Culinary delights of Nova Scotia

After making the most of your complimentary airport lounge access, board your day flight to Halifax. Picking up your hire car at the airport, you’ll head to your central accommodation – a charming redbrick townhouse set just back from the harbour. With three nights here, you’ll have plenty of time to explore, strolling along the waterfront, visiting the excellent Pier 21 Immigration Museum and stopping off at Halifax Citadel – the city’s great 18th-century fort. The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic’s unique collection of Titanic memorabilia is a further highlight, along with the Grafton Street Dinner Theatre where local delicacies are paired with comedy and musical performances.

Looping out of Halifax, today is given over to driving the scenic Lighthouse Route. Following the cragged coast, you’ll pause first at the seaside church town of Mahone Bay before arriving into UNESCO-listed Lunenburg. It’s one of the best-preserved British colonial settlements in North America, home to replica schooners and buildings dating back as early as 1760. Then, after visiting the picturesque fishing village of Peggy’s Cove and its famous lighthouse, you’ll cap off the day with a lobster dinner cruise before heading back to Halifax. Dipping between rocky islands, keep your eyes out for seals and leatherback turtles as you tuck into fresh Nova Scotian lobster.

Following today’s coastal drive, you’ll dip inland into the Tobeatic Wilderness Area. It’s a vision of glacial landforms, moraine forests and pristine lakes that’s animated by the likes of moose and black bear. You’ll stay in a Small Luxury Hotel of the World – a timber lodge where each exposed-beam room enjoys gorgeous river views. You’ll also want to explore, with everything from kayaking and canoeing to hikes and fishing trips. Whatever you choose, you’ll return each day to soaks in the lodge’s outdoor barrel sauna and wood-fired hot tub. That’s alongside an included four-course dinner on your first night; expect the likes of dry-aged tenderloin and swordfish tataki.

Stay: Trout Point Lodge (Superior)

Leaving Trout Point, you’ll continue along the coastal Bay of Fundy to arrive at the university town of Wolfville. Here, you’ll stay in a Victorian home, replete with roaring fires and stained-glass windows. Although you’ll have the town’s craft breweries, charming colonial houses and art galleries on your doorstep, we highly recommend tasting your way a few of the local vineyards on the Wolfville Magic Winery Bus. Hikes and scenic train rides also showcase the region’s coastal beauty, savouring views of the world’s highest tides at the Bay of Fundy.

Stay: Victoria’s Historic Inn (Superior)

Today is given over to the drive on to Cape Breton Island, taking in the windswept beaches of the Sunrise Trail and hopping over the mighty Strait of Canso on its causeway bridge. Then, once arrived on the island, you’ll be greeted by dramatic coastlines and forested interiors – the backdrop to your historic inn accommodation. Host to just nine rooms, it’s a delightfully intimate affair and we highly recommend taking a tour of its distillery.

Stay: Glenora Inn & Distillery (Superior)

Beginning the world-famous Cabot Trail, you’ll set off on one of North America’s most scenic drives. Winding roads knit together cliff-top vistas and serene lakes, with stops including the pretty architecture of French-Acadian Cheticamp. The rocky splendour of Cape Breton’s northern shore will then see you onto the plateaus of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Its forested river canyons are a hiker’s paradise. You’ll stay in a quaint, understated inn, where you might want to drink in the sea views with a cocktail on the terrace or a bonfire on the beach. With two nights here, you’ll have plenty of time to explore on hikes, beach visits and whale-watching tours, with the idyllic villages and microbreweries a further highlight.

Stay: Ingonish Overnight Lantern Hill & Hollow (Superior)

Leaving Ingonish, quiet bays, the Marconi Trail’s clifftop beauty and the fascinating Miners Museum will see you onto the Fortress of Louisbourg. It’s the largest historical reconstruction in North America, showcasing the French fortification as it was 250 years ago, firing cannons and all. Then, after perhaps visiting the town’s lighthouse, check into your idyllic harbour-front accommodation – a historic clapboard house. You’ll also be treated to a unique dining experience, with a period banquet, replete with stories, historic dress and everything from snow crab and halibut to ginger cake and, yes, lobster.

Stay: Louisbourg Harbour Inn (Superior)

Heading back onto the mainland, the eastern shore’s Marine Drive Route, tranquil bays, beaches and unspoiled forests will see you on to Sherbrooke – a 19th-century open-museum village. Then, following rushing streams and crystal-clear lakes, you’ll arrive onto Liscomb Mills. This small rural community is perfectly poised on a tranquil river, views taken in by your understated lodge. You’ll also finish your trip in style with a last included lobster dinner, caught fresh by local fishermen.

Stay: Liscombe Lodge (Superior)

On your drive back to Halifax, be sure to pause at both Martinique Beach – the longest in the province – and Musquodoboit Harbour. This tiny community enjoys a gorgeous shoreside setting. You’ll then end back at Halifax, dropping off your hire car and boarding your overnight flight home.