Canada's insider blog

How does a lighthouse route-tasting tour from Halifax to Wolfville in Nova Scotia sound, and what will you experience along the way?  Follow my road map (tried, tested and true), and you’ll have one of your most memorable days in the province.

Hitting snags is mandatory on this excursion. 

Let Carolyne drive (your travel companion’s name should be inserted here) and behave. No back seat driving allowed.

Miss important signs that say Peggy’s Cove, and continue to tell Carolyne to keep driving for a good half and hour, before realizing that you weren’t anywhere in the Peggy’s Cove area, but closer to the Lunenburg area.  Which is not good.  Drive back towards Halifax.

Make room for recovery.  Stop, knock on a stranger’s door and ask for directions.  Don’t be afraid of the giant scary Husky tied up to a fence ( and in need of major attention). 

Get back on the 103 towards Halifax and take two exists to get back to Peggy’s Cove.  Drive for about 25 km until getting there and then park the car.

Grab a lobster roll (fresh lobster and mayo on a white roll), some banana ice cream from Dee Dee’s, and sit on one of the naked rocks that stretches out into the Atlantic underneath the lighthouse.

Let the sun melt it all away.

Leave Peggy’s Cove and make mandatory rest stops on the beaches along the South Shore to Mahone Bay. Swimming is encouraged.  Once in Mahone Bay, stop in the artisanal town and ask locals for directions to the Biscuit Eater.

Once you're full, drive to the town of Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to see some fascinating architecture from the 18th and 19th Centuries.  Go to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, sit in a hammock by the port to watch tall ships and fishing schooners, and rent an old fashioned taxi.

Try the smoked seafood chowder at the Salt Shaker Deli. Don't share it, because it's too good.  The giant bits of haddock, scallops, mussels and a creamy-butter bechamel soup fight for your atttention. Wait until it gets dark and the spotlights go on at the Lunenburg Academy. 

The one-way street was invented in Lunenburg.  No, I'm kidding–but exits from the town are tricky.  Follow someone else out of town, just to be safe.

On your way to Wolfville, take in the beauty of Annapolis Valley.  Stop to take photos of the picturesque churches, rolling hills, reef filled ponds, small stretches of dirt roads, tractors, motorists and endless spots of heritage homes.

Arriving in Wolfville, slow down and make room for food.  You're now in the slow food movement capital of Nova Scotia.  Enjoy!