Canadian Maritimes

The Bay of Fundy has the highest tidal range on earth, up to 16 metres between low and high tide. At Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick, you can walk on the ocean floor among the sea stacks at low tide and kayak over the same ground six hours later. This is not a minor curiosity; it is a geological phenomenon with nowhere else like it in the world, and it sits at the centre of a region that most North American travellers overlook in favour of Quebec City or Vancouver.

Nova Scotia

Halifax is the cultural and logistical hub: a compact harbour city with the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (the definitive account of the 1917 Halifax Explosion, the largest accidental explosion before Hiroshima, as well as the Titanic’s Nova Scotia connection), the Historic Properties waterfront, and a concentration of good restaurants around the waterfront. Worth a full day before pushing into the province.

The Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island is a 300-kilometre scenic loop through the Cape Breton Highlands with some of the most dramatic coastal driving in eastern Canada. Allow two to three days. The Cape Breton Highlands National Park has hiking trails, including the Skyline Trail which puts you on a headland above the Gulf of St. Lawrence at sunset for one of the more affecting views you’ll find in the Maritimes.

Lunenburg is a UNESCO World Heritage fishing town with coloured Victorian buildings and a working harbour. The replica schooner Bluenose II is based here. It’s worth half a day and is genuinely different from the polished heritage town model; it still feels like a place where people work.

Prince Edward Island

Charlottetown is small enough to walk across in 20 minutes and has the Province House, where Confederation discussions began in 1864. The Anne of Green Gables heritage sites are the main tourist draw and they deliver on their promise for the right audience; the PEI countryside of red soil, rolling farmland, and coastal red-sand beaches is the underrated reason to come.

PEI oysters are the best excuse to eat while in the province. The Colville Bay and Malpeque varieties are specifically regional; eat them at any waterfront restaurant rather than saving them for a special occasion.

New Brunswick

The Hopewell Rocks are worth a dedicated half-day organised around the tide schedule, which you need to check before going. The Acadian peninsula in the north of the province has a Francophone culture distinct from Quebec, with its own flag, its own folk traditions, and food worth knowing: rappie pie (râpure) is a grated potato and meat dish that is either an acquired taste or an immediate appreciation depending on your constitution.

Eating

Fresh Atlantic lobster from a harborside pound where you choose your own lobster is the correct Maritimes eating experience and costs significantly less than you’d pay for the same thing in a Halifax restaurant. Steamed mussels and fish chowder are reliable at almost every waterfront restaurant; scallop quality in Digby, Nova Scotia, is the best in the region.

Getting There

Halifax has an international airport with direct flights from several European cities (Condor has run Frankfurt-Halifax routes) and connections from major Canadian and US hubs. A car is necessary for the Cabot Trail, Fundy, and most of PEI; Halifax is walkable once you arrive. July through October is the season, with August peak and September genuinely better for value and crowds.