Nova Scotia Canada's Ocean Playground

Eleven nights by hire car around Nova Scotia with the food taken as seriously as the scenery, which in this province is the right emphasis.

Halifax opens it, a city of wooden houses and Victorian stone built around one of the largest natural harbours in the world. Kejimkujik National Park follows inland, which is unusual for a Nova Scotian itinerary and worth it: it is a dark sky preserve and a Mi’kmaw cultural landscape rather than a coastal one.

Digby comes next on the Bay of Fundy, where the tides are the highest recorded anywhere on earth at up to sixteen metres, which means the boats in the harbour sit on mud twice a day and float twice a day. Digby scallops are the local speciality and are worth the detour on their own.

Parrsboro and Tatamagouche follow on the Northumberland Strait, where the shallow water warms up to the point that these are the warmest sea temperatures north of the Carolinas, which is a genuine surprise this far north. Cape Breton closes the loop with white sand beaches on the Atlantic side and Bras d’Or Lake, a large inland sea that is part salt and part fresh. Seafood chowder runs through the whole trip, and the operator’s observation that every family has its own recipe is accurate. Canadian Affair include the flights, the hire car and the hotels, with fuel, insurance and meals separate. The price is per person. Four quite different coastlines in eleven nights is what makes this province punch above its size.