Nova Scotia & PEI

[AnnArborBob]

Hi everyone,

We are going to NS & PEI in July & August of this year (2014) and would appreciate any suggestions and insights into campgrounds and sights-to-see you might care to suggest.

Thanks in advance,
Bob

[Englishgirl]

If you head into New Brunswick head to St Andrews by the Sea and have dinner at the Rosemount Hotel we had some of the best meals we have ever eaten in the dining room!

[Farmer Dan]

Bob,
In New Brunswick, the Fundy Natl. Park is pretty cool with that area having 40'-50' daily tides. Many thousands of acres are covered and uncovered by the tides! On PEI, we visited the "Cheese Lady" where they make and sell cheese. The far NW corner of PEI has many wind generators, which is quite a sight if you have not seen them before. The Green Gables house is in the middle part of the island. The Confederation Bridge is a memorable way to enter the island. And the ferry boat from PEI to Pictou, NS is also unique! The Cabot Trail and Cape Breton areas of NS are also quite scenic. We found the NE area of NS, including Cabot Trail, to be especially scenic. Around Baddeck was one of my favorite lakeside scenic areas. A maritime museum in Halifax is another place we found to be very interesting. Allow plenty of time to see the sights. There are MANY that I have not mentioned. The people were great, too!!
Dan

[Wayne&Sam]

PEI is wonderful. It's small enough that there's no reason not to see it all.

[Silver Otter]

Bob,
Don't miss the historic forts, filled with stories and often costumed guides. Try to get in to the Silver Fox Museum on PEI. Quite a tale of wealth and wearables of the time. One of our favorite meals and views was at the Keltic Lodge [http://www.kelticlodge.ca/].

[SmokelessJoe]

Hello Bob, happy travels.

We took a trip that way the summer before last, 91 days on the road to St. John's, Newfoundland and back - which included a circle tour of the entire Nova Scotia coast line.

This is a little travelogue to inspire your journey...

(People are very different in where they want to stay and what they chose to see so I'll just share my way with you and others).

I have a very self-sufficient travel rig which allows much roadside camping, my preferred way enroute to anywhere.



I rarely ask permission and have only been turned away once, at a Tourist Centre in New Brunswick!

For example we stayed roadside on the way out, there and back like so: at the Fisheries Station on Lake Ontario at Port Hope; behind the Town Hall in Dunham, Eastern Townships of Quebec; for THREE nights beside a grassy knoll at the WALMART in Sherbrooke, PQ (the manager, who didn't speak English, gave his permission, interpreted by a staff member who did); at the Millworker's Memorial Park, along the St. Croix River on the main street of St. Stephen, New Brunswick - we stopped at St-Andews-by-the-Sea for lunch the next day;



a Home Depot lot on a high cliff overlooking part of St. John, NB ( the Garden Centre cheerfully filled our water tank);in the pines alongside the Baptist church in downtown Sackville, NB; alongside a golf club at Truro, NS; behind the curling club in Windsor; at The Osprey Art Centre and Shelburne, NS Yacht Club;



at the Great Atlantic Superstore, Upper Tantallon, NS; roadside, by a water fall, at Sheet Harbour NS, roadside at Boylston NS,

on the plains overlooking the ocean and historic Fort Louisburg, and at a Sobey's store at North Sydney, NS, awaiting the ferry to Newfoundland.

In friendly Newfoundland we parked in Deer Lake at the Recreational Complex; in Lawrence and Josie Lush's front yard at Gambo; for several days at the Dominion Store along Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's; bayside at Clarenville; the Dominion Store at Gander; at the Salvation Army Citadel in Springdale; at Murphy Square in Corner Brook ( the Canadian Tire Store there has a dump station!) and then, returning to the mainland, the Antigonish Mall at Antigonish, NS; the Welcome Centre at Wood Island, PEI; an Irving Oil BIG STOP for several days near Fredricton, NB; Rotary Waterfront Park at Perth-Andover, NB;



a MAXI store at Riviere du Loup, PQ; along the road in Louisville, PQ and at Loblaws, Cavendish and St. Jacques, very near to downtown MONTREAL.

Some nice RV parks stayed included these:

Riverside Cedars Parks of St. Lawrence, near Morrisburg, Ontario. (These parks are run by an agency of the Ontario government and there is oodles of space for each trailer).

Cathedral Pines at Eustis, Maine. (majestic pines; wonderful staff) A friendly Pumpkin Patch Park near Bangor, Maine. Hardings Point Campground near St. John, NB ( a private ferry takes you there!) and the most welcoming RV park owners in the world, Jerry and Laurette at the DIGBY CAMPGROUNDS, Digby, NS.

Wayside Campground at Glen Margaret is a funky doodle family run operation, perfectly sited for run-outs to Peggy's Cove, HALIFAX, CHESTER, MAHONE BAY and picturesque LUNEBERG, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.



We did them all.

Pippy Park is city owned and right in middle of St. John's, near Memorial University. Grand Codroy RV Camping at DOYLES, Nfld. is marvellous and spacious, with a personality.

I asked the lady that runs the very genuine craft shop there what her name was and she said " Alice. People 'tinks I'm from Wonderland but I's from Newfoundland, boy".

The German owners of the Cabot Trail Campground at Baddeck, NS, "greeting" us in the dark made me wish we were back in Newfoundland. The KOA Cornwall near Charlottetown, PEI was a pleasant waterfront surprise. Camping Juneau at Quebec City is nothing to write home about. Rideau Acres, near Kingston, Ontario is in a big, interesting, duck, peacock and waterfowl filled park.

Atlantic Canada is filled with things to do and see. Small, lively univesity towns like Wolfville (Acadia) and Sackville ( Mount Allison)- you'll be surprised at how many interesting museums Sackville has. Annapolis Valley along the Minas Basin is wonderful. Digby, Shelburne (much to see there; beautiful town), Peggy's Cove is post card splendid. The Fisheries Museum in LUNEBURG is homespun excellence itself, a real experience of what the inshore fishery was/is. HALIFAX is a very livable city on the sea. Go to Pete's Foods on Dresden Row, the Natural History Museum, Prospect Park, the Halifax Gardens downtown. Hydrostone District. The Citadel. The ART GALLERY OF NOVA SCOTIA has an amazing collection. The MARITIME MUSEUM OF THE ATLANTIC is great, down at waterside. BROOKLYN WAREHOUSE CAFE for the best dinner in Halifax - as good as New York, actually. The French and English fought over LOUISBURG long before your country was born. Worth a visit. Travel the old coastal highways and marvel at the names of the towns: Oyster Pond, Beech Hill, Ship Harbour, Tangier, Mushaboom, Salmon River, Chezettcook....

The names of the settlements in Newfoundland are even more interesting if you have time to get there. And the people of Atlantic Canada are welcoming and wonderfully laidback, none more so than the Newfoundlanders.

Have fun...

[jpons]

Bob,

Have to visit Bay of Fundy and Hopewell Rocks. Truly spectacular. Make sure to pay attention to the tides and go during low tide. All of PEI is beautiful and very picturesque. I would also recommend making a side Grand Manan island. Beautiful place. Stay at Hole in the Wall campground which has some great hikes and is next to a beautiful lighthouse.

[herkvet]

I am really enjoying this thread as we are going to NB, PEI, and Cape Breton this September. Already wishing we allotted more time than we have, but oh well. Better to go than staying home!

[SmokelessJoe]

Suggestion: when in St. John, the old capital city of New Brunswick, take the ferry across to DIGBY, Nova Scotia. That way you can say you were in FOUR Provinces.

And that way you can stay with JERRY and LAURETTE at the DIGBY CAMPGROUNDS, right in the heart of the fishing town. They are the World's Greatest Campground Owners, in my opinion, and probably others too.

You can go down to the wharf to await the fishermen bringing in their catch. Buy a lobster or two. Have a lobster boil right in the trailer!



And the DIGBY SCALLOP is World Famous. You won't believe how great that is, right out of the sea.

This is St. JOHN'S, Newfoundland. Don't worry if you don't have time to sail there; most all of Atlantic Canada is this quaint and colourful.





And the people WELCOMING...

[SmokelessJoe]

Hi Jenny and Jim at Herkimer,

Got your PM; thank you.

Easier to answer your questions here.....

Yes, I am probably more comfortable with informal stop overs than you might be. But try out the Gypsy life as well; you might like it. Especially in friendly Canada....

About September: yes, you could and should "wing it", as you say. At that time of the year there should be no need for reservations at campgrounds. Some provincial parks will even close after Labour Day.

See my comments on Campgrounds in #6 above if you like.

I don't like having reservations and mostly avoid them. Having to be somewhere on time can be stress producing and not knowing exactly were you will stop for the night can be exhilerating.

I realize that some folks think like this too ... and some don't. Helps make our world a fascinating place...

[rjack]

Are reservations generally necessary in July? Our idea is to make a few reservations at special RV parks, but to generally go from day to day to keep flexible. Is this reasonable? Thank you. Jack and Kay

[gandttimes]

Originally Posted by rjack

Are reservations generally necessary in July? Our idea is to make a few reservations at special RV parks, but to generally go from day to day to keep flexible. Is this reasonable? Thank you. Jack and Kay

We did it in June and July of 08 and only once ran into a campground that was full but it was the Friday of a long weekend. We try to never book spaces as we are always changing our minds as to where when and how long.


George

[Gene]

There is another thread on the Atlantic Provinces. A lot is about Newfoundland, but info about all is there: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...nb-127682.html

Gene

[gator.bigfoot]

I've been out to PEI in 1990,2011,2013 & 2014. I typically stay at the St. Lawrence Seaway parks close to Cornwall at McLaren Long Sault Parkway - St Lawrence Parks - Camping then I head out to Quebec City. I stayed just outside of the city in 2011 for a couple of days to view the city. There is a camping spot very close to this IGA. It is OK at best, but it is convenient. Now I just stop at the IGA IGA extra Levis to pick up local beer and their amazing pastries (they freeze well). Then after a nice meal of freshly roasted chicken (enjoyed in my AS) I head to Edmunston NB. In Edmunston I stay at Riverside RV park. Then the next day I head to Cavendish PEI at the National Park. In 2011 I actually headed to the Gaspe Peninsula instead of detouring through Edmonston. This was a breathtaking trip. I enjoyed every minute. I stayed at National Parks mostly and some private. Now we just head to PEI directly. I enjoy the National Park. The beaches are great, but you can also go the the Provincial Park just outside of Cavendish and the beach there is free. This park is also very large and rarely is ever full. The National Park can fill up. Last year there were no sites at the end of July, but I reserve when the park reservations open in mid April. One thing to remember is that in July the water is mostly unusable for swimming due to the jelly fish. In August they are gone. The water and the beaches there are fabulous. Back in 90 I encountered a hurricane at the end of July while on the Island just as an FYI. In 2011 I headed from here to Cape Breton via the ferry to NS. That is a worthwhile adventure. One thing to remember is that the roads out to Cape Breton are very bad and you will be doing 60km/hr at the max pulling a trailer. My last trailer (SOB) just about fell apart on these roads. Also fueling stations are not that common for diesel. The scenery is spectacular though and well worth the trip if you have the time. On the way back I headed to Halifax. I stayed at the Provincial Park outside of Halifax, which is OK, but I got kicked out when hurricane Irene went through. Then I had to find a private campsite that doesn't close when there are hurricanes. From Halifax I headed to the Bay of Fundy and camped right next door to the Bay of Fundy park at a private campground where you can actually view the tides and the flower pot rocks. The National park there is actually 45 minutes away in a very buggy part of the world. From the Bay of Fundy I head to St. John NB where I stay one night before heading back through the US. Even when my destination is only PEI I will head this way back. You can visit Acadia National Park on your way back it is very nice or lately I have been heading back through Maine,New Hampshire and Vermont staying at the KOA on Mnt Washington. But taking the old highway 2 through Maine and NH and then into Vermont is a very picturesque route, but a whole lot slower than the interstate. Before heading back to Ontario I make another stop around the Outlet mall between Syracuse and Rochester. If you are from Michigan you would have at least 3 hours more to the Windsor or Sarnia boarder than I need so you may be into another night stay depending upon where you need to go.

I always reserve sites ahead due to the 30' length. The only time I didn't reserve a site was back in 1990 and when I got to Cape Breton there were none. Although they did allow everyone that was in this predicament to stay in the day use area for a small fee.

If you head out to Cape Breton this is a 3 week minimum trip. If just heading to PEI and back I do this now in 2 spending 8 days on the Island.
A word of caution. If using a GPS they are notoriously unreliable in the east. Especially around Montreal and then anywhere east of St John. If you rely on a phone for your GPS think again since many of these areas do not have cell coverage. Also Garmin maps are totally inaccurate out east and in will be telling you to make a u-turn even if you select that you have a 30' trailer. Lately I have been using Co-pilot on my tablet. It is better in some places but on PEI let me down. I ended up using my phone when I figured out that the GPS was taking me for 3 hour detour. I have a built in GPS in my car, but found out in 2011 that it doesn't work past Troi Riviere. Then without any paper maps it was down to my phone and some trial and error. lol.

Good luck with your choices and if you need any other advice please PM me. If you are on PEI in August we may bump into each other, since I am planning to go again.

Cheers,
Walt

[AnnArborBob]

Originally Posted by rjack

Are reservations generally necessary in July? Our idea is to make a few reservations at special RV parks, but to generally go from day to day to keep flexible. Is this reasonable? Thank you. Jack and Kay

We did end up going to NS, PEI & NB this past summer from mid-July to mid-September and found that virtually every campground had plenty of availability. I think that the economy in Canada (and the price of gas last summer @ nearly $6/gallon (Can$)) kept a lot of people home. We even felt sorry for some of the campground owners. This year the price of gas should be lower but the Canadian economy is not recovering as fast as in the US (and of course, low oil prices are not helping them) so I would think that the reservation situation should be similar to last summer. I would make reservations only at a "must stay" campground during a holiday weekend. Remember that Canadian holidays don't always track with US ones.

[andreasduess]

Walt is correct about the cell coverage. A mapping system that has the data built in is essential if you wish to rely on GPS navigation, otherwise it's back to paper.

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by AnnArborBob

We did end up going to NS, PEI & NB this past summer from mid-July to mid-September and found that virtually every campground had plenty of availability. I think that the economy in Canada (and the price of gas last summer @ nearly $6/gallon (Can$)) kept a lot of people home. We even felt sorry for some of the campground owners. This year the price of gas should be lower but the Canadian economy is not recovering as fast as in the US (and of course, low oil prices are not helping them) so I would think that the reservation situation should be similar to last summer. I would make reservations only at a "must stay" campground during a holiday weekend. Remember that Canadian holidays don't always track with US ones.

Last time I looked, I.e this morning, the economy was doing just fine and gas is down to 85 cents a litre in places. Camp grounds in Ontario are already booked solid for the long weekends in spring. I'd book.

[Jim Flower]

I go to Atlantic Canada two or three times a year and have never experienced the issues that Walt found. The highways are excellent, including going to Cape Breton, (down with the causeway), other than the road to Meat Cove, my GPS (Garmin) worked just fine as did the one in my Jeep but I keep them up to date, and I have not experienced a lack of cell coverage. (Telus) The access to fuel, including diesel, is the same as the rest of Canada which is the same as the US, except diesel is more readily available in Canada. Fuel is way more expensive but we do have an $.82 dollar these days. There are no issues on trying to find a campground except on long weekends, but most campgrounds save a few spots for those of us that don't plan. This summer may be different due to the dollar. I do reserve at Shubie when in Halifax. In short, if you just travel like you normally travel, everything should turn out like your normal trip! Jim


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[AnnArborBob]

Originally Posted by andreasduess

Last time I looked, I.e this morning, the economy was doing just fine and gas is down to 85 cents a litre in places. Camp grounds in Ontario are already booked solid for the long weekends in spring. I'd book.

While perhaps not clear, my comment regarding ample camping opportunities in Canada and not needing reservations pertained to the Maritime Provinces. That part of Canada is fairly far from major US and Canadian population centers and makes a "short trip" that fits in the typical working family's schedule too much of a stretch. As a result, that part of Canada just doesn't draw the volume of campers that areas closer to major population centers do.

I'm glad to learn that gas in Canada is now down to $0.85 a liter. It was about $1.50 last year.

[Gene]

On Friday the Canadian dollar dropped more than 4¢ US to about 75.5¢ US. Canada exports a lot of commodities and they have dropped a lot—it is more than oil; other minerals also. But it isn't only Canada's dollar, the US dollar has continued to rise against major currencies. It is cheaper to travel to Canada than it has been in a decade and I hope this lasts for a while.

Gene