Halifax Sunday vs. Tuesday

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

I may be over thinking things but we are in Halifax on two separate days on a back-to-back.

 

On the Sunday, we are in port 9-6, and on the Tuesday - 8 - 5.

 

One day we'd like to rent a car and do Lunenburg, Peggy's cove etc. The other day we'll walk about near the port.

 

Is there any one better day to do one itinerary vs the other (considering crowds, availability, etc.)

[maryann ns]

That is a good question. I can see arguments for either plan.

 

Tuesday being a working day there would be commuter traffic. You would generally be going against it but it may be an issue. There would likely be fewer people at Peggy's Cove and on the waterfront. That would depend upon the weather and how many cruise ships are in port.

 

Sunday there may be more local people at Peggy's, Lunenburg and the waterfront in Halifax.

 

My best guess is to rent the car and drive to Lunenburg on the Sunday. There will likely be less traffic in the morning. Leave time to get back in the afternoon when there may be people returning to the city.

 

Another way to look at this is to do what is most important to you on the first day.

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

Thanks MaryAnn! I have already squirrelled away your google maps throughout this forum - I really appreciate your input.

 

Good point about ships in port. Three ships in port on the Tuesday and only one on the Sunday. I wonder which would be worse - Halifax with 6000 passengers, or Peggy's cove with 3 times the busses...

[MTVanc]

Thanks MaryAnn! I have already squirrelled away your google maps throughout this forum - I really appreciate your input.

 

Good point about ships in port. Three ships in port on the Tuesday and only one on the Sunday. I wonder which would be worse - Halifax with 6000 passengers, or Peggy's cove with 3 times the busses...

 

 

We were in Halifax this summer on Maasdam and were the only ship in port. We took a private tour to Peggy's Cove, went to citadel and a couple of Halifax sites, maple syrup factory, ordered lunch from Ryer's then out to Peggy's Cove. When we got there the ship's buses had not arrived yet. It was still busy in the parking lot and there were a lot of other tourists there. The restaurant at the cove was packed, with lineups.

I would imagine with a couple of tour buses it would get even busier out on the rocks and the area around the lighthouse.

Now being October you may have fewer non cruise ship tourists. However I would think its better to go to Peggy's cove on the Sunday with only one ship. The other consideration is weather - much better when its sunny vs wind or rain or fog. But I guess you can't plan around the weather

[maryann ns]

Peggy's cove is wonderful in stormy weather. Just heed the warnings and don't go too close to the shore.

 

I would choose the Sunday for Peggy's if there is only one other ship.

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

Thanks to you both.

 

From this post and others we'll do Peggy's Cove on the Sunday and take our chances with a busy port area on the Tuesday. We don't mind getting out early to do our must-sees before the crowds.

[maryann ns]

Great. It would be good if you could give a brief report back here.

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

I am embarrassed to tell you we aren't going until September 2014 but Halifax is the first port I'm planning out...and I am a trip-planning junkie.

 

I try to do a full trip review to pay it forward no worries but it will be a while!

[sotiris]

We are just back from a 14 day cruise with 2 stops in Halifax. The weather was the determining factor as to when we went to Peggy's Cove. The Tuesday was a bit overcast so we just walked around the downtown area and visited the Pier 21 museum. On Sunday, we rented a car and went to Peggy's Cove, the Swiss Air Memorial and continued on to Mahone Bay via the scenic route. We returned to Halifax via the highway. Traffic going and returning was fine. There were a few tour buses at PC but they left shortly after we arrived.

[FloatYourBoatSince2003]

Thanks! Did you reserve a car in advance? Also do you remember round about what time you were at Peggy's cove? We were thinking of going there early to beat the tour busses but I suspect it would be better to follow behind.

[sotiris]

We did reserve a car through Budget, about a 10-15 minute walk from the ship. I thought it was closer and it took a while to figure out exactly where on Hollis (near Salter) it was. Enterprise, National and Alamo (as I remember) are in the Westin Hotel, about a 5 minute walk from the ship.

 

I think we got to Peggy's Cove about 11am, walked around, bought souvenirs and then headed out for Mahone Bay. There is a little post office upstairs in the gift shop where you can get you passport stamped.

[5326jan]

We just took a tour with Jonathan Duru of YourCab.CA He was excellent! I can't say enough about how much we enjoyed him. I'd contract with him for the amount of time you want to spend and what you want to see. He will not disappoint!

 

We were in a 15 passenger van with 10 people from our roll call, which was a perfect number. We had room to move around and be comfortable. Our fare was $54USD per person and the tour lasted about 6 hours, even though we were scheduled to go for 4. He asked us several times if we were ready to go back, but we were enjoying so much he kept going! LOVE HIM!!!!!:D

 

Peggy's Cove is not to be missed!!!

[Beach4me]

Sorry! Wrong thread. And btw, thank you maryann for your input on my Lunenburg thread!