We are planning a road trip to Nova Scotia for about 9 - 14 days prior to hooking up with a bike tour in Vermont in Burlington. We are very unlikely to secure a pet sit there and would like to catch the highlights at a relaxing pace without spending most of the time driving around in the car and having to move every few nights. We definitely want to do some hiking and the Cabot Trail area, experience the culture and eat seafood. Our budget is moderate and we prefer nature to shopping. Any travel tips and suggestions on where we should concentrate on our time? We love the outdoors, but would probably be looking at staying at cabins/airbnbs and doing day hikes, etc. Also, does anyone from the US have suggestions on getting some type of reasonable emergency medical coverage while traveling in Canada? Our US coverage will not cover us. We are healthy and unlikely to need it, but are risk-adverse. Thanks for any insight!
@Southernsitter , this sounds like a wonderful trip! Just to share my experiences … a long time ago – 19 years ago, we went up to Vermont and stayed at a farm B&B, rooms rented out on a dairy farm in the Northeast Kingdom, with my young daughter. The cows grazed outside our room and we had the chance to milk them and feed them pellets and watch as they were all herded into the barn at 5 AM to be hooked up to mechanical milking machines. They had to do this through the winter’s there. I remember the farmer’s wife telling us they had either three feet of snow for four months of the year or four feet of snow for three months of the year. We took a lovely boat ride on Lake Champlain in Burlington, toured the Cabot Cheese factory and saw the large trough of whey used in the process and visited the Shelburne Museum, that has art, folk art, artifacts and beautiful grounds.
A longer time ago I spent time in Nova Scotia. The famous lighthouse in Peggy’s Cove is beautiful as is Cape Breton, where we camped. It reminded me of the dramatic cliffs on the California Coast but the water here was a deep blue. We also took, I think, a ferry to Prince Edward Island, where I recall the water was clear as glass.
I don’t have info on health insurance as my insurance here in the US covers me for emergencies when I’m out of the country and my Chase Sapphire Reserve card provides emergency air transport.
@mars Thanks for your response. Sounds like you had a lovely trip. I need to call my US insurance because I just assumed that I would not be covered. I will also look into getting a credit card with better travel benefits for future international trips. We hope to go Europe next year.
Hi @Southernsitter I’m sure you’ve done lots of research via the Google Tourist Board but I thought I’d share this link as I absolutely think their strap line, “Doers & Dreamers” is so engaging and on point for this amazing Canadian Province (being Canadian I am a little biased) I lived in Halifax for three years a number of years ago and the one impression that stays with me is how like Scotland the Province was/is.
Image Credit: https://www.novascotia.com/
@mars I couldn’t agree more …
Have an amazing road trip @Southernsitter and take us along … via the camera of course 
- When are you planning to go to Nova Scotia?
- What have various travel agents suggested for insurance? I will see what mine suggests.
- @ElsieDownie: Have you been to Nova Scotia?
- I love Airbnb! When you find one you like, you can ask them for suggestions. Many will even have such lists already made (so they don’t reinvent the wheel).
I have been to Nova Scotia twice. Once we sailed up the east coast to Halifax and last year we did a road trip - Nova Scotia, PE, cape Breton, Newfoundland and Labrador. I loved every minute. Canada is so vast and empty. It takes a long time to get your head round the empty spaces.
This year we have driven from Key West to Prudhoe Bay then back down the west coast. We motored up through the Rockies to the Canadian border, through Alberta, BC, The Yukon, on to Alaska then back through the Klondike, Yukon then BC. At the moment we are in Golden, BC looking after these beauties. Probably my most favourite sit ever (so far). Next we arrive in Vancouver Island then cross back to US for the last ever Reno air races then through California to San Diego and fly home on 19th October after spending 8 months on the most fantastic road trip ever. Lots of airbnbs but even more pet sits. Meeting fantastic animals and making life long friends. That’s what’s life’s about!
Definitely go to St John and see the incredible tides. A must. Lunenburg to Digby, around the coast is a beautiful road and there are some very good seafood restaurants in Digby. Not too expensive. Lunenburg has a good history and the town is pretty. Do the free walking tour in Halifax and walk around the dock area. Great history again and some good Putine stalls. If you have time Peggy’s Cove and St Margaret’s Bay is a beautiful area. Cape Breton has some great walking and the canal is quirky.