Nova Scotia Travel Guide
The Peggy's Cove lighthouse, Nova Scotia. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Nova Scotia is almost an island, wrapped in 7,400 km of coastline. Halifax, the capital, is a working naval port with a famous waterfront boardwalk and the tragic, fascinating story of the 1917 Halifax Explosion. Beyond it: fishing villages, the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, and the Cabot Trail winding around Cape Breton.
The province wears its Scottish and Acadian heritage openly: Gaelic culture on Cape Breton, the Fortress of Louisbourg's 18th-century streets, and Lunenburg's UNESCO-listed old town, home port of the Bluenose schooner on the Canadian dime.
Key destinations in Nova Scotia
Cabot TrailThe 298-km cliff drive around Cape Breton's highlands.
Peggy's CoveThe lighthouse on wave-washed granite: Canada's most photographed beacon.
LunenburgUNESCO old town of colourful wooden houses and the Bluenose II.
Halifax waterfrontThe boardwalk, the Maritime Museum and the HMCS Sackville.
Fortress of LouisbourgThe reconstructed 18th-century French fortified town.
Hover a province or territory to explore it. Click a city pin to open its guide.
Top Cities & towns in Nova Scotia
Regional food
- Lobster rolls
- Halifax donair (invented here in 1973)
- Digby scallops
Getting there
Halifax Stanfield (YHZ) is the Atlantic gateway. The VIA Rail Ocean runs Montreal to Halifax (overnight). Driving the Cabot Trail needs a full day; the Marine Atlantic ferry links North Sydney with Newfoundland.