I was fortunate enough to obtain a grant to attend a conference in Toronto, Canada. Instead of booking direct flights and a hotel, I used that same amount of money (and actually, quite a bit less) to go on a little overland East Canada road trip. I travelled Halifax to Québec City to Montréal to Ottawa to Toronto to Halifax. I have one blog post for each location, plus one about the road trip experience itself.
A Halifax adventure
My Canadian adventure began and ended with flights into Halifax in Nova Scotia (Halifax Stanfield International Airport). Because I didn’t have a car, I really struggled to get around Nova Scotia. Fortunately there is a bus to the city from the airport every hour but it finishes earlier than the flights arrive so you might find yourself needing a taxi. I also strongly recommend checking train times before booking flights because they were infrequent. For my train in particular (The Ocean, a sleeper train), there was only one every 6-7 days!
The overall feeling or vibe in Halifax was that it was almost like a seaside, just without the beach! There were the nice colourful buildings by the water, everyone was chilling on the waterfront with a coffee or going for a run by the water. It was pretty chilled out. There were much rougher areas outside of the harbourfront but it’s generally a great place to go if you fancy a chill few days.
Some things to do:
I recommend walking around the harbourfront. There are little brightly coloured huts which do all sorts of street food like poutine, beavertails, coffee and a couple of gift shops near Salt Yard Social.
There lots of cute brightly coloured chairs in front of the harbourfront (for example, just outside the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel), as well as a "Canada" sign.
A little further down Halifax Boardwalk there are even hammocks (44°38'44.2"N 63°34'05.0"W)!
Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market is right at the end of the walk at the harbourfront.
Glitter Bean Café for a rainbow coffee, the "fairy latte"..
The Titanic Grave Site is very far away from the harbourfront but an attraction to point off if you’re a history buff.
Eat a donaire (essentially a gyro/doner kebab but a very popular food in Halifax), for example from Pizza Corner. Personally, I went to King of Donair. I even managed to get doner meat in a spring roll!
An excursion to George’s Island to visit the underground complex beneath Fort Charlotte on Georges Island, either by boat or by kayak.
Drink a pint! There are so many breweries here! Just to name a few: Chainyard Cider, Two Crows Brewing, Propeller Brewing, Garrison Brewing, Good Robot Brewing.
Something to miss:
I was recommended the pretty buildings on Agricola Street but they were few and far between and not really worth the walk in my opinion
Things for if I had more time or a car next time:
A spa day, either at Oceanstone Resort or SENSEA Nordic Spa.
Fisherman’s Cove for cute wooden houses by the waterfront
Explore more nature! Some ideas include: Point Pleasant Park, Long Lake, Herring Cove Park, Salt Marsh Trail, Cole Harbour, Mackintosh Run Trails, The Bluffs Hiking Area. The one I would most like to hike is the Cabot Trail though, it’s supposed to be beautiful!
Spend a day at the beach. Some examples: Crystal Crescent Beach, Queensland Beach, Rainbow Haven Beach, Conrads Beach.
Finally, some day trips I have been recommended: Peggy's Cove, Chester and Lunenburg.
