Sydney Oct 9 : how far can we drive?

[french fries at night]

Hello all, my wife & I are on the Holland America cruise visiting Sydney, NS on October 9. I emailed Don Blackwood about a month ago and sadly he was already sold out on tours!

 

My preferred plan right now would be to rent a car in Sydney and drive what we can of the Cabot Trail. (Yes, I know we should be calling to reserve a car ASAP! Just had some q's first... I am a first time cruiser)

 

The ship is only in port from 9-5. What does that realistically mean in terms of when we'd probably get in the rental car, and what time we'd have to be back?

 

HAL offers a 7-hour day trip that is pricey and looks like it doesn't cover much ground.

 

On google Maps it looks like it only takes 2 hours to drive from Sydney to Ingonish, where I've read the views start to be spectacular - is that drive-time reliable?

 

I'm concerned about having time to make the round trip. Why does the bus tour take 7 hours to get to Ingonish and back? Just because of all the stops?

[donaldsc]

You have to remember that the HAL tour has to provide for lots of bathroom stops where 40 people have to get off and on the bus. They also have to provide shopping stops where you have plenty of time to buy stuff because HAL get a cut of what everyone buys. I also assume that a lunch stop is included which will take longer for a group than if you stop in a place and grab a quick sandwich. Finally remember that all photo opportunity stops take longer than it will take you because of the same 40 passenger issue made worse by the few individuals who are slow getting off and on the bus and still worse by a few individuals who assume that a 10 minute photo break does apply to them so they take longer and again hold things up.

 

It all adds up. Now you see why I never take a ship tour anywhere if there is an alternative.

 

DON

[Jolie_Cruiser]

You will find a time estimate of a partial Cabot Trail driving tour in this free guide written by a fellow cruiser. Here it is:

 

http://Http://www.tomsportguides.com/Sydney-NS-02-05-2013

[LHT28]

Do you have a back up plan?

You probably will not get a rental car at this late date

 

You need to book well in advance ..

[maryann ns]

Toms port guides are great, but he was very conservative in how far he got. What you can do when you set out is take an hour from the time you have to be back (if you need to be back by 4 then make it 3 in your mind), then drive for about half the time you have and turn around.

 

That being said people have reported that you can get as far as Neil's Harbour where there are a couple little shops. I would pick up a sandwich there and turn around. The drive past there goes inland for a while.

 

Many of the tour busses stop at Keltic Lodge in Ingonish where there is a large dining room, gift shop and the obligatory washrooms.

 

The section of the trail from Ingonish to around Neil's Harbour hugs the coast and is very pretty.

 

Here are some maps: https://maps.google.ca/maps?

 

https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Esplanade,+Sydney,+NS&daddr=Ingonish,+NS+to:Esplanade,+Sydney,+NS&hl=en&sll=46.458674,-60.380859&sspn=1.106837,2.688904&geocode=FcgPwAId-nZp_Ck3cZLkLvtnSzGi1NYfQuHwCg%3BFb6uxwIdBE9m_CmJ5fie9qtnSzH7lJhzPbKOmQ%3BFcgPwAId-nZp_Ck3cZLkLvtnSzGi1NYfQuHwCg&oq=es&mra=ls&t=m&z=10

 

http://*******/maps/LVs4P

 

I have not been for a few years and was not paying attention to times when I was, but they are allowing for two hours for 117 km which means you are going just over 50 km an hour. That is about 31 mph, so they are allowing for the twisty road with the big climb up Smokey.

 

If you get there and it is rainy and foggy then with a rental car you have the flexibility to go to Baddeck and the Bell Museum instead.

[GradUT]

If you should decide not to drive the Cabot Trail, I think you would enjoy the drive around the Bras d'Or Lake area to Baddeck, Iona and back to Sydney. We did this drive during our stop on the HAL Veendam in July and enjoyed it very much. The drive was scenic (including the little ferry trip at Little Narrows) and the Alexander Graham Bell Museum was fascinating. We wanted to stop at the Highland Village in Iona but had spent so much time at the Bell Museum that we didn't have enough time to do justice to the Highland Museum, so we skipped it.

 

The drives from Sydney to Baddeck, from Baddeck to Iona and from Iona to Sydney each take just over an hour, so plan on 3.5 to 4 hours of driving time. The rest of your available time could be spent at the Bell Museum, in Baddeck, and/or a the Highland Village.