Early Summer Nova Scotia Trip with a Small Child - A Visual Itinerary
We travelled to Nova Scotia with are almost 3 years old and had the most wonderful time. Among all Canadian destinations, Nova Scotia was on my bucket list for a while, and right after covid almost ended we decided to travel as we were so tired of not going anywhere.
We wanted to travel somewhere to refresh ourselves after a long time not being able to travel. After lots of research, we decided to plan for a road trip in the province.
One of the must see in Nova Scotia is Cape Breton Island but we decided to skip it this time because of it has lots of hiking and we were not sure if it is doable with a very active 3 years old,
so we decided on the itinerary below:
Day 1 : Flight from Toronto to Halifax
Dinner at Evan‘s Fresh Seafood
Day 2 : Halifax to Peggy's Cove
A must see. We had lots of fun here. The breeze coming from ocean; those big wave hitting the rocks made it very relaxing for us. Also our daughter had lots of fun walking on the big rocks.
Lunch at Shaw's Landing
Very Close to Peggy Cove. Very low key which we did’nt expect a waitlist. We had to wait for almost half an hour to get a table, but defiently worth it. Very frindly staff, and delicious lobster rolls. They also have a big patio that makes it even more enjoyable.
Then continued with our evening stroll at Halifax Waterfront which was very fun for the whole family. You can walk, relax, and listen to live music for free which was fantastic. Another bonus is you can find a playground for children too.
ice cream at Cow’s
Of course, we had to stop by for ice cream eventhough it was a line up.
Dinner at Shock Seafood
Day 3: Lunenburg
Horse wagon ride tour: The tour guide sense of humor made it double fun + you can see all the colorful houses
Whale watching: My experince was not good with the wale watching. There was no whale and I felt so sick for the entire tour.
Lunch at The South Shore Fish Shack
We had Lobster roll in their patio which was amazing. Also staff were super friendly. Highly recommend this place.
Expect a waiting time of 30 min or so here.
Ice cream at Sweet_Treasures_Confectionery
Dinner at Salt Shaker Deli & Inn
Long wait time, almost 40 min. They don’t accept reservation so I recommend to add your name to the waitlist at least 30 min prior to the time you want to dine in. This way you wont suffer from hunger which happened to us.
Day 4 & 5: Summerville Beach Provincial Park
The beach was so good. Lotf of play time for our child and relax time for us as parents. We spend two days at the beach. Lunch at Quarter Deck Resort. The Chowder soup here was great. Stay at 1 & Only Riverside Accommodations for two relaxing night with cottage life expereince & BBQ at nature.
Summerville Beach
Day 6 & 7: Bay of Fundy & Annapolis Valley
We stayed at a wonderful very clean airbnb in Port Williams for 2 nights. Comment on this blog if you would like the info on the AirBNB. The evening of our first day, we headed towards Blomidon Morning visit at Grand-Pré National Historic Site, which is UNESCO world heritage site. It was lots of flat landscapes (the signature of Annapolis Valley)which was fun when you are with small kid. My daughter had lots of fun expolring everywhere.
We visted Tangled Garden for afternoon tea picnic. You should book your picnic day in advance HERE as there is no walking for the picnic. I did the booking few months in advance. The garden itself is a piece of heaven. We spent couple of hours enjoying this pure beauty. They also have very lovely store that you can purchase syrups, salad dressing…
In the evening of the second day we visited Burntcoat Head Park. It was about 2hours drive from our Airbnb in Port Williams.
Burntcoat Head Park is a must see. It is fun for adults and kids. Be prepared to be muddy as I recommend to walk bare feet here. We had rainboots for our toddler so she could walk in the mud without any fuss.
Tip: Make sure to check the times for tides before heading there as you dont want to miss this phanomenon. Chech the Tide times here.
We decided to be there at the time of low tide to be safe as we were with a toddler.
Fun activity at low tide:
It was quit enjoyable to walk bare feet on the mud knowing that you are walking on the ground that was covered with ocean water few minutes ago.
For family activity, we tried to resuce all the little fishes, crabs were stucked between the rocks as the water was leaving.
Day 8 : Siteseeing in & back to Halifax Airport
You can find many wineries in Annapolis Valley area, we visited Benjamin Bridge Winnery. While my husband and I did wine tasting, our daughter enjoyed the little nut sanck from the winnery. The winnery itself was fun to explore with our little one.
Then we drove back to Halifax to catch our return flight to Toronto. It was almost one hour easy drive.