We went for the sharks and fell in love with the rest! I’ll admit, I was pleasantly surprised with our decision to visit Nova Scotia on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. It revolved around Sharktober, the best time to see great whites but what we didn’t expect was the weather to be beautiful, the leaves to be vibrant and that they’re be so many things to do! Not sure? Let me share how to maximize a 4 day Thanksgiving Weekend in Nova Scotia with all of you!
Day 1 – How to maximize a 4 day Thanksgiving Weekend in Nova Scotia – Arrival
Transportation:
We opted to take public transportation which has a fairly direct route from the airport to downtown. It was cheap, efficient and our hotel was walking distance to pretty much everything. The bus let us off in front of the Scotiabank arena, which was an 11 mins downhill walk from our hotel. (I specify downhill because Halifax is surprisingly hilly and we definitely got our exercise in.) Transportation options include:
Bus 320 to Halifax:
– two stops en route
– $4.50 per person
– Takes about an hr
Taxi to Halifax:
– Takes approximately 35 mins
– $75 one way
Uber to Halifax:
-Takes approximately 35 mins
– $50 – $55 one way
Four Points by Sheraton Halifax:
We chose Four Points by Sheraton Halifax because it was the host hotel for Atlantic Shark Expeditions, so we received a discounted rate. A 3.5 star experience the prices aligned with the rest of the hotels in the city. We chose a king room with club access ( a surcharge of $15 per night.) Club access gave us 24 hr access to the club lounge which had a coffee machine with specialty coffees, water, apples, granola bars, chips, skittles and fuzzy peaches. One day there was cookies & oatmeal cups too. We spent the afternoon working online at the hotel.
Facilities included:
– gym
– pool
– parking if needed $35 per day
Book your Halifax Stay here:
PRO TIP:
– The extra expense for Club Access covered itself thanks to the savings of not purchasing outside snacks and coffee.
Book your Halifax hotel stay here:
The Waterfront Pier:
After work, our evening was spent exploring Halifax. We started with the extremely cute waterfront shops. In October they close early so we had to get our souvenir shopping done really quickly. Logan wanted a tote bag for the next day so we checked out all of the various stands and kiosks. She found a variety of purchases but surprisingly no tote bags. I loved the submarine play land.
PRO TIPS:
– Waterfront shops close at 6pm in October
The Citadel:
A National Historic Site, we managed the uphill hike to the Citadel which closed at 5pm. Fortunately there was an event going on inside so we managed to get a little peak in. Worth the climb it has incredible 360 views of the City of Halifax.
Sunset at the Citadel
Completely by chance we stumbled on watching the sunset at the Citadel. We saw the sun was setting in a buildings reflection in the east and walked around the perimeter to the west side. There are buildings that slightly obstruct the view, but it is worth seeing none the less at least once while in Halifax.
Dinner at Blue Nose II:
A Halifax staple, this restaurant opened 1962 and was recommended to us by a few locals. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience, the food and their prices. Clam and seafood chowder are everywhere in Halifax. Lobster rolls and fish and chips are too. We indulged in each more than once throughout our trip. At Blue Nose we split a very delicious 2.5 lbs of lobster lobster roll at the market price of $25. It was Logan’s first time having lobster so she also ordered the fish and chips which she very much enjoyed . My chowder was okay. Actually, all of my chowder experiences were okay, in Halifax which left me thinking maybe I don’t enjoy chowders as much as I thought I did lol.
Northern Lights:
Walking home from dinner at around 8:00pm we were gifted the MOST INCREDIBLE display of Aurora Borealis I have EVER seen. Pink filled the sky and were felt blessed sitting on the dock of the bay on muskoka chairs watching it dance by despite being in the heart of a city!
Day 2 – The Sharks
Atlantic Shark Expeditions:
We woke up for our full day adventure at 6:30am to arrive at the dock for 8am. I’ll write another blog about the whole experience soon but it is a fantastic must do excursion. Everything was top notch and although we didn’t see any sharks we will definitely be back. The money we paid for our day goes towards supporting shark research so in my opinion it was money well spent. A good omen, we saw a rainbow within the first 10 mins. The day was exciting, educational and they provided hot chocolate and snacks too. It was an 8 hours tour, so we were back at the dock at 3pm and headed straight back to the hotel for a shower and swim.
PRO TIPS:
– Not knowing the lay of the land we grabbed breakfast to go at our hotel but there was a Tim Hortons on route which would have been cheaper.
Dirty Nelly’s Irish Pub:
Their “award winning seafood chowder” sign drew us in and although it looked empty from the outside it was packed inside. Not far from Scotiabank Arena everyone was there for a pre-game dinner since there was a hockey game that night. I had the Seafood Chowder, which was better than the previous nights Clam Chowder. I think I’m a bisque girl not chowder girl. The bread however was amazing. Logan loved her fish and chips.
Bus:
We decided to rent a car to explore more of Nova Scotia over the next few days so after dinner we walked back to the bus stop and caught the 320 back to the airport. Rentals were slim pickings but we managed to get a car at budget.
– $192 for one day
– $369 for two days so we opted for two days
PRO TIPS:
– There are a TON of car rental places downtown Halifax but they all close at 5pm (Weekends have even more restricted hours). The airport however has 24 hr car rental availability.
– CAA discount was better then Costco discount at Budget
Parking:
As I previously mentioned the parking at the hotel was $35 / 24 hrs.
PRO TIPS:
– Public parking is located one block east (down towards the waterfront) for $28 per day and $6.50 overnight until 7:30am or $9 if we parked until 8am
– Public Parking one block east and 3 blocks north has $6 weekend rates for a 24 hrs period (kiddie corner to the nautical museum.)
Day 3 – Exploring Nova Scotia
Peggy’s Cove:
I’m positive during high season this place is crazy busy but in October we had it basically to ourselves. The downside however was that most of the local shops and restaurants were closed including the building at the lighthouse itself with no facilities available for use.
Pro Tip:
Don’t have a car?
– Book Peggy’s Cove through Get Your Guide here:
If you have a car-
– Arrive early to beat the crowds
– Visit at sunset for beautiful views
Swiss Plane Crash Site 111:
A short distance down the road from Peggy’s Cove is this memorial site. To reach it visitors walk a nice little windy path through some local flora with the sounds of the ocean crashing in the background. Winds were extremely high that day, so the flowers at the monument were blowing around. We picked them up and gave our respects. It also a great place to take pictures of Peggy’s Cover from a distance.
Shelburne County Giant Pumpkin Regatta:
This fall festival is one you don’t want to miss especially since it is their 3rd annual Giant Pumpkin Regatta, which you can read all about here:
En route to the regatta we learned that it was being postponed for safety, due to the high wind gusts reaching of over 60kms.
The Giant Pumpkin Festival was the main reason we rented a car for a day. We decided to keep it a second day thanks to our bus stop closing for maintenance, freedom to explore more on Sunday and so we’d have somewhere to store our stuff so it all worked out.
Lunenburg:
Driving to Shelburne we noticed a sign for Lunenburg saying that it is a Unesco World Heritage site followed by another naming it as the “Balsam Fir Christmas Tree Capital of the World” so we decided to check it out. We drove around, first admiring a super yatch, followed by a very brief walk downtown and then to dinner since we were both starving.
Old Fish Factory Restaurant:
Also a museum, on our way into the restaurant area we were able to quickly peek into the museum but not enter. Logan loved her fish tacos but my seafood chowder was not good. The shrimp was overcooked and the fish seemed waterlogged. It didn’t sit well the rest of the evening actually.
After dinner we did a very short walk on the boardwalk where we were greeted by another rainbow before driving over to the Golf Course. The Golf course is where our waitress told us the Lunnerberg “money shot” can be taken. It WAS the money shot and we even caught yet another rainbow.
Pro Tips:
Don’t have a car?
– Book Lunenburg through Get Your Guide here:
Have a car?
– Money shot of Lunnenburg is at the Bluenose Golf Club
– The Golf club knows it’s the spot and has 3 designated parking spots for people taking pictures (max 5 mins).
Mahone Bay:
Another sign we saw en route to Shelburne was for Mahone Bay stating it had been a treasure since 1754. We googled it and saw it’s famous for its picturesque 3 churches in a row. It was shortly before sunset so decided to stop. And a treasure Mahone Bay was! Not only was it picturesque, but Thanksgiving weekend is their annual scarecrow festival, where the entire town showcases their extremely creative displays of scarecrows which we LOVED! As dusk crept in we made our way back to Halifax.
The Wizard of Oz scarecrows at the annual scarecrow festival in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia on
Scarecrows at the annual scarecrow festival in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia on Thanksgiving weekend 2024
Scarecrows at the annual scarecrow festival in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia on Thanksgiving weekend 2024
Pro Tips:
Don’t have a car?
– Book Mahone Bay through Get Your Guide here:
Have a car?
– Sunset is beautiful as the sun drops behind the churches
Nightcaps at Latitude 44:
Part of our Atlantic Shark Expedition adventure was a complimentary drink ticket each for Latitude 44 , the restaurant at the host hotel.
Day 4 –
Shelburne’s Giant Pumpkin Regatta:
En route at the crack of dawn we arrived back in Shelburne County around 10am for the Giant Pumpkin Regatta. I wanted to see them put the pumpkins in the water and Logan was a good sport sleeping on the way. This was Shelburne’s 3rd annual Giant Pumpkin Regatta. It was a ton of fun seeing all of the racers costumes and the decorated pumpkins. Such a fun vibe I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the day and even got to paddle a giant pumpkin myself, see video here:
The whole vibe was fun and community focused and I really enjoyed being part of this small town large vibe energy. Read more about the experience here:
The Giant Pumpkin Regatta 2024 begins!
Footbridge:
En Route back to Halifax we stopped at exit 13 where we had spotted a footbridge over the river from the highway with gorgeous fall, foliage en either side of the bank. Sadly, the bridge was closed for repairs but Logan enjoyed a picnic lunch beside the river which was really nice.
Castle Rock Trailhead hike:
We found the Castle Rock Trailhead scenic lookout thanks to a hwy sign and subsequent google search. It is poorly marked when you don’t know what you are looking for but with the GPS it was easy to get to. We had looked for it the day before thanks to a hwy sign with no luck. Armed with the name this time we found it. A blog I found about the hike said it was an hr long but sadly upon arrival other hikers shared that it was actually about a two hour hike so we opted to skip it to make sure we made it back for the other things we wanted to see before our flight.
Martime Museum:
We arrived at 4:15pm and they told us it was closing at 4:30pm in 15mins but if we wanted we could go in for free for the short time. Quickly we rushed to find the titanic exhibit. Short but sweet we were so glad we did.
Dalhousie University:
Our next stop was to the Iconic Dalhousie University campus. There was a tent city leading up to it, but the campus itself was very impressive. So glad we made the time to visit, you could really feel the history. It rekindled my thoughts of attending there for marine biology like I wanted to so many years ago in highschool at 17 years old!
Point Pleasant Park:
Another Halifax MUST visit during a Thanksgiving to Nova Scotia is Point Pleasant Park. A historic 75 hectare wooded space we enjoyed the mixture of wooded trails, beaches, historic structures and ruins. We also loved the fact that they have off leashed areas for dogs too. A peaceful must see place, especially during fall.
McKelvie’s Relishes Fishes Dishes:
Our last supper in Halifax we chose McKelvie’s thanks to our still valid parking slip from our earlier museum visit. We were on a tight time limit but enjoyed the meal thoroughly. We split the lobster roll and I had the crab bisque, further reaffirming my heart is with bisques more so than chowders. I also had 3 Oyster Rockafellar which I can never resist. Logan loved her fishes tacos and her espresso martini and then we quickly set out for the airport!
Final Thoughts:
Fall in Canada is a beautiful time of year no matter where you chose. But having experienced How to maximize a 4 day Thanksgiving Weekend in Nova Scotia I have to admit that fall in Nova Scotia is extra special. The unique traditions, interesting festivals, beautiful foliage and being the best time to visit shark season makes me truly thankful that we spent our Thanksgiving weekend 2024 there.
Looking for other unique fall outings in Canada? Check out this blog here:
