On this fascinating vacation, get acquainted with the local culture and the seafaring traditions of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Maine. Start your trip in Boston and head north via New Hampshire’s shoreline and along Maine’s rocky coast to Portland. Spend time in Bar Harbor, Maine’s oldest summer resort, and visit Acadia National Park, one of America’s most visited national parks. Travel into Canada and enjoy a catamaran ferry to Digby, a popular summer resort. Continue to Peggy’s Cove, a charming fishing village with a famous lighthouse perched on a massive granite ledge, and Halifax, where you tour the city with a Local Guide.Then visit Sherbrook Village, where renovated buildings recall the 1860s. Via the Canso Causeway, cross over to Cape Breton Island. In Baddeck, visit the Alexander Graham Bell Museum; enjoy a drive along the Cabot Trail, the area explored by John Cabot in the late-15th century; and see picturesque Cape Breton Highlands National Park. A ferry whisks you over to Prince Edward Island, where you’ll enjoy a 2-night stay in Charlottetown before traveling through New Brunswick to Saint John. Visit the summer home of FDR and pass quiet fishing villages along the coastline into Maine. Your vacation ends back in Boston.
Itinerary:
Day #1 Arrive in Boston. Welcome to “Bean Town!” At 6 pm, meet your traveling companions for a welcome drink. Your Tour Director will prepare you for your upcoming adventure.
Day #2 Boston–Portland–Bar Harbor. From Massachusetts, head north via New Hampshire’s shoreline and along Maine’s rocky coast to Portland, one of New England’s most famous cities. Stroll down the cobblestone streets of Portland’s famous Old Port Exchange, lined with many boutiques, coffee houses, and art galleries. Continue to Bar Harbor, Maine’s oldest summer resort. Your dinner this evening is a typical [LF] LOBSTER BAKE featuring Maine lobster, steamed mussels, and delicious corn-on-the-cob. (B,D)
Day #3 Bar Harbor–Acadia National Park–St. Andrews By-the-Sea. Nowhere along the Atlantic Seaboard is the rock-bound coast as picturesque as in ACADIA NATIONAL PARK, one of America’s most visited national parks. Take the scenic park road and enjoy the spectacular panorama from the summit of Cadillac Mountain, the first place in the continental United States to see the sunrise. After time at leisure in Bar Harbor, travel across the border to lovely St. Andrews by-the-Sea. Tonight, stay at the Algonquin Hotel, which overlooks historic Passamaquoddy Bay. This evening, choose from the many fine specialty restaurants this quaint seaside community has to offer. (B)
Day #4 St. Andrews By-the-Sea–Saint John–Digby. This morning, follow the coast to Saint John and board a catamaran FERRY to Digby, a popular summer resort. Your hotel tonight is the Digby Pines Resort, a world of casual elegance in the tradition of the grand hotels. Surrounded by breathtaking beauty, you will have an opportunity to enjoy the views, recreation, and internationally renowned cuisine in this Norman-style chateau. (B,D)
Day #5 Digby–Lunenburg–Peggy's Cove–Halifax. Today, travel toward Nova Scotia’s Atlantic coast and follow the winding shoreline to Lunenburg, one of the continent’s major fishing ports. Here, visit the FISHERIES MUSEUM before heading to Peggy’s Cove, a charming fishing village with a famous lighthouse perched on a massive granite ledge (one of the most photographed places in the world). End in Halifax, the provincial capital and your home for the next two nights. (B)
Day #6 Halifax. Your city sightseeing tour with a Local Guide this morning includes a visit to CITADEL HILL with its early 19th-century star-shaped fort; the tree-shaded walks of the public gardens; and the harbor area, which evokes the port’s former strategic importance. You’ll also see the Fairview Cemetery, final resting place for more than 100 people who perished on the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic. (B)
Day #7 Halifax–Jeddore Oyester Pond–Sherbrooke Village–Baddeck. Take the scenic Marine Drive north along the Atlantic shoreline through picturesque fishing villages, stopping en route in Jeddore Oyster Pond at [LF] FISHERMAN’S LIFE MUSEUM, a typical Nova Scotia fisherman’s house from the early 1900s. Visit SHERBROOKE VILLAGE, whose renovated buildings recall the boom years of the 1860s. Via Canso Causeway, cross over to Cape Breton Island, one of the first footholds of European settlement in the New World. Continue to Baddeck. (B,D)
Day #8 Baddeck. Cabot Trail. Morning visit to the ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL MUSEUM. Study exhibits tracing the achievements of the great inventor, who spent the last years of his life on Cape Breton. Then, drive along the CABOT TRAIL, the area explored by John Cabot in the late-15th century, while savoring magnificent vistas of the rocky shoreline and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. At the Acadian village of Cheticamp, check out the famous hand-hooked rugs. Finally, see CAPE BRETON HIGHLANDS NATIONAL PARK at the northern tip of the island, a landscape which strikingly resembles Scottish coastal regions. Return to Baddeck. (B,D)
Day #9 Baddeck–Caribou–Charlottetown. Head back to the peninsula and continue north to Caribou, where a FERRY whisks you across the Northumberland Strait to Prince Edward Island. For the next two nights, you are in Charlottetown, the provincial capital. Get acquainted with this colonial town on a stroll through colorful Great George Street and along the restored waterfront. This evening, enjoy a lobster supper at a local restaurant. (B,D)
Day #10 Charlottetown. Morning at leisure. Enjoy a guided afternoon tour of the island that includes PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND NATIONAL PARK. Also visit GREEN GABLES farmhouse, the setting for the famous novel Anne of Green Gables. (B)
Day #11 Charlottetown–Saint John. Travel across the 8-mile Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick. Here, enjoy a guided visit of the HOPEWELL ROCKS, famous formations carved by the Bay of Fundy’s dramatic tides that rise more than 50 feet, before driving through FUNDY NATIONAL PARK. Upon arrival in Saint John, enjoy a city orientation tour including the Reversing Falls. (B)
Day #12 Saint John–Campobello Island–Camden. Journey to Campobello Island in the Bay of Fundy, the retreat of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Visit his [LF] SUMMER HOME, a 3,000-acre memorial park. Later, view sheltered coves and quiet fishing villages along the Maine coastline on the way to Camden. This evening, your Tour Director hosts a special farewell dinner featuring lobster and other local specialties. Wonderful conversation and cuisine make the perfect finale for your vacation. (B,D)
Day #13 Camden–Boston. Depart this morning for Boston, with a break in one of Maine’s coastal cities while en route. Arrive in the afternoon, with a stop at the airport for guests with homebound flights. Please schedule flights after 3:30 pm. Then, the motorcoach continues to the downtown Sheraton Boston Hotel, where the tour ends. (B)
