I think of all the short trips we’ve taken our long weekend in Nova Scotia is one of our favourites. I had been dying to go to Nova Scotia for quite some time. One of the (many) things I’m bad at is making travel in my own country a priority. For the most part, it’s actually cheaper and easier to travel to another country than it is to travel at home. Unless of course, you’re looking for a quick weekend road trip. So I guess it’s not entirely my fault.
Last year though we found reasonable flights to Halifax and we just had to jump on it. Everything I read made it sound like seeing a large part of mainland Nova Scotia in 4 days was really quite doable.
We saw a lot of places in a short amount of time. The major spots we had along the road include:
Halifax | Peggy’s Cove | Mahone Bay | Lunenburg | Cape Split | Wolfville
For this trip, we actually didn’t have to use any vacation days. We flew out on a Friday and came back later on a Monday. The Monday was a statutory holiday which worked out really nicely. It was a great way to spend a long weekend!
Day one:
Highlights | The Lord Nelson, Stillwell
Our trip technically started on a Friday as we mentioned. The flight from Toronto isn’t very long and quite an easy trip. We flew out of Billy Bishop airport (located right downtown) which made it much easier to travel from work and our home.
Because we didn’t land until much later in the evening we didn’t have too much planned. After landing at the airport we quickly ran over to pick up our car rental. The Halifax airport is relatively small making it easy to navigate.
From the airport, the drive to the city is only about 30 minutes. It’s an easy drive, all along the highway and at night there was very little traffic which was nice.
We decided to splash a little for our first night here and booked a night in the Lord Nelson hotel. As Halifax’s oldest hotel, there are a few updates that can be made but all in all it’s a beautiful spot to stay. It’s also really conveniently located, across from the Halifax Public Gardens and the main streets.
We dropped off our luggage after checking in and made our way to Stillwell to enjoy some local (and amazing) beer. It wasn’t too packed for a Friday night but it was busy enough for a great atmosphere!
Day two:
Highlights | Pier 21, Halifax Public Gardens, Historical Properties, Peggy’s Cove, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg
Seeing as day two was a super busy one, we got up really early to get a good start on the day. September was a great time to travel to Halifax because it was beautiful but not super hot. This made walking around the city really enjoyable.
| Public Gardens |
We started off in the Public Gardens because they were so close to the hotel. I couldn’t believe how gorgeous this spot was. There were flowers everywhere, it’s a great spot for strolling and sipping a coffee. If you’re lucky you’ll even get to witness a wedding while you’re in there.
I would make your way all the way back in the Public Gardens to get a sense of all the different kind of flower species. In the back, they have a little separate garden that has signs and actually shows you what kind of flowers there are, where they are from originally and their Latin names. It was definitely interesting to walk around and read.
| Pier 21 |
This was one of the cooler spots in Halifax. Pier 21 is the first place where Canadian immigrants would land. As of the first places for Canadians, you can only imagine the amount of history you’d find here. We didn’t have time to go into the museum because we were on such a time crunch but I wish we had have. Would have been pretty neat to try and find my family members among the immigrants.
| Seaport Farmers Market |
While you’re in the area you absolutely have to stop in at the Seaport Farmer’s Market. This space is home to some incredible food, drink and product vendors. It was super busy on the Saturday morning while we were there so if you don’t like crowds, maybe save this for another time!
The best part of going on the Saturday was the buskers. There were some pretty amazing musicians playing their instruments while you walked around and shopped!
Explore a little more of the waterfront and walk along. We didn’t do too much more exploring on this day because we knew we had quite a bit of driving ahead of us.
| Peggy’s Cove |
Only an hour’s drive from Halifax you’ll find Peggy’s Cove. This has to be one of my favourite new spots in Canada. The little fishing town is filled with some of the cutest homes you’ll ever see.
Located on top of giant rock formations and on the ocean coastline, the views are absolutely incredible I could hardly believe that we were in Canada, to be honest. Of course, the most famous spot in Peggy’s Cove is Peggy’s Point Lighthouse.
We arrived around 2pm and it was pretty busy but not insane. Perhaps we just got lucky because some blogs I had read said to go first thing in the morning to avoid the crowds. We managed to get a few shots with no one in them so in my books that classifies as a success.
I would spend about an hour or two here roaming around the area. There is free parking about 100 meters “out of town” so you won’t need to worry about that.
| Mahone Bay |
From Peggy’s Cove you’ll have to get back into the car for another hour or so but I promise it’s worth it. The drive along the coast is really quite beautiful and there are a number of beautiful spots to stop and take photos. We didn’t do too much in this little town but walk around and take pictures but it was definitely time well spent.
After picking up ice cream from one of the local spots, we packed ourselves back into our car and headed to the place I was most excited to visit: Lunenburg.
| Lunenburg |
I don’t think any photo or wording I can say is going to do this place justice. It truly is one of my favourite places in the world. The colours of every single building you walk past is just truly incredible and never ending. The entire town itself is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and for good reason. I could have walked around for days and days and never have gotten bored.
The place we ended up staying in was the Lunenburg Arms Hotel. I couldn’t speak more highly of a hotel. It had country charm in every sense of the word. The hospitality was fantastic, the beds were comfortable and the views incredible.
Because we arrived later at night, we decided to go for a longer dinner and an early sleep. We had afterall been on the go for the majority of the day. We went for drinks at the Old Fish Factory and then ventured onto the Savvy Sailor for dinner. We had a great time – fantastic hospitality and food!
Day three:
Highlights | Lunenburg, Ironworks distillery, Cape Split Trailhead, Grand Pre, Wolfville
Another busy day on the road for day three but also a good one. We got up early enough (around 9am) and headed outside to walk around. The great thing about Lunenburg is that it’s a pretty small town making it easy to walk around and see everything you want to see in a short amount of time.
As we walked around we made a pit stop in at the Ironworks Distillery. This spot was not only Instagram-worthy, it also had delicious spirits. I’m not typically one to drink liquor but when I tried their flavoured rum I figured I could be convinced for a cocktail or 2. Plus it was brewed locally and they even used some really interesting fruit for their infusions.
If you have the time, walk around the residential streets. I would argue those spots are more beautiful than the actual main streets. Everyone has decorated their home so differently and it was really cute to see it all.
| Cape Split |
While I wouldn’t classify either Ben or I as hikers, we do love getting exercise and finding amazing views wherever we are. I found Cape Split through browsing on Instagram (no shock there). The Cape Split trail is a 2 hour drive from Lunenburg. It’s not overly exciting but the drive does to by fairly quickly.
Upon arriving, there is a parking lot where you can leave your car. Make sure to use the bathroom before leaving because there aren’t too many spots to go once you start.
The hike itself is about 16km round trip but it definitely didn’t take us half as long as we thought that it would. In total, I would say it took us about 3 hours which included time for us to hang out on top of the rocks and take pictures from below. It was busier than we expected but there were hikers of all different skill levels so that should speak to the ease of the trail.
| Grand Pre |
From Cape Split, we shoved our tired legs back into the car to set route for another UNESCO World Heritage Site: Grand Pre. To be honest, if you were going to skip over anything in our itinerary, this would be it. While it’s cool to visit another UNESCO site, there wasn’t anything too special about it. The lookout spot is located right near a winery (which was actually a beautiful place to walk through).
Looking out over the Annapolis Valley, you will be able to see a small church and a statue. The Statue is meant to represent the quiet struggle and resistance of the Acadian people.
| Wolfville |
From there we made our way to our accommodations for that night. The Planter’s Barracks Country Inn is the cutest Bed and Breakfast. I’m going to be honest, of all the trips we’ve taken and the different places we’ve stayed, we had never stayed in a Bed and Breakfast.
Located a short way from Inn was a wonderful restaurant: the Port Pub Bistro. If you get lucky and have weather warm enough to sit on the patio, you will enjoy dinner with some beautiful views. If the weather isn’t cooperating, don’t worry the interior is really well done as well.
A short drive and we were back at the Inn for the night to rest up for our last day/.
Day 4:
Highlights | Blomidon National Park, Citadel Hill, Halifax Waterfront
On our last day in Halfax, we woke up and got ready for a long drive ahead of us. The trip from Port Williams to Halifax was 2.5 hours. Because we were on a bit of a mission we didn’t stop anywhere on our way back.
| Blomidon National Park |
We weren’t actually going to go Blomidon Provincial Park because it was a bit out of the way but I’m so happy we did. It’s a really cool spot. Believe it or not but it has the world’s highest tides!
We happened to be out visiting during low tide which was incredible. Getting to walk on the ocean floor and along the red sand. It was such a special place. Because it wasn’t too well known it wasn’t that busy either which made it that much better.
| Citadel Hill |
We arrived mid-morning back in Halifax and went straight to Citadel Hill. We got lucky on this trip because it was Canada’s 150th birthday so we got to experience the hill for free!
Citadel Hill is a national historic site in Halifax. It was built in 1749 and has maintained much of the structure since. As you walk around the area, there are actors dressed almost as if they lived in different time periods of the Hills history. They are happy to give you more information of their time if you ask them about it. It was a really interesting spot to roam through and learn more of Canada’s history.
| Halifax Waterfront |
No trip to Halifax would be complete without going down to the waterfront and walking along. There are a number of really cute stores to go in and out of. There are also a number of restaurants that you can stop in at for a drink or a quick bite to eat.
Walk along the boardwalk and enjoy the views and people watching. One spot that particularly struck me was the Last Steps memorial. These footprints and arch are a representation of the steps many Canadian soldiers took before boarding boats to World War One.
Because we weren’t leaving until later at night we had time for lunch along the waterfront before heading to the airport for the ending of a great trip. We spent some time finally relaxing and reliving the crazy but amazing weekend we had just had.
What do you think?
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