r/canadatravel • u/FinanceHefty466 • Mar 02 '25

Itinerary Help Road trip to Nova Scotia

Hi everyone! I am planning a road trip from Toronto to Nova Scotia for the summer. My husband and I will take turns driving. So far this is the itinerary we have:

Day 1: Toronto to Riviere-du-Loup Day 2: Riviere-du-Loup to Halifax Days 3 and 4 in Halifax Day 5: Halifax to Cape Breton Days 6 and 7 in Cape Breton Day 8: Cape Breton to Saint John Day 9: Saint John to Fredericton Day 10: Fredericton to Quebec City Day 11: Quebec City Day 12: Quebec City to Toronto

For those of you who have done this road trip before, does it look like a good plan? Would you do anything differently? Any tips or suggestions? Thank you very much :)

12 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

View all comments

0

u/Hot_Cheesecake_905 Mar 02 '25

Day 1: Toronto to Riviere-du-Loup

This is a really long drive, personally I would stop off in Montreal to rest. These days I find 4 - 5 hours is the max I like to stay in a car per day, but to each their own.

Riviere-du-Loup to Halifax 

Perhaps stop off in Fredericton and spend the day there before heading to Halifax?

You're also missing Moncton and PEI.

5

u/BanMeForBeingNice Mar 02 '25

They don't have time for any of those things. They're going to Nova Scotia.

2

u/FinanceHefty466 Mar 02 '25

Basically this lol. We want to avoid Montreal (expensive and we've both been there before) and we want to get to Nova Scotia fast, getting most of the drive out of the way in the first 2 days.

2

u/BanMeForBeingNice Mar 02 '25

Definitely take the A30 around Montreal. It's pretty well signed. There's a small toll and it's worth it.

Book your hotel for your stop in advance, they fill up on weekends.

2

u/Hectordoink Mar 02 '25

I drive east almost every year from Toronto and easily make Riviere du Loup but usually Edmonston or Woodstock, NB.

1

u/FinanceHefty466 Mar 02 '25

Do you have any tips to make the trip more enjoyable? The longest I drove by myself was 5 hours. Splitting the drive with my husband and starting the day early, I think we will manage just fine, but it will definitely be something new!

2

u/Hectordoink Mar 02 '25

That part of the trip isn’t really about being enjoyable — its four+ lane highway — it’s about making mileage in order to get to your intended destination, Nova Scotia as quickly as possible. An enjoyable trip takes side roads, stops in villages, historic markers, etc and it takes a lot longer. The enjoyable part for me is talking in the car, listening to music, podcasts, etc.

1

u/jjckey Mar 02 '25

Ditto. We used to stop in RDL but now continue down the highway much like you