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St. John/New Brunswick and Halifax stops - which is best for a tour


kobe
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Hi,

 

We're trying to finalize excursions for our group of 14 this July. We're stopping in both St John/New Brunswick and Halifax. We are leaning towards booking a private tour for one of the ports and walking on our own (maybe grabbing a taxi if we need to) in the other.

 

Which port would you choose for the tour and which one would you walk on your own - please include why.

 

Thanks - we really appreciate the help :)

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Halifax has a wonderful Immigration Museum at Pier 39. Usually you walk off your ship and turn left and it's a few steps away. You can also walk along the harbour on the boardwalk and stop at the Maritime Museum. Small exhibit on the Titanic and the Halifax Harbour explosion of 1917. We were going to walk to the Citadel but we couldn't see it because of fog. Saving this for our next trip.

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Hi,

 

We're trying to finalize excursions for our group of 14 this July. We're stopping in both St John/New Brunswick and Halifax. We are leaning towards booking a private tour for one of the ports and walking on our own (maybe grabbing a taxi if we need to) in the other.

 

Which port would you choose for the tour and which one would you walk on your own - please include why.

 

Thanks - we really appreciate the help :)

 

We were in both ports in October. Saint John had a kayak excursion with lobster lunch that we wanted to try (and was wonderful) so we walked around in Halifax. We really enjoyed our day in Halifax and would do another walking trip if we went again. We went up the hill to the Citadel (you may want a taxi in July, but we had beautiful 70 degree weather), followed by a local lunch at Your Father's Mustache and exploring the public gardens. The boardwalk should have a lot to see too, but we had early dining and needed to get back to the ship so just glanced at a few things.

 

Our first cruise was to Saint John and we did a walking pub tour. There is plenty to see in Saint John walking, too. When researching your options, be sure to use Saint John not St. John. There is a city in another province (I think Newfoundland) called St. Johns and you will likely get results for it instead.

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The kayak tour sounds great but it's not an option for us - some of our group isn't a fan of water.

 

Thanks for reminding me that it's Saint John. Fortunately that is what I've been researching. We're in port from 7-3 pm. The tour we're considering is St Martins and the Fundy Trail 5+ hour tour. Here's the agenda -



 

Pick up at 08:30 Terminal at 08:30 Atlantic Standard Time

St. Patrick’s Memorial Park (Historical Site)

Fort Howe (Historical, Photographical and Scenic Site)

Reversing Falls (Natural Wonder)

Travel to St Martins along the Bay of Fundy->

Black River Harbour (Scenic)

Duck Pond Beach (Scenic Ocean Vista)

Lunch Break at The Caves (seafood)

The Sea Caves of St Martins (walk on Ocean floor)

The Fundy Trail (Scenic Toll Road, Natural beauty and Flower Pot Rocks)

Visit to St Martins twin Covered Bridges, the Harbour and one of the oldest lighthouses in Canada (you can climb to the top!)

Quaco Lighthouse high atop the Quaco Ledges overlooking Thurm Rock

-->Return to Saint John with a return visit to the Reversing Falls (the change in the river will be amazing).

Tour terminating either at your Cruise Terminal or the City Market (recommended as it allows you to meander back to the ship through the heart of historic Saint John, only 3 blocks from the ship!)

I'm leaning towards doing this and not booking anything in Halifax - then we would have a balance of tours and wandering on our own. I just want to be sure this is the best way to go before we finalize the booking.

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The kayak tour sounds great but it's not an option for us - some of our group isn't a fan of water.

 

 

Thanks for reminding me that it's Saint John. Fortunately that is what I've been researching. We're in port from 7-3 pm. The tour we're considering is St Martins and the Fundy Trail 5+ hour tour. Here's the agenda -



 

Pick up at 08:30 Terminal at 08:30 Atlantic Standard Time

St. Patrick’s Memorial Park (Historical Site)

Fort Howe (Historical, Photographical and Scenic Site)

Reversing Falls (Natural Wonder)

Travel to St Martins along the Bay of Fundy->

Black River Harbour (Scenic)

Duck Pond Beach (Scenic Ocean Vista)

Lunch Break at The Caves (seafood)

The Sea Caves of St Martins (walk on Ocean floor)

The Fundy Trail (Scenic Toll Road, Natural beauty and Flower Pot Rocks)

Visit to St Martins twin Covered Bridges, the Harbour and one of the oldest lighthouses in Canada (you can climb to the top!)

Quaco Lighthouse high atop the Quaco Ledges overlooking Thurm Rock

-->Return to Saint John with a return visit to the Reversing Falls (the change in the river will be amazing).

Tour terminating either at your Cruise Terminal or the City Market (recommended as it allows you to meander back to the ship through the heart of historic Saint John, only 3 blocks from the ship!)

I'm leaning towards doing this and not booking anything in Halifax - then we would have a balance of tours and wandering on our own. I just want to be sure this is the best way to go before we finalize the booking.

 

That sounds like a really nice day, and since you get a lighthouse there it won't be as bad if you stay in Halifax vs. going to Peggy's Cove (which I've heard is nice but often crowded). Enjoy your trip - we loved Canada!

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Saint John is my hometown...sounds like a great tour you are considering. Halifax does have more things you can actually walk to from the ship so I would agree....walk around Halifax and take a tour in Saint John.

 

If you have any more questions about the area let me know!

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The kayak tour sounds great but it's not an option for us - some of our group isn't a fan of water.

 

 

Thanks for reminding me that it's Saint John. Fortunately that is what I've been researching. We're in port from 7-3 pm. The tour we're considering is St Martins and the Fundy Trail 5+ hour tour. Here's the agenda -



 

Pick up at 08:30 Terminal at 08:30 Atlantic Standard Time

St. Patrick’s Memorial Park (Historical Site)

Fort Howe (Historical, Photographical and Scenic Site)

Reversing Falls (Natural Wonder)

Travel to St Martins along the Bay of Fundy->

Black River Harbour (Scenic)

Duck Pond Beach (Scenic Ocean Vista)

Lunch Break at The Caves (seafood)

The Sea Caves of St Martins (walk on Ocean floor)

The Fundy Trail (Scenic Toll Road, Natural beauty and Flower Pot Rocks)

Visit to St Martins twin Covered Bridges, the Harbour and one of the oldest lighthouses in Canada (you can climb to the top!)

Quaco Lighthouse high atop the Quaco Ledges overlooking Thurm Rock

-->Return to Saint John with a return visit to the Reversing Falls (the change in the river will be amazing).

Tour terminating either at your Cruise Terminal or the City Market (recommended as it allows you to meander back to the ship through the heart of historic Saint John, only 3 blocks from the ship!)

I'm leaning towards doing this and not booking anything in Halifax - then we would have a balance of tours and wandering on our own. I just want to be sure this is the best way to go before we finalize the booking.

This sounds like the tour we did with Dave's Taxi Tours..it was great but luckily we also did a tour in Halifax with Halifax Historical Titanic Tours with Paul McNeill.....Well worth the money to have done both of these totally different experience...Choosing only one would have been hard.

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Halifax has a wonderful Immigration Museum at Pier 39. Usually you walk off your ship and turn left and it's a few steps away. You can also walk along the harbour on the boardwalk and stop at the Maritime Museum. Small exhibit on the Titanic and the Halifax Harbour explosion of 1917. We were going to walk to the Citadel but we couldn't see it because of fog. Saving this for our next trip.

 

 

I think you mean Pier 21.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We booked with Dave's Taxi Tour - he was able to do a private tour for our group of 14. We opted to wander on our in Halifax. We have 4 days in port with 2 days of private tours booked and two days to wander - that seems to work well for everyone in our group :)

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