A Canadian Maritimes road trip with kids was the best way to see the beautiful and less traveled provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. There are so many things to do and see that seven days isn’t nearly enough time, but we hit some great spots and made the most of our limited time.
As flights to Charlottetown, PEI and Halifax, NS are slim from the US Midwest, and even less frequent to New Brunswick cities, we decided to fly to Bangor, Maine to start our trip.
Day 1 Canadian Maritimes road trip with kids:
Bangor to Saint Andrews, New Brunswick (2 hours and 14 minutes): US to Canada border crossing is about 90 miles from Bangor, so just be aware (and bring your passports). We crossed around 11am on a Wednesday and only had three cars ahead of us.
TIP: Be sure to roll down the back-seat windows so border agents can see people sitting in back.
TIP: You will lose an hour going from U.S. to Eastern Canadian Provinces (12:00 p.m. EDT is 1:00 p.m. Atlantic Daylight Time).
Saint Andrews is a charming seaside town on the Bay of Fundy, where the most dramatic tides in the world shift daily and was the perfect location to stop for the day. It’s also one of the “places to go” in 2019 according to AFAR Magazine. My mom is a master gardener, so we headed straight to Kingsbrae Gardens to stretch our legs and enjoy the flowers and wander about for a while.
The town itself is old fishing village, with lots of restaurants, cute shops, whale watching and boating tours, and even street art. Since we were a bit outside of tourist season (mid-June), the town closed early (by 4 and 5 pm), but luckily, we found a restaurant where we were able to eat dinner overlooking the Bay which was at low tide. We were able to watch it gradually fill back up with water while we feasted on local seafood. Saint Andrews is a great take-off spot for whale watching trips, kayaking and the Huntsman Marine Science Center will help orient yourself to the area and the marine life in the bay.
After our short time in Saint Andrews, we drove north to Saint John, NB for the night (1 hour, 5 minutes).
Day 2: Saint John, New Brunswick
With early risers, there was time to get in Saint John’s best attractions before heading to our next destination. Our first stop was The Reversing Falls, where the Bay of Fundy tides overtake the flow of the Saint John River, a UNESCO GeoPark, which is definitely worth a visit. Then, we made the quick 3-minute drive to Carleton Martello Tower, which dates back to the War of 1812. Located in a strategic spot, high on a hill in Saint John overlooking the Bay of Fundy and Saint John port, the Tower has had pivotal roles in several wars. Although the Tower was under renovation and unable to be toured during our visit, there’s a great visitor’s center with a short film that was really interesting (did you know that part of the reason Canada was formed into a country is because they were worried about the Irish colonizing the land?) interactive and informative exhibits and a scavenger hunt for kids to keep them learning without realizing it! Learning about the early origins of Canada was great for all of us.
Imagine walking under a whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling! We did at The New Brunswick Museum. They have a great permanent exhibit on whales and the docent was really entertaining, holding the attention of a nearby school group while he wowed them with facts about these giant mammals. (We may have piggybacked on this tour. Shhhh…) When we visit an area that we’re not very familiar with, we love hitting local museums to get some history and background on our destination, and the New Brunswick Museum was perfect for that. We learned about the area’s lumber, shipbuilding, farming industries through some interactive exhibits and interesting artifacts like the first model chainsaw. The “Our Changing Earth” display provided a geologic history of New Brunswick as well as the rest of the planet that both the kids and we thought was fascinating – great models of stages of the earth’s landmass development that really put things in perspective.
Lunch at the City Market was a highlight of Saint John (and I highly recommend eating at city markets in any town you’re traveling to). A vibrant and bustling market with stalls of fresh produce, meat, seafood, even local art and souvenirs, there were also several restaurants to choose from. Plus, with eight travelers, it made it easy to find something everyone would like for lunch – Italian, deli sandwiches, salads, Indian food, seafood, donuts. The best part was trying the local “snack” of dulse – dried, red seaweed – straight from the Bay of Fundy. Most of us tried some of the briny, chewy bites, but couldn’t get a taste for it. My nephew, however, enjoyed it. I would have preferred it in a sushi roll with rice and a piece of tuna sprinkled with soy sauce.
On to Hopewell Rocks (2 hours, 2 minutes from Saint John), which was a must-see destination for us. An often-photographed unique landscape, this is where you can walk along the ocean floor, thanks to the Bay of Fundy’s dramatic tides, and see the towering sandstone sculptures with trees on top (AKA “flowerpots”).
Despite our already long day, we decided to gut it out and drive to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (another 2 hours and 35 minutes). Crossing the Confederation Bridge before it got dark was a good decision, so that we had a great view of the bridge, the sea and PEI ahead of us, but it made for a long day of driving and we were glad to be in one place for the next two days.
TIP: If you take a restroom break or get gas at a convenience store, be sure to grab some Canadian treats – our favorites are ketchup-flavored potato chips, but we also love Aero Chocolate Bars and Coffee Crisp Bars. Canada also has the “traditional” Kinder Eggs with the treat inside which our boys loved from our adventures in Europe.
Day 3: Charlottetown, PEI
Canada, closed?!?! Unfortunately, a few of the things we wanted to do were closed for some reason – The Province House, which is the birthplace of Canada (yes, Canada was founded on Prince Edward Island) was under renovation and somehow we missed that the exhibit was relocated temporarily somewhere else. Oops! And Cows Ice Cream Factory tour was also closed (the shop was still open, so we happily still ate some of their world renowned PEI ice cream). Instead, we walked down Victoria Street and visited some cute souvenir shops; drifted along the wharf; and toured St. Dunstan’s Basilica.
Then we headed up to Victoria by the Sea, a small, but charming seaside town where our theme was “lobsters” – lobsters to catch, lobsters to eat and lobster magnets to buy. You can rent bikes and kayaks there to explore the PEI red sand coastline.
TIP: Much to my embarrassment, we had to pivot due to some things being closed. Always try to check the websites of your destinations before, but we didn’t realize that during our trip in the off season would result in so many unavailable sights.
Day 4: PEI and Anne of Green Gables Day!
Many people are familiar with PEI thanks to Lucy Maud Montgomery’s delightful tales of Anne Shirley who lives in the fictional town of Avonlea, PEI. Lucy grew up in Cavendish (about 35 minutes from Charlottetown) and the town is dedicated to her and her stories about Anne. You can visit her original home site where we learned insight on Lucy’s childhood from a great-great-great nephew of hers. The best part for me was seeing the apple tree she used to read and write stories under. There’s also Green Gables Heritage Place which includes Green Gables, a re-creation of the Anne’s fictional home, a short film, and interpretative center which was not open when we were there, but is now, and a gift shop where you can buy a raspberry cordial, sweet and tangy, just like Anne!
We also did a quick visit to the beautiful northside Cavendish beaches which had large dunes made from the north winds blowing the sand, a much different landscape than the shores on the southeast side of the island. No matter where you are on PEI, you are no more than 10 miles from a beach!
We experienced another case of Canada being closed when we went to Island Made Gift Shop to make sea glass jewelry. I’d call first to make sure they are open as their web site differed from reality. So instead, we headed to Brackley Beach to hunt for sea glass and get our feet in the cold Atlantic Ocean.
That night we were back in Charlottetown to see Anne and Gilbert, a wonderful musical based on the later books in the Anne series. Highly recommend it as it gives you a sense of the pride of the people of who call PEI their home as well as examples of their traditional music and dance. And it’s just fun. My kids are still singing some of the songs from it.
Day 5: Early morning car ferry to Nova Scotia
(Charlottetown to Wood Islands, PEI – 42 minutes); Ferry took 75 minutes and dropped us off at the port of Pictou, Nova Scotia and back to mainland Canada. We stopped at Seafoam Lavender Gardens, a family-owned lavender farm where they make several lavender-induced products (lotions, soaps, teas, oils) including the best shortbread cookies we have ever eaten and Sugar Moon Farm for a pancake lunch at a Sugar Shack (where they make maple syrup) before driving to Moncton, NB for the night (total driving time: Pictou, NS to Moncton: 2 hours 20 minutes).
TIP: Summertime in Canada brings out a lot of biting flies. Though we were early enough to miss the full impact of these little buggers, they did bother us in some of our outdoor adventures. Conveniently, the folks at Seafoam Lavender Gardens do sell a lavender infused bug spray which seemed to do the trick! I wonder if they have an understanding with the flies up there
There’s not much in Moncton, but we did experience Magnetic Hill – a strange, natural phenomenon where your car can drive backwards up a hill on its own. You simply drive to the bottom of the Hill, take your foot off the brake and your car will roll uphill – worth a quick stop to be amazed and boggle your brain.
Day 6: Drove back to the US, back to Canada, and back to the US again
Let me explain (3 hours 40 minutes by bridge or 3 hours 49 minutes by ferry). Campobello Island, the only International Park in the world, is only accessible from the US by bridge via Lubec, Maine. So on this trip we left New Brunswick, crossed the U.S. border, drove to Lubec, and then crossed back into Canada to get to Campobello (there’s also a car ferry that you can use within New Brunswick, but it has a very limited season). A place filled with beauty and history, we loved visiting Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s summer home and the rest of the island. Tied with Anne of Green Gables for our favorite days! This made for another long day of driving but stopping at Campobello broke up the trip and made it bearable. Our gang split up at this point, with half driving the 2 and half hours back to Bangor to fly home the next morning and my half driving 2 and half hours to Bar Harbor for one more day of exploring northeast North America.
TIP: Have those passports at the ready for a couple of border crossings.
TIP: You gain an hour going from Canada to the US across the New Brunswick to Maine border (12:00 p.m.MDT becomes 11:00 a.m.EDT)
Day 7: Acadia National Park
It was so cool to experience an International Park one day, and a US National Park the next. We’ve been itching to hit Acadia for years. We’ve done two other trips to Maine, but explored in the South (Portland, Ogunquit and Freeport, which are worth doing as well) and never made it this far North, but I’m so glad we took an extra day. Even with a “not-too-enthusiastic” hiker in my 9-year old, we still managed to do a moderate 3-mile hike that included some bouldering and some incredible views of the rocky, craggy coastline. The other nice thing about Acadia is that you can drive a loop of the park, ending up a the top of Cadillac Mountain (the highest point on the NE seaboard), and get out at scenic overlooks along the way, so that you can experience much of the park, without having to hike miles and miles. Even though we were a week or so away from high tourist season, it was still really crowded. More on Acadia soon. (Drove 70 minutes from Acadia to Bangor).
In Bangor, we stopped at author Stephen King’s house on our way to our hotel (Four Points Sheraton is attached to Bangor Airport – what a dream!). Even though I cannot read his books because I’m too chicken, I am always good with a stop at an author’s house (many of my childhood travels included trips to Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Emily Dickinson’s homes). You can’t tour it as he (or someone else) appeared to be living there, but it’s fun for a 5-minute stop to get a quick selfie and see the beautiful Victorian home and the wrought-iron fencing had three-headed dragons, bats and spiders woven into the design.
TIP: Embrace your geeky tourist side and take the selfie in front of Stephen King’s house. During our 15 minute stop there, three other groups of tourists did the exact same thing.
As you can tell from this aggressive itinerary, we drove a lot! Possibly, too much. But, we did hit most of highlights of the Maritimes. Two big misses were Halifax and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, which would have been must-sees if we had three more days. Nick and I have visited Halifax before and it is a lovely seaside town with tons to do and see with kids.
In hindsight, I would consider skipping Saint Andrews and Saint John, and would have headed straight to Hopewell Rocks on Day 1, and then spent another day or two on PEI. It would still be a lot of driving, but with very few flights from the US to Charlottetown (and expensive flights at that), I think we made the most of our Canadian Maritime road trip with kids. Honestly, reading this back, we did things at a dizzying speed. However, that’s how our family rolls on our adventures – we’re moving from the minute we’re up until the minute our heads hit the pillows. The scenery was beautiful, so the drives were enjoyable and anytime your pit stops include a bag of ketchup potato chips, it’s a good day.
