Canadian Maritimes

The Canadian Maritimes: Lobster, Tides, and Almost No Other Tourists

The Maritime provinces occupy the northeastern corner of North America with a combined population of under two million people, several thousand kilometres of coastline, and a lobster fishery that is a genuine industry rather than a tourist backdrop. The region is overlooked by most international visitors in favour of Quebec and Ontario, which is their loss and your opportunity: the Maritimes are quieter, slower, and often more interesting than their reputation suggests.

Nova Scotia

Cape Breton Island is the dominant draw. The Cabot Trail, a 298-kilometre loop around the northern tip of the island, runs along sea cliffs, through Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and past fishing villages where Gaelic is still occasionally spoken – the descendants of 18th-century Scottish Highland emigrants have kept enough of the language to run cultural programmes and summer schools. The Highlands section has moose, bald eagles, and some of the most technically demanding hiking in eastern Canada. The portion from Chéticamp to Pleasant Bay covers the steepest coastal terrain. The whole loop takes two to three days to drive properly, longer if you hike seriously.

Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the South Shore, is a working fishing town with 18th-century German colonial architecture in impractical colours. The Bluenose II schooner is based here. The town is small enough to walk in an afternoon and has good seafood restaurants.

Halifax is the regional capital, the only Maritime city with a genuine restaurant and nightlife scene, and worth two days. The Citadel Hill fortification fires a noon cannon daily. The Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market has operated continuously since 1750, making it the oldest continuously operating farmers’ market in North America.

New Brunswick

The Bay of Fundy has the highest tidal range in the world, up to 16 metres at Burntcoat Head in the Minas Basin. The Hopewell Rocks on the New Brunswick coast are sea stacks that you can walk around at low tide and kayak around at high tide, the water level difference between the two states being about 12 metres. The park provides tide tables; check them before you go and do both activities if you have the time.

Saint John’s Reversing Falls Rapids, where the tidal differential forces the Saint John River current to reverse direction, is visible from a bridge in the city centre. It is exactly what it sounds like and genuinely unusual.

Prince Edward Island

PEI is Canada’s smallest province – roughly 280 kilometres by 60 at its widest – with red-soiled agricultural land, beaches, and the kind of quietness that the island’s summer tourism has not yet entirely consumed. Charlottetown, the provincial capital, is compact and has reasonable restaurants. The Anne of Green Gables association draws a certain category of literary tourism to Cavendish on the north shore; the beaches there are good regardless of the literary connection.

PEI lobster is the primary food reason to visit. The season runs roughly May through June and again August through October, with prices considerably lower than on the mainland. Lobster suppers – communal meals at church halls and grange halls – operate during summer throughout the province and are worth seeking out over restaurant alternatives.

The Confederation Bridge connecting PEI to New Brunswick is 12.9 kilometres, the longest bridge over ice-covered water in the world. Driving it in fog, with nothing visible on either side, is a specific kind of unsettling that is worth doing at least once.