Destination Maritimes
Really welcoming local hosts, beautiful area, and great eating.
Here are the highlights of our Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island ten day road trip planned in conjunction with Authentik, Canada.
*Exceptional meals. Halifax, The Bicycle Thief. Pleasant Bay, Cape Breton, The Rusty Anchor. Charlottetown, Water Prince Corner Shop. Best Fish and Chips ever/anywhere, Murphy's Fish and Chips in Truro.
*Truro is not on the main visitor agendas, but we learned a great deal and experienced the Tidal Bore at Burntcoat Head Park and the Fundy Tidal Interpretive Centre near there.
*Great live fiddle music, The Doryman Pub & Grill in Cheticamp.
*Maintaining our own agenda and schedule by using a rental car was very user friendly and made easy by the staff at the airport and with Northumberland Ferries.
*A storm made our whale watching an uncomfortable 1/2 day. We will try to stay closer to whale areas next time at Pleasant Bay in Cape Breton or try the Bay of Fundy.
*We thoroughly enjoyed our day in Lunenburg and sailing on Bluenose II was a highlight.
*We had a Canada Parks Discovery Pass that made visits to the AG Bell Historic site, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and Green Gables Heritage Place a breeze. (Reminder, a reservation is required to hike the Skyline Trail.) Green Gables and the surrounding area was really a joy to visit.
*Surprise stop: the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia has a remarkable exhibition of the work of Maud Lewis--don't miss it. Plus, Halifax is very walker friendly at both the waterfront and North End.
*Hotels: The Rodd Charlottetown was a great choice of where to stay on PEI. We enjoyed the location, hospitality and breakfasts at the Maison Fiset House although some of the rooms are small.
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Search out the special experiences. It is worth it.
Having just completed Authentik Canada's Legendary Splendour road trip on the west coast, Destination Maritimes had a lot to live up to. It did, but in a different way - experiences had to be sought out, rather than emerging in front of you in terms of physical beauty as it does in the Rockies. Some of our best memories are of museums and art galleries that we visited, rather than natural scenery that is so evident on the west coast.
We would also offer some suggestions to both Authentik Canada (AC) and future travellers to make Destinations Maritime just that bit better. Notably:
1. Leave our Fredericton as an overnight stop and get an extra day in St Andrews by the Sea. For us Fredericton had little going for it other than the Lord Beaverbrook Art Gallery (well worth two hours during a lunchtime stop). Second, the drives from St Andrews by the Sea to Fredericton, and then Fredericton to Kouchibouguac are both highly repetitive and uninteresting so not much to see or do. And finally, the Algonquin Resort is a way better place to stay than the Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook.
2. The Halliburton, Halifax - imagine finishing a road trip and being provided the smallest bed on the entire trip. A SMALL double bed for two adults in a SMALL room, for TWO nights. To say we were annoyed because we couldn't upgrade is an understatement. We had extended the Halifax stay by two days at the end at the Halliburton (at our expense) and changed rooms to a Queen size bed for our last two nights. It made a huge difference. Don't low ball it AC.
3. AC really needs to not be cheap and shift minor costs back to the customers who have already paid many thousands of dollars for the trip. Besides the Halliburton bed and room size described above (about CAD50 per night):
a. the ferry to PEI. Why did we have to arrange this? On the Legendary Splendour tour the ferries both on and off Vancouver Island were arranged and pre-paid by AC.
b. Algonquin Resort, resort fees. The amount was trivial but the cost was known, so include it in the pre-paid amount. The front desk of the Resort made it clear that they too could not understand why the resort fees are not pre-paid. They DO NOT change depending on usage, you pay a set amount whether you avail yourself of some, all or none of the services on offer.
Stand out 'great' for us:
1. Hopewell Rocks - give yourself half a day to explore the coast line at sea level and enjoy a reasonable meal in the visitor centre.
2. Algonquin Resort at St Andrews by the Sea: absolute luxury. Couple this with a lunchtime meal at Niger Tea House - one of the best lobster rolls/sandwiches on the trip.
3. L'Ancrage at Kouchibouguac NP. Liane and Korse made the stay an absolutely delightful experience. Enjoy the home-cooked special breakfast treat from Korse each morning.
4. Anne of Green Gables visitor centre on PEI, if you are an Anne of Green Gables fan as my wife is.
5. Louisbourg Fortress - its a long drive from Ingonish but worth it. Yes, its a reproduction, but a bloody good one.
6. Mahone Bay and Lunenburg. Forget about Peggy's Cove, give yourself plenty of time to explore these two places. The lobster roll at Seaside Creamery (next to Rebecca's Restaurant) was THE best lobster roll of the trip. Pity they do not serve wine by the glass.
Biggest surprises of the trip, for us:
1. Saturno Maple Farm, Avondale (near Halifax) - see and learn how that delightful syrup actually gets into a bottle from a practitioner (Rob Saturno) who is absolutely passionate about what he and his family do.
2. Comfort Inn Bayer's Lake. Our first impression was 'why are we twenty minutes from downtown?' but it actually works at the start of the road trip. Eat at the Le Rouge Restaurant in the adjacent hotel and try the Scallops with Fregola. For us, this was the stand out dish of our entire six weeks in Canada.
3. Tidal bore - an amazing phenomenon but you have to be in the right place at the right time to see it really happen. We saw a ripple at Moncton but with the right advice (readily available) and knowledge of where best to view it, this could be a standout experience.
4. Kelly's Beach at KNP. Given we are from Australia and blessed with golden sandy beaches, we found Kelly's Beach the nicest board walk access to a beach on the entire Destinations Maritime.
5. Seeing 'Come from Away' at the Theatre in Charlottetown, opposite the Holman Grand Hotel. The Holman Grand is a very comfortable hotel and so convenient to the theatre across the road. Light meal before the show and supper afterwards in the restaurant at the hotel made it a great night. We bought tickets on the night after arriving at the hotel and seeing the advertising.
6. Alexander Graham Bell Institute at Baddeck. We detoured (slightly) as we drove from Cheticamps to Halifax. Learn about a man (and his wife) who was much more than the inventor of the telephone. Easy and free parking as well.
7. Acadian history - we had no idea about this before the trip and still are not sure where the "best" Acadian museum actually is. We picked up snippets along the way. Perhaps AC could investigate and advise future clients under its "best stops" heading?
8. Immigration Museum, Halifax - if you have an interest in stories about people then this is worth a couple of hours.
9. Many of the accommodation providers had a guest laundry available (as distinct from a laundry service, which are invariably expensive). For us, travelling for six weeks, this was much appreciated and invaluable, even if our room did resemble Chinese laundry.
Stand out disappointing for us (offered in the spirit of maximising the time you have available):
1. Fossils at Arisaig Provincial Park. We came, we didn't see and we were conquered. Not very well signposted and certainly not obvious where any fossils could actually be viewed in-situ.
2. Peggy's Cove - what is all the fuss about? Overrun by tourists and buses; parking is not easy; very limited dining experiences and too many tourist shops. Go if you must, but do yourself a favour and do it on the way home after spending most of your day at Lunenburg and Mahone Bay.
All in all, a wonderful road trip.
PS we used a hard copy of the Roadbook. A really valuable tool for the traveller.
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Canadians travel in the Maritimes
The trip was lovely. If we are talking about the Travel Kit in this conversation, there are things that could be done to make it more user friendly.
1/ The itinerary contained a list of the hotels and towns we would be sleeping in with mileage between stops. Great, but we were expected to turn to the general road guide for the area to fit into the day. For example, from the general guide, we thought it would be nice to see The Fortress of Louisbourg. A review of Google maps indicates it was not a realistic thing to include because it would have meant too large a detour. In similar self-driving vacations that we have taken, the daily itinerary would say, essentially, hotel to hotel, take some time to stop and see a, b or c on the way; or d is a detour that will take about an hour. The interesting parts of the Bay of Fundy are time sensitive. It might be too much to ask that the itinerary included specific times, but a note saying that today is a good day to see this, or that tidal bore would have been useful. Then a suggestion that we check a website for the timing. On our trip, we figured these things out, but it took more daily research than I would have had to with other similarly styled vacation packages.
The hotels and inns were very good and good value for money. The hosts were all lovely.
The choice of rental car company had a 200k/day limit plus a mileage charge. A review of options in the Halifax rental car market indicates that there appears to have been other, similarly priced options without the mileage surcharge.
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Maritimes road trip
Recommendations were so helpful, only suggestion would be to inform how remote Keltic Lodge was. Otherwise great
Canada's East Coast Maritimes with Quebec City and Ottawa
There was alot of driving on this trip, we should have book at least another week to allow for more stops and sightseeing. The accomodations were lovely, all unique, very clean and the staff at all of them were lovely and professional. One problem was that we had asked for two queen beds per room and although we were aware that one accomodation would not be due to a booking problem there ended up being two other locations that were not identified to us on booking that were only one queen bed. They did not have any rooms with two. I am a very poor sleeper and toss and turn and it was problamatic for me. Authentic for a small extra charge provided us with a very detailed and beautifully illustrated book for our trip and it was well worth the money. Elise our trip co-ordinator was FANTASTIC and very accomodating. All in all we had a lovely trip. Thank you Authentic! [...]
Maritime vacation
We very much enjoyed our vacation. The accommodations chosen by the Authentik team were all unique and all very good. Our favourites were The Montague Rose in St Andrews, L'Ancrage, and Maison Fiset House. They all had really nice, friendly hosts and lovely breakfasts. I would suggest to other vacationers that 2 weeks is not quite enough time. We had 18 days and added a day to St Andrews and an extra day in Antigonish. We also ended up skipping Acadie and staying 2 extra days in PEI. We were very glad we has 4 days in PEI because it was so beautiful. PEI and Cape Breton were the standouts for us. With all the driving I think 3 weeks would be a better length of time. Also September was a great time to go, the weather was perfect, there were no line-ups or crowds and driving was worry free. We used google maps on our phone and usually picked routes with fewer highways so we could enjoy the countryside. [...]
East Coast tour
We had a few issues with hotels not knowing we were coming however it was on their end not the fault of Authentik Canada. We had an itinerary that was well planned; allowing us to see all of the highlights of the area. We really enjoyed our vacation and would use their services again on a future trip.
Covid-19 effects one can't fix !
The people we met were 90% great ,fantastic,helpful,courteous, and extreemly pleasant. (Marring this was some very Rude families on the Wood Island Ferry) The Sceanery was gorgeous- what color, what clean air and water, what overall perfection. Taking away from the experience were poor roads about 30% of the time ; covid-related unexpected forms, fees and time distractions ; business that were closed, or permanently out of business ; and extreem rigidity to current laws (especially covid-related state/federal requirements ( such as restaurant hosts and airline stewards reminding people to put their masks back on while chewing)). The travel to and from Canada was an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE ( but since this was in no way the fault of Authentik Canada, it's not discussed here, but to say traveler beware. [...]
Maritimes, best time!
Daphne, my agent, was super helpful - during the booking process, but also while I was on the trip to answer any questions.
The trip itself was perfect. Just the right number of days, suggestions of what to see and do.
Truthfully, I think more people should know about this company and hope that they up their marketing budget so that they can get out there and help more people with great experiences like the one I had.
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Maritimes Sept 2021
We booked this trip pretty much at the last minute and all in all things went very smoothly. Due to the lateness of the season and/or the Covid situation, a number of activities were already closed down. Didn't really bother us though as we went primarily for the scenery which was spectacular.
If we were to do the trip again, we would probably change the stay in Caraquet for an extra night in PEI and add an extra night in Cape Breton possibly in the Sidney area.
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Beautiful route with magnificent and wild landscapes
(Translated by Google) If we had to do it again, we wouldn't go to Saint John (but we wanted to see it) and we would have gone from Moncton to the Bay of Fundy. The hotels and B&Bs, apart from Saint John, were perfect. Our favorite place was Prince Edward Island. Halifax is worth discovering. We will happily return there.
The tour of the Maritimes from Montreal - Fast-paced but superb
(Translated by Google) Based on two self-drive tours offered by Authentik Canada, I put together a roughly twenty-day itinerary starting from Montreal and circling the Maritimes (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia). Because the cost of domestic flights (Montreal/Halifax) was relatively high, I chose the option of a complete road trip—nearly 5,000 km at a steady pace, especially during the first and last stages. I also chose, with no regrets, not to go to Prince Edward Island, but instead to go all the way to the Louisbourg Fortress.
Everything was perfect, both with the car rental from Avis, who upgraded us to a recent, very comfortable SUV for such a long trip (but I strongly recommend additional assistance insurance), and with the accommodations suggested by Authentik Canada, which I supplemented with Booking reservations for some stops not offered, such as Pictou, Louisbourg, and Edmundston.
This system, which allows you to modify, add to, or completely create your own trip easily from pre-designed itineraries on their website, is truly ideal with transparent pricing. Various accommodations, with different board options, are generally offered. However, some areas are not covered by Authentik Canada, and you will need to make those reservations yourself, but it is easy to include them in your itinerary. The downloadable roadbook, fully adapted to your journey, is very comprehensive.
In the Maritimes area, Authentik Canada does not offer many activities to pre-book, so based on their advice and our own research, we managed on our own.
To sum up, the pace of this trip was quite intense, but the landscapes and historical sites are superb… Acadians and Canadians in general offer a very warm welcome… the food, provided you search a little for the right restaurants, can also be very good (whole lobster at a very affordable price), and sometimes surprising (Acadian poutine!). Our accommodations were very varied, ranging from an inn in a very old and creaky historic building (Le Mange-Grenouille) to a modern hotel (Les Châteaux Morton and St John, or even the Best Western Ville Marie in Montreal), as well as one ideally located (the Halliburton) in Halifax… with special mention to the welcome received from the owners of L'Ancrage in St Louis de Kent… and always hearty and varied (small) breakfasts.
This is not the first time I have used Authentik Canada to design a self-drive tour in Canada, and I would do so again without hesitation next time…
You also have an advisor available to answer your questions and help you develop your project, but the website is often sufficient on its own. Booking confirmations are also relatively fast. Car rental prices are also very competitive.
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wonderful trip/journey
(Translated by Google) Wonderful road trip discovering exceptional landscapes. Lots of kilometers traveled, sometimes a bit too much, yet there are still so many places to visit. The choice of accommodation was great, with a special mention for "l'Ancrage" in Kouchibouguac, the Chateau Moncton in the city of the same name, and the Fiset House in Cape Breton, really great. The pleasure of having seen a whale, yes only one, but the biggest, lots of seals and a golden eagle. The pleasure of having been able to participate in the National Acadian Day on August 15th with a concert on the Halifax waterfront. All with generally good weather. Thanks for everything.
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Very well.
(Translated by Google) Everything went well, no bad surprises.
We had been recommended St John, sincerely not much interest in our opinion, especially if you come from Europe.
Discovery of very beautiful landscapes and rediscovery of Quebec
(Translated by Google) The basic Authentic "Maritimes" tour was modified by replacing the Montreal - Halifax plane transfer with a car tour. We were able to return via Quebec City. The combination of the 2 personal tours + Authentik completely satisfied us. Our 3-week, 5000 km road trip was a very enriching experience.
Nice trip, but...
(Translated by Google) Beautiful trip - Wind and rain spoiled our pleasure.
Too many km traveled for 13 days on site: I admit that it was our choice.
Negative contact with the Micmac community of Truro.
Our fondest memories are for Lunenburg, Caraquet, Saint-Andrews and Cape Breton.
Beautiful provinces to discover, very welcoming inhabitants.
(Translated by Google) the positive points:
the road trip generally corresponds to our expectations, however there are some points of improvement to note:
- In New Brunswick:
In Moncton the service offered by the Wild Rose Inn is unsatisfactory; the cleanliness of the room was questionable (medication found under the bedside table, smell of sewage in the bathroom, the two rods of the shower curtain rusty, the faucet of the bathtub unsealed from the wall).
The lower part of the sash window was partially occupied by the air conditioning unit. The remaining part was concealed by a simple sheet of plywood joined by adhesive tape to let the wind through (all the more unpleasant as we had inclement weather).
The quality of the mattress was very average.
The breakfast buffet was no longer stocked 20 minutes before the deadline.
In Fredericton the road trip did not contain any information on this city unlike the other very well documented stages.
In St. John:
the location of the Days Inn hotel is unattractive (hotel wedged between the railway line and a fairly busy road). During a storm we had to have the floor of the room mopped by the staff: luckily our luggage was up high!
-Prince Edward Island:
very well located hotels corresponded to our expectations.
The red sandstone columns of Thunder Cove beach no longer exist since storm Fiona in September 2022, the cliffs were forbidden to access: remember to update your tourist information.
-The Magdalen Islands:
very well located hotel
well documented information.
-Cape Breton:
we had a reservation problem in Chéticamp, resolved after contacting the Authentik Canada emergency number
the service provided by the Maison Fiset hotel was perfect.
One regret: the obligation to make a round trip from Ingonish to Louisbourg: (nearly 3 hours more by road) One night at the Castle Rock Country Inn hotel was enough. In addition, planning a night in Sydney would also have avoided the long journey planned from Ingonish to Halifax.
In Nova Scotia:
hotel well located, the services correspond to our expectations.
In Quebec:
the services provided by the hotels were of high quality and met our expectations, whether in Quebec City, Montreal and Rivière du Loup.
In the Matapédia valley: Note: the Philomène falls could not be found (review the explanations provided).
We discovered in depth the history of the Acadians through various museums and the historic Acadian village (include the Acadian Museum of Prince Edward Island in Miscouche in the "what to do?" section).
We enjoyed this trip very much.
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Great discoveries in the Maritimes
(Translated by Google) We really enjoyed our road trip in the Maritimes, especially the Cabot Trail!