What should I do in Halifax?

[tbill]

I would appreciate suggestions regarding the best/most fun things to do in Halifax. We will be there on our Victory cruise next weekend (we leave on Aug 5th and will be in Halifax on the 7th)...also do we need warm clothes for that day? We are 9 women free from our husbands and kids for 4 days!...We cannot wait!

Thanks for your help!

[elvisillusions]

Don't ask... don't plan... 4 days w/ no hubby and no kids?! Go and ENJOY!!!

Have a fantastic cruise...

Kim

[Cotton]

[b][color=darkslategray]Have I got a place for you! :eek: Definitely don't miss going to Peggy's Cove! It's a beautiful little fishing village, and the Peggy's Cove Lighthouse (one of the most photographed sites in all of Nova Scotia) is there. It's one of the most picturesque places i've ever been in my life. I would LOVE to be joining y'all! Please try and go there.....it's about 30 miles out of Halifax.[/color][/b]
[b][color=darkslategray] [/color][/b]

[b][color=#2f4f4f]We were in Halifax for almost a week several years ago, and had a rental car, so went everywhere........but I'm sure there are excursions that take folks to Peggy's Cove. It's just too wonderful to miss seeing! I have such great memories of my visit there.:) [/color][/b]

[Mask]

Shopping!!! There's great shopping here in Halifax. Just get off the ship, turn right and follow the boardwalk. Not to mention food. Lots of wonderful seafood and anything else you desire. You must try Beaver Tails. It an incredibly fattening pastry and is sold on a kiosk on the waterfront. Then continue on and get an ice cream at Cows. Peggy's Cove is a fantastic place, but it will take most of your day. So it all depends on what you want. There's also the Martime Museum of the Atlantic on the waterfront. There's a few artifacts from the Titanic. Also not to be missed is the making of hand blown crystal. It's fascinating to watch and there's some beautiful pieces available to purchase.

As for the weather, it's usually in the mid 80's at that time of year, but we've had a very cool summer so far, so be prepared for anything. One day it's very hot and the next it's downright cold. I don't know what's going on, the weather is just bad this year. But the forecast for the next week is good so maybe things are improving.

Enjoy your trip and feel free to ask more questions.

[Cotton]

[b][color=darkslategray][/color][/b][b]Hi Mask. So nice to see someone from Halifax here! Do you happen to know Jan & Barry Gerrard? Good friends of mine.[/b]

[jfritz126]

[color=red]We took the Carnival excursion to Peggy's Cove and still had plenty of time to see Halifax. We walked the "boardwalk" area which is very nice, watched the blown glass, toured the Titanic part of the museum and still had time to go and take the brewery tour which was really good. [/color]

[crusinsusan]

When we went to Halifax, we enjoyed a tour on the Harbor Hopper. It is an amphibious vehicle which gave us a nice tour of the city and proceeded to go into the water where we got a good view of the harbor. We even saw some otters in the water. We got the Harbor Hopper on the docks after we walked along the boardwalk. Price was about $20pp american. We used credit card so we didn't have to worry about changing $$. We loved Halifax and there is a lot to see. Enjoy your cruise. :)

[lorideco]

I was thinking about the Harbor Hopper also. Do you need reservations or can you just go over and get on?

[Mask]

Cotton, sorry I don't know them. But I may run across them sometime ... it is a small city.

The Harbour Hopper is a great tour. I would highly recommend it. You can book when you get here, but there's probably a bit of a wait. You can book through their website:
[url]http://www.harbourhopper.com/main.html[/url]

[MrPete]

First visit, we went walking, up the hill, to the (I think it's called) the Citadel. Being we were in "NEW SCOTLAND", it was nice seeing all those people on guard in kilts on this side of the Atlantic. We took a tour as well. Reminded me a little of Stirling Castle.

Some nice views from there as well.

On our walk back down, we found the boardwalk and had a nice stroll. Was amused to see all those college kids pulling the "rickshaws" or whatever they would be called there.

Our second trip, we took the leisure ride to Peggy's Cove. I had never heard of it until the SwissAir plane crash. It was quaint, but you must like quaint. On the way back we were shown Anne Murrays house. I kept my camera in its case.

Then we went to the Titanic museum. I like all things Titanic, so I enjoyed that. We also passed by where the Titanic victims were buried.

We had great weather both times we went, which was late September. I packed sweaters and expected great folliage views, and ended up wearing shorts watching green trees, mostly evergreens.
:o

[tbill]

I cannot wait for our cruise....Life has been quite hectic lately and it is much needed! Shopping is right up my alley!....the blown glass sounds interesting and so does the brewery tour. I think it would also be interesting to see the museum because we love to cruise and find anything regarding the Titanic of great interest. Anxious to try the Beaver Tails too!

Mask, I do have a question...is the Casino (Nova Scotia Casino & Hotel I think) located near where the ship docks? They are affiliated with Caesars in Atlantic City, a place my husband and I love to go to and he wants me to bring him back a chip for his collection.

Can you also tell my how long it takes to get to Peggy's Cove and what would there be to do there aside from seeing the lighthouse? Thanks for your help!

[Mask]

tbill, glad to help. The casino is within walking distance of the pier, probably about a 20 minute walk. Just follow the boardwalk or ask anyone for directions. Here's their website: [url]http://www.casinonovascotia.com/indexN.html[/url]
It's a great casino -- I love giving them donations.

Peggy's Cove is approx a 1 hour drive from the pier. It's a very scenic, windy road drive. It's a beautiful spot where you can climb the rocks and enjoy the view. The lighthouse is the only one (I believe in North America ... not sure) that has a post office, so you can send yourself (or anyone) a postcard from the lighthouse. There an interesting gift shop (actually more than one) and a very good restaurant. You can wonder around and enjoy the quaintness of the place. You also visit the Swiss Air memorial for the plane that crashed in 1998 off Peggy's Cove. There were no survivors. A really sad situation but a beautiful memorial.

As previously mentioned, Citadel Hill is a fascinating place. It's a fort that used to guard the city. There's also Public Gardens, which was severely damaged during Hurricane Juan last September (the whole city was dramatically impacted), but it's been restored to it's orginal "victorian" appearance and is as beautiful as ever, just differently.

There's so much to do and not enough time in one day. I guess you'll have to come back to do it all.

Hope this helps.

[ebark23]

It takes a good hour to get to Peggy's cove and that is about all that there is to do there. It is a beautiful place and offers some of the best pictures you can take in Eastern Canada but there really is nothing else to do there. One thing that people like to do is mail a postcard from Peggys Cove, there is a post office in the lighthouse, kind of cool.

There are lots of things to do in Halifax. Titanic museam is great, the Titanic graveyards are a good thing to see to say that you have been there. Shopping is great and within walking distance. The Citadel has a great tour and I believe around noon they have a changing of the gaurd that is a must see.

Great food abounds in Halifax. I would recommend the Beaver Tails but also a Donair. It is a lot like a Gyro but has a sweeter sauce and I feel 50 times better. I think that you can not go to Halifax and not have a Donair. There are tons of places to go to get one. It is a wonderful town and you should have a good time.

[mirrajay]

For those of you who have been to the Titanic graveyards and Museum of the Atlantic, what is the best way to get there? I believe I have heard/read that you can walk to the museum, but will need transporation to the graveyards. Would we be able to get a cab as we leave the museum? Or would another form of public transport be better?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Carey

[OhioBeachBum]

If you're going to Peggy's Cove, rent a car and drive yourself. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than the excusion ($60 for a car vs. $200 for four people). Also, make sure you drive all the way back to the lighthouse. There's a parking lot as soon as you pull in but it's quite a walk back to the lighthouse. We had LOTS of fog too. Hope that helps a little.

[justme_123]

Just like OhioBeachBUm said.. We rented a car last week while in Halifax for our cruise and the car only costed 57 dollars for the day. We even managed to get a brand new 2004 Ford Expedition, fully loaded and boy was it nice. Especially up high to take pictures. We went to Peggy's cove, and took all of our pictures, we got to go shopping, get a bite to eat, and we even had to time to go down to the Titanic Museum, which was really neat. We enjoyed the car, because it gave us a chance to see more things. Also right off the coast of Peggy's Cove, is the memorial for the plane accident Swiss Air, flight 111. It was neat to see, sad, but neat. We rented our car from Budget if you are interested. We called them when we got there, and they picked us up, and even dropped us off afterwards. I say this is the best deal to do everything you want to do! Hope you have a great time!!

[justme_123]

Mirrajay:
If you walk out of the pier and make a right, and walk straight down the street for about a mile, you will be at the Museum. As for the Graveyard, I am not sure where that is located, but you would most likely be able to get a taxi from the museum to the graveyard. We did see taxi's driving up and down the street. I hope this helps!...

p.s-- if you planning to walk, pack your umbrella just in case, we ran into spurts of heavy rain!

[mirrajay]

Thanks - that does help!
I bought a compact, travel umbrella just for this trip - I have a feeling it will get a lot of use.