Halifax - 4 Ships in Port, Need Touring Advice

[sunluva7]

With four ships in port next week, how crowded will the popular places like the Maritime Museum and the Titanic cemetery be? Our ship will be docked at pier 34 from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm, requiring a shuttle to the main pier area. We are currently booked on a morning 3-4 hour private tour to Peggy's Cove with pick up at 10:00 a.m. We'd also like to spend an hour or two at the Maritime Museum on our own, and trying to figure the best way to fit it in to the schedule with the smallest lines.

 

Would it be better to get to the museum when they open at 9:30 am, spend a couple of hours and then go to Peggy's Cove in the afternoon (assuming I can switch our tour time). I assume we would need to be back by 4:00 for the last shuttle to the ship.

 

Or ...

 

Keep with the morning tour to Peggy's Cove (perhaps move it up to 9:00 am), and go to the museum in the afternoon around 2:00, spend an hour or so, then head to the ship. We are really only interested in the Titanic exhibit and the Halifax explosion exhibit if there's time.

 

Any thoughts?

[maryann ns]

The best way to beat the crowds at Peggy's Cove is to go early. I would bump it up to 8:00. Then come back via the Titanic cemeteries and get dropped off at the waterfront. There is no way to avoid crowds at the Maritime Museum. Since it is so close to the ship, there will likely be people there all day long.

[Tatka]

We walked around Halifax in the morning and by 11am places near Maritime Museum seemed crowded, but at 9-9:30 we did not see many people there.

 

Our Peggy's Cove tour + Fairview Cemetary tour was at 12:30 (3+ hours) and in both places we saw other tours, but it wasn't too bad.

 

Three midsize cruise ships (Brilliance ots, Grandeur ots, NCL Dawn) were in port.

[MTVanc]

Since you are booked on a private tour you should as mentioned get started early. All you have to do is beat the tour buses out of town. Find out when the ship tours leave and plan to leave 15 minutes before them. I went there this summer and there are two ways to get to Peggy's Cove from Halifax. The tour buses all go one way (I think from the west). Your driver should know to avoid them. We took the other route that passes by Ryer's Lobster which is a great place for lobster lunch. Tour buses cannot go to Ryer's as he cannot handle the capacity. Many of the private tour cars go there. For this reason alone its better to go to Peggy's cove in the morning, Titanic exhibit, have lunch then head back.

Get dropped off on the boardwalk and you can walk back to your ship. Ask your driver how much farther the pier 34 is from the museum though as it maybe quite a ways out from the regular cruise ship berths.

[maryann ns]

I don't know which way the busses go and you may want to defer to your driver's knowledge. Here are the routes. I have not tested it, but I am guessing the route via Upper Tantallon would be faster.

https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Canadian+Museum+of+Immigration+at+Pier+21,&daddr=Peggys+Cove,+NS+to:Ryers+Lobster+Retail,+Peggys+Cove+Rd,+NS+to:Upper+Tantallon,+NS+to:Canadian+Museum+of+Immigration+at+Pier+21,+Marginal+Rd,+Halifax,+NS&hl=en&ll=44.590956,-63.752975&spn=0.252804,0.676346&sll=44.572268,-63.75118&sspn=0.252885,0.676346&geocode=FYogqQIdkRI2_CEgmzhDlXHjFyndrHIwSiJaSzEgmzhDlXHjFw%3BFernpgIdRLIw_CnlsFTY6QJaSzFmhYBMEgaDaw%3BFa8_pwIdL24w_CEmWIfX9onkGik9iQnauPlZSzEmWIfX9onkGg%3BFYfhqQIdiE0x_CkjyL4b1YxZSzHHCx6FPgYJfA%3BFYogqQIdkRI2_CEgmzhDlXHjFyndrHIwSiJaSzEgmzhDlXHjFw&oq=pier&mra=ls&t=m&z=11

[MTVanc]

I don't know which way the busses go and you may want to defer to your driver's knowledge. Here are the routes. I have not tested it, but I am guessing the route via Upper Tantallon would be faster.

https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Canadian+Museum+of+Immigration+at+Pier+21,&daddr=Peggys+Cove,+NS+to:Ryers+Lobster+Retail,+Peggys+Cove+Rd,+NS+to:Upper+Tantallon,+NS+to:Canadian+Museum+of+Immigration+at+Pier+21,+Marginal+Rd,+Halifax,+NS&hl=en&ll=44.590956,-63.752975&spn=0.252804,0.676346&sll=44.572268,-63.75118&sspn=0.252885,0.676346&geocode=FYogqQIdkRI2_CEgmzhDlXHjFyndrHIwSiJaSzEgmzhDlXHjFw%3BFernpgIdRLIw_CnlsFTY6QJaSzFmhYBMEgaDaw%3BFa8_pwIdL24w_CEmWIfX9onkGik9iQnauPlZSzEmWIfX9onkGg%3BFYfhqQIdiE0x_CkjyL4b1YxZSzHHCx6FPgYJfA%3BFYogqQIdkRI2_CEgmzhDlXHjFyndrHIwSiJaSzEgmzhDlXHjFw&oq=pier&mra=ls&t=m&z=11

 

 

 

Our private guide definitely took the upper Tantalon route. Very scenic as well, you drive by lots of little bays and coves. Our driver also took a detour and went all around a cove to show us the homes, boats, etc