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Canada New England. Cheap excursions?


GetMeToTheSpa
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Boston you can take a cab or Uber or Silver Line to the self guided Freedom Trail and get all sorts of history.

 

Newport you can walk Thames Street, lots of cool shops and restaurants, or take a ride over to the Cliff Walk, which is a great walk behind the mansions and along the ocean

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We rented a car in St. John's and drove out to St. Andrews by-the-sea. It was a spectacular 45-60 drive and the town was lovely. We could see the difference in the Bay of Fundy tide from when we arrived and before we left about 3 1/2 hours later. If you go down to the light house, there are steps to the sea floor.  It's a summer resort town - we were there about this time last year and there was hardly anyone there. Probably my favorite day from that cruise!

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20 hours ago, sfaaa said:

Last year in Boston, HOHO also included a free harbor cruise. Good deal.

 

When we were in Boston last year on Anthem, the line for the HOHO near the port was 3-4 busses worth of people long. We had thought about booking, but after seeing the line, decided to Uber into town and walk the Freedom Trail (which was easy and really cool!)  It may have been the time of day (we got off fairly quickly after the gangway opened), but just something to be aware of.

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Inexpensive ideas:

Portland - Casco Bay Mailboat - 2.5 hour boat ride around the islands of Casco Bay. See seperate posting for details but the adult price is &16.50 US or Seniors at $14.50 pp. Kids are even less.

 

St. John, New Brunswick -  https://www.saintjohn.ca/en/home/cityhall/transportation/transit/services/citytours.aspx

Saint John Transit City Bus Tour is a 2 hour tour on a city bus with full narration of the city with two stops (City Market and Reversing Falls). First bus out is at 10:00 AM  and they determine how many tours to offer based on how may ships are in town. Call them a few days before your arrival to see how many buses will run. They are scheduled every 45 minutes starting at 10:00 AM. The cost is $25 US or $30 CN which sure beats all other tours in town. Bus stop is on Waters St. and is a few blocks from the ships. Look for a sandwich board on the sidewalk heading toward town for tour times. There were 3 ships in town and we didn't catch the first 2 buses but got on the third bus. Great tour.

 

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From the Black Falcon Cruise terminal in Boston, take the Silver Line 2 bus (which has a stop close to the ship) into  South Station, switch to the Red Line and get off at Park Station in the Boston Commons. From there, get a map at the visitor center and walk the Freedom trail.  Because most of this is underground, you avoid so much of the traffic and the trip is short and the cost was very reasonable. (It has been two years, but If memory serves, cost = $2.25 pp one way).

In Halifax, their Botanical Garden is gorgeous and free. It is approx. a 15 min. uphill walk from the ship. Close by is the majestic citadel, but there is an entrance fee for that.

In Bar Harbor, the sea-walk is free, taking you past some huge waterfront mansions. In addition, if the tide is low, walking out to Bar Island and exploring the area is a very unique experience.

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We are doing the same itinerary next July on Empress.  We plan on doing several mansions and Cliff Walk in Newport (the #67 bus/trolley seems very convenient). Freedom trail in Boston via MBTA (Silver line and T). Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor using Island Explorer (free). We plan to see the Titanic cemetery and Citadel in Halifax. Considering HOHO bus.  Saint John still to be determined.

One other hint: if you do Harpoon (lot's of fun), don't miss the pretzels.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/23/2019 at 5:37 AM, GetMeToTheSpa said:

Im ok with some self guided ideas and love those hop on hop off type trolleys.  Can anyone tell me any ideas on the inexpensive side? 

 

Ports are:

Boston, MA

Newport, RI,

Bar Harbor, ME

Halifax, Nova Scotia

St. John. New Brunswick

 

Saint John, New Brunswick  you can take a 2 hour tour on one of their City Transit buses for $25 US.  Harold was our driver/tour guide and he was a fount of information.  It was a great tour!

 

In Bar Harbor, we actually did 2 tours with Oli's Trolley.  The first one is of the downtown area for 30 minutes and cost $15.  The second was the 2 1/2 hour Acadia National Park tour which was $40.

 

In Halifax, we rented a car and drove up to the Wolfsburg area and toured a winery and had lunch there.  We also drove to a couple of the Titanic cemeteries.  All totaled, I think it was about $125 for car rental and gas (which I just had them refill since I didn't want to drive around finding a gas station - way more expensive or I could have done the entire day for about $100).

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On 9/25/2019 at 4:50 PM, timolin said:

Inexpensive ideas:

Portland - Casco Bay Mailboat - 2.5 hour boat ride around the islands of Casco Bay. See seperate posting for details but the adult price is &16.50 US or Seniors at $14.50 pp. Kids are even less.

 

St. John, New Brunswick -  https://www.saintjohn.ca/en/home/cityhall/transportation/transit/services/citytours.aspx

Saint John Transit City Bus Tour is a 2 hour tour on a city bus with full narration of the city with two stops (City Market and Reversing Falls). First bus out is at 10:00 AM  and they determine how many tours to offer based on how may ships are in town. Call them a few days before your arrival to see how many buses will run. They are scheduled every 45 minutes starting at 10:00 AM. The cost is $25 US or $30 CN which sure beats all other tours in town. Bus stop is on Waters St. and is a few blocks from the ships. Look for a sandwich board on the sidewalk heading toward town for tour times. There were 3 ships in town and we didn't catch the first 2 buses but got on the third bus. Great tour.

 

 

 

We did both of these on our cruise.  I agree they are excellent and a very good price. 

 

I am doing a live review of our cruise. [currently on the Adventure of the Seas].  We had several of these stops. 

 

 

 

In Newport I like to walk the seawalk.  I am not sure that is the official name.  It is a pedestrian loop around the peninsula that goes behind the mansions. Get a taxi/uber to drop you off at one spot and call another pick you up when you get tired. 

Edited by DragonOfTheSeas
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Piling on to some of the earlier suggestions.  In Boston we have both walked the Freedom Trail and done the HOHO.  Both are inexpensive and a good day.  If you walk the Trail think twice about the walk to Charlestown as it is a bit of a hike from the Old North Church.  If you go, think about the water taxi back to downtown. The HOHO bus will let you off on many of the stops on the Trail while saving your energy.  

 

In Bar Harbor, Oli's Trolley is an inexpensive tour.  Buy tickets in advance.

 

In Halifax you can make your own walking tour that includes the Citadel and the Public Gardens

 

 

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On 10/17/2019 at 7:33 AM, mskaufman said:

Piling on to some of the earlier suggestions.  In Boston we have both walked the Freedom Trail and done the HOHO.  Both are inexpensive and a good day.  If you walk the Trail think twice about the walk to Charlestown as it is a bit of a hike from the Old North Church.  If you go, think about the water taxi back to downtown. The HOHO bus will let you off on many of the stops on the Trail while saving your energy.  

 

In Bar Harbor, Oli's Trolley is an inexpensive tour.  Buy tickets in advance.

 

In Halifax you can make your own walking tour that includes the Citadel and the Public Gardens

 

 

You can take the MBTA water taxi between Long Wharf and the Constitution in Charlestown for about $3pp each way and a minicruise in the harbor. I always recommend this rather than walking from the North End.  Consider taking an Uber to the Constitution, water taxi to Long Wharf, and walk along the Waterfront into the North End to pick up the trail to walk in reverse.  If you end up at the Boston Common, you can take the Red Line at Park St to South Station and transfer to the Silver Line SL2 Bus to the cruise terminal.

 

Just remember that there is nothing sacred about the Freedom Trail.  It was created so that tourists would have a clearly marked path to follow through old Boston and not miss the historical sites that are tucked in between the more modern buildings.  

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