Maritime Magic Treasures Fly Drive

Thirteen nights in a circuit of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, self-guided, from Halifax, with the flights included.

Two provinces and a thirteen-kilometre bridge between them. The circuit takes in the Atlantic shore, the Bay of Fundy, Cape Breton and the whole of Prince Edward Island, which is a great deal of maritime Canada in a fortnight.

Halifax opens it for two nights, with the Citadel, the gardens and an amphibious harbour tour. The Lighthouse Route follows by Peggy’s Cove, a fishing village on bare granite, to Mahone Bay for two nights, with Lunenburg, a world heritage shipbuilding town where the Bluenose II schooner can sometimes be boarded. Digby follows by way of Kejimkujik, whose Mi’kmaq canoe routes are centuries old, and Annapolis Royal, then Wolfville and Grand-Pre on the Evangeline Trail among the vineyards and orchards. Moncton comes next, then the Confederation Bridge to Charlottetown for two nights, with the national park and the Anne of Green Gables house, and Baddeck for two, for the Cabot Trail through the Cape Breton Highlands, with Louisbourg’s reconstructed fortress and its costumed demonstrations nearby.

Return flights to Halifax, a checked bag each way, twelve days of car hire with unlimited mileage, a roadbook and thirteen nights’ room-only accommodation across nine stops are included; fuel, most meals and the admissions are not. The price shown is per person sharing. June to October is the season, with the first half of October best for the Cabot Trail, when the hardwood turns along the headlands. Fourteen days for this circuit allows two nights at most of the main stops rather than one, which matters on a route where the weather can close in and a spare day is worth having.