{"id":5452,"date":"2026-06-18T06:52:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T10:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/?p=5452"},"modified":"2026-07-06T10:37:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T14:37:46","slug":"nova-scotia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/nova-scotia\/","title":{"rendered":"Nova Scotia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We departed early from Cape Cod to catch the afternoon ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia – about a 6 hour drive. Since it was a Sunday and not quite good beach weather, we were able to make good time and arrived a bit early into Bar Harbor, giving us time to stop for a quick bite to eat at a little restaurant – the Chart Room<\/a>, where we’d stayed on our last visit to Acadia. Good food, reasonably priced.<\/p>\n\n\n

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But the “not so great beach day” also meant a not so great 3-1\/2hr ferry ride. While there wasn’t much for surface chop, there were pretty big swells, which made for a squeamish crossing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landing and passing through customs, we were able to find a local supermarket which enabled us to pick up a few items before the short drive to our AirBnB and settling in for the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A word about the place we stayed, as it created a strong first impression. We’d selected a Tiny House<\/a> (as it is called on AirBnB). Indeed tiny, with a kitchen\/living room on the first floor and a king bed on the second, and comfortably appointed just outside Yarmouth proper. What set this place apart was the location – it had a wonderful view westward, to a small cove, presenting a calming view of the shoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Tiny House in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It was the views from the house which really set it apart. Did I mention the hot tub on the deck providing a view of the cove?<\/p>\n\n\n

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The stormy weather from the day before, our travel day and ferry ride, had cleared the air, enabling the pictures above and giving us an opportunity to explore Yarmouth a bit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started with a quick visit to explore Cape Forchu and its lighthouse. The lighthouse was closed so we couldn’t ascend (which was perfectly fine with my acrophobic self!), but it still offered a commanding watch over the harbor and rocky shores.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Cape Forchu lighthouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

From there, we headed a bit eastward along the coast for a small hike to explore the Westport Nature trail. Not a substantial hike, just a little under 3 miles, but nice to get out and stretch the legs a bit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, back home for a relaxing hot tub, then back to Yarmouth to stroll the street art and grab a bite at Rudder’s Seafood<\/a> on the waterfront. Home in time to enjoy a sunset from our Tiny House:<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sunset from our Tiny House overlooking the cove.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We were up and out early the next morning for our drive to Lunenburg, the next stop on our road trip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We decided to take a longer route, first heading northward along the coast to stop in Digby – the port for the ferry from St. John – mainly to see what was there. As it turns out, not a whole lot, though we did enjoy an outdoor lunch overlooking their harbor:<\/p>\n\n\n

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AND, while there, we learned that Digby is the (self-proclaimed) scallop capital of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don’t really have any way of verifying that fun fact, though we were skeptical since we’re friends with a scallop fisherman here on the cape – and he gets some pretty darn good scallops! Who are we to argue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We finished up our lunch and proceeded on our journey to Lunenburg, heading southeast through the central portion of Nova Scotia and arriving in the late afternoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our place was a cute 3rd floor apartment with a balcony overlooking the Lunenburg harbor. Founded in 1753, Lunenburg<\/a> is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is considered as the best example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. We made it our home for a few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from the deck of our apartment for morning sunrise.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Morning sunrise over Lunenburg harbor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We planned three full days in Lunenburg and had scoped out some nearby trails and the possibility of renting bikes. The weather indicated renting bikes for the first day – a local place in town called Rhumb Line Bicycles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gearing up (ha!), we first headed southeastward to the Blue Rocks, a small fishing village. From there, we headed northward following the Bay to Bay trail<\/a> toward Mahone Bay. The trail was a small loose gravel, recently re-done, providing for a pleasant ride and a midway stopping point at the Naked Oyster<\/a> for a bite to eat in Mahone bay.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Mahone Bay bike trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On the next day, we headed toward Peggy’s Cove – a picturesque fishing village in one of the many nooks and crannies of Nova Scotia – and Polly’s trail, a web of trails along the rock shores just east of Peggy’s Cove. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Polly’s trail with Peggy’s Cove in the distance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Only 25-ish miles from Halifax, Peggy’s Cove often receives bus loads from the cruise ships visiting Halifax. We were fortunate during our visit that none were there when we arrived. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Peggy’s Cove<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

On the next day, we decided to head west from Lunenburg, again finding a trail for a bit more hiking. Hirtle’s Beach and Gaff Point trail was just the thing – a nice 5mi loop, down the beach, a woodsy\/rocky coast path, with more nooks and crannies, and return along the beach. Beautiful weather!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hirtle’s Beach and Gaff Point<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Following the hike, we continued westward, winding around the shore road and stumbling on a free (yes, FREE) ferry, crossing the LaHave river from East LaHave to West LaHave. Interestingly, the ferry was run on a cable across the river!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Free ferry across the LaHave river<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After a bit of a drive, we didn’t find much of interest, so turning around, we headed back across the river, though not before stopping at the local breakfast joint LaHave Bakery while waiting for the ferry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dinner that night was at a local pub in downtown Lunenburg – Bar Salvador – for a bit of tapas and, as it turns out, the Canada v. Bosnia-Hersegovinia world cup match. The place lit up when Canada scored!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were up and out early the next day, mostly rain-filled, to our next destination, Cavendish, PEI<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We departed early from Cape Cod to catch the afternoon ferry from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia – about a 6 hour drive. Since it was a Sunday and not quite good beach weather, we were able to make good time and arrived a bit early into Bar Harbor, giving us time to stop for a quick bite to eat at a little restaurant – the Chart Room, where we’d stayed on our last visit to Acadia. Good food,Read More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"category-hiking.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maritimes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5452"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5525,"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5452\/revisions\/5525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterdittman.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}