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Quebec and Nova Scotia are different; Quebec tends to be more urban and cosmopolitan and Nova Scotia is more rural with gorgeous and varied coastal scenery. I guess it all depends on what kind of experience you are looking for. This year Canada is celebrating its 150th anniversary of confederation and there will probably be lots of commemorative events all over the country, so you might be able to take in some of the celebrations. With that in mind, it would be good to make any lodging reservations well in advance.
As far as Kennebunkport, it's a pretty tourist mecca.
Quebec is a way bigger province than Nova Scotia size-wise and population-wise, and contains way bigger cities. All of this gives it less of a down-home feel than any of the three Maritime provinces. Even in smaller towns in Quebec things aren't as relaxed as they are in smaller towns just over the border in New Brunswick.
For Americans, it's kind of like the difference between comparable small towns in Upstate New York and Vermont, or Maine and Massachusetts. Know what I mean?
That said, Quebec is really big. The populated southern part of Quebec is bigger than Texas from east to west. Within that you have big cities like Montreal and Quebec City, but you also have tons of quaint small towns and villages.
Not meaning to be rude, but you really need to get out a map and study it before suggesting these stops on your itinerary. That would be like saying you want to drive the Pacific Coast in 7 days and stop at Yellowstone along the way.
If you get to Halifax, I recommend the Maritime Museum. They have a good display of Titanic artifacts there. Also, a walk along the harborside is very pleasant.
Also, if you're in that general area, try to make a stop at one of the upper portions of the Bay of Fundy. If you time it so that the tide is out, you'll see the waterline along the pier walls and maybe a boat or two down in the mud. It really gives a sense of the incredible tidal variations in that bay. If you're in New Brunswick, the little village of St. Martin is a good stop for that.
Not meaning to be rude, but you really need to get out a map and study it before suggesting these stops on your itinerary. That would be like saying you want to drive the Pacific Coast in 7 days and stop at Yellowstone along the way.
I mapped everything we were interested in doing before I posted the thread. When I mapped everything we want to do, it was about 30 hours of driving time, which is obviously more than we would want to do. That's why I came here to ask for help narrowing our choices.
Maybe I should have been more clear. I'm not asking for help fitting all of this in, I'm asking what key places you guys would recommend visiting that we can reasonably fit into one week.
We've come up with a possible internary and would love any thoughts now that we have narrowed it down.
Fly into Boston. Spend 2 nights- take a walking tour of the Freedom Trail
Spend 4-5 nights in Wells, Maine. Visit the local beaches and towns. Ogunquit looks really nice. Possible whale tour- can you see whales in the summer or is that more of a winter event? Would love any suggestions for restaurants and things to do.
Drive to Quebec City and spend 2-3 nights. Take a walking tour of Old Toen.
You know the water in Maine is really cold and not so good for swimming. Boston is a great place so much to see, we spent a week and did not see everything. I would spend less time in Maine and a few more days in Boston.
Agreed, seven days is a short amount of time for this trip. Depending on your interest, I'd spend three days in Boston as follows:
-one day: Freedom Trail.
-another day: Gardner Museum, Museum of Fine Arts.
-and another day: JFK Presidential Library (morning), Harvard Square (Harvard museums, etc.) (afternoon)
Things like the Mapparium, Aquarium, Museum of Science, Trinity Church, Boston Public Library, State Capitol Building, and historic homes like the Otis House, Nichols House, and Gibson House could easily keep you occupied for several more days. Plus there are scads of great day trips from Boston (Salem, New Bedford, Plymouth, Concord, Lexington, Gloucester, Marblehead, Lowell, Rockport).
If you leave it at 2-3 days for Boston, I'd keep things to one other road trip option for the last 4-5 days:
-Maine coast (maybe a couple days in Ogunquit/The Kennebunks and a couple days in Bar Harbor/Acadia).
-Montreal.
-Quebec City.
Especially with kids, you don't want to spend half your vacation in the car.
You are planning your weekend during summer..that is great..you must visit Bar Harbour...During summer i.e. late April or May if the weather is fine then it is good...there are lots of things to do in Bar Harbour..you can go to a nature camp with your family and also enjoy boating and fishing..can play Golf at the course..generally this is the time when crowd is very less in the shop where you can buy many beautiful things made by the Maine artists..
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