the original French port and capital on Cape Breton Island, and there is an RV park right in the heart of the town, has 20 or 30 sites so reserve if you are interested. Nice town, nice restaurants, etc. When you get off the island you'll be going through Truro, and if you time it right there is a nice viewing spot they just tarted up to see the tidal bore (Bay of Fundy). If you decide to do the Annapolis Valley you can cut across country from Truro west, and pick your way across on smaller roads, I've done that several times and some of the views are tremendous, and there is a fossil museum on the coast of the bay that is supposed to be top notch if you like fossils. Most the Annapolis valley is best seen along highway 1 or 201 rather than 101, (in Nova Scotia, the highway numbers tell you the type of road. A single digit like Highway 1 is a main two lane road, a triple digit with 1 is a divided two or four lane limited access high speed highway, a triple digit with 2 like 201 is a narrow, probably twisty and slowish two lane road and a triple digit with 3 like 311 is a wide, somewhat straight and smooth two lane road, a step up from a 201 but not as good as a 1). If you go north in Annapolis from the main highway up towards the coast of the bay of Fundy the terrain gets quite hilly and the roads steep and twisty, but you can see some amazing sights if you visit one or two of the tiny fishing villages, where they get 10 foot tides every day.

Whew. To carry on - south of Halifax is very wet, it being the Atlantic Ocean, but west of Halifax take highway 3 along the coast. The south shore is magnificent, the fishing villages homey as heck, but due to the terrain all you can see from Highway 103 is trees. Highway 3 is the ticket. Peggys Cove has massive parking for RV's, as does Lunenberg, too many neat towns to mention. I haven't been farther west than Liverpool, but doing the big circle around the coast past Yarmouth is on the list.

If you go into New Brunswick, Kouchibouguac National Park is astounding, really well done. It's kind of north of where the bridge to PEI lands, east of Moncton.

Brian

Murph, sounds like a great trip. If you come through Ontario north of Lake Superior, it's an incredible view but hilly and a few nasty looking cliffs that you drive along. If the weather is nice it's a great drive...Hwy 17 I believe.
If speed or weather plays in then take Hwy 11, not as nice views, but a safe bet and a few nice towns to travel through.

Brian, thanks so much for the intel.In depth and a big help. We're really looking forward to this trip and want to get it right!

blueorrfan wrote:
We have our timeline down, but no camping spots or activities....

Leaving Ontario Aug 2nd to Quebec City. Spend the next full day there then hit the road morning of Aug 4th.

Arrive PEI later that day and stay until Aug 8th

Arrive Cape Breton later that day, stay till Aug 12th.

Leave in the am travel to Annapolis valley or just south of Halifax till Aug 17th.

Arrive Moncton area and stay until the 21st,

We are probably going to stay in Provincial Parks which don't look like they can be booked until Apr 1st.
Any other suggestions for camping or certain activities you've really enjoyed would be appreciated.

Thanks

I really enjoyed eating plenty of lobsters,seafood chowder and blood sausage called Lunenburg puding down there...also tons of apples as Berwick has huge apple growing farms..
If you like mysteries,there is Oak island near Lunenburg with its famous money pit,,,where many different people have been searching for hidden treasure since 1700 or so..

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Island

In Aylesford theres also small zoo you might like to see..

Murray Beach Campground is a great place just before the PEI bridge. It odes get busy so reserving is not a bad idea, the middle of the week is not as bead.

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g154956-d1070801-r115871812-Murray_Beach_Provincial_Park-New_Brunswick.html

New Glasgow Highlands Campground on the Island is one of our favorites. Small, extreme clean and Marlene and Les are the best.

http://www.newglasgowhighlands.com/

Have a great trip.

Oldcow

Clicky: Oak Island

Clicky: Murray Beach Provincal Park

Clicky: New Glasgow High Lands

I'll be there this summer not same CG's but will be gone from June 23-Aug 11.

Thanks for the info folks....keep it coming!

Let me put some things in point format.

- Ferry to costs more than bridge. You pay when you leave.

Nova Scotia
- Consider going out to Cape Breton Island, Meat Cove, Cabot Trail, Fortress Louisbourg, 1st
- Plan on full day for Fortress.
- Work your way back east. I always like cg in area of Whycogomagh.
- Historic Properties, Halifax.
- Music Festivals in all of Maritimes.
- Tidal Bore

- Fundy National Park
- Boat trips
- Possibly Grand Manan Is, Deer Island, Campobello Island. Love them

- New Brunswick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6zoXjHNCi0
---Fundy Park
---Historic Saint John, city market
---Acadienne Historic Village
--IMHO skip Kouchibouguac Park. Too crowded with bigger rigs. Sorry, did not have even half decent time. Have to reserve and its on National Park reservations scheme.
--Hartland Covered Bridge, longest covered bridge in world.


PEI Let yourself drive.
--Historic Charlottetown
- Charlottetown Farmers Market. New additional one just started this month.
- Other Farmer's Markets
- New Glasgow Lobster Suppers
- Windows on the Water restaurant, Montague. In Where to Eat in CA
- Assorted boat trips
- Historic places (Orwell Corner, Sir Andrew MacPhail Homestead, hiking trails)
- Anne's fictional home.
- Beaches.

Don't know where your starting from in ON. Prefer via Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, Ottawa, then east.

Enjoy,
:C

Well, we have our camping destinations booked.

A couple nights at the KOA in Quebec City, with a tour of historic downtown planned.

In PEI we're staying at Cabot Beach PP as the National park seems to be under construction. Looks like a nice park and fairly central. Plan on golfing, possibly deep sea fishing and spending some time exploring on the roads.

Cape Breton we have booked at Mira River PP as it's close to Sydney and Louisburg, We'll spend a full day doing the Cabot Trail and maybe a couple hours whale watching. Hoping for some Celtic music at a pub somewhere too.

We decided to book Graves Island PP just south of Halifax because of its central location. A day in the Annapolis valley, a day in Halifax, a day along the coast at Lunenburg and Peggys Cove....and some R&R time.

New Brunswick we booked at Parlee Beach PP, looks like an incredible beach. Hooking up with an old friend to go golfing near Moncton. Spend a day at the bay of Fundy and more R&R.

Take our time driving back to Ontario...Peterborough area. This is the only part of the trip we haven't reserved a spot to camp. Fly by the seat of our pants here. Really looking forward to this trip!
Anymore suggestions or tips will be carefully considered.

Thanks again everyone...you've been a big help!

I hope you took note of the fact that you pay for over water links to PEI only ONCE --------- when you leave & the Bridge costs LESS than ferry.

:C