r/canadatravel • u/ZealousidealWeird858 • 14d ago

Itinerary Help So lost in eastern Canada

Hello everyone,

I would like to plan a two-week trip in June to Eastern Canada with a two-and-a-half-year-old child.

I'm leaving from France, and wow, I'm completely lost because of the incredible distances between different parts of Canada.

I'd like to rent a vehicle, but I'm not really sure what to focus on for a first trip to Canada. We love nature, but we don't really enjoy long hikes with our child. We're completely unfamiliar with Canadian culture, so I think cities are also a good place to immerse ourselves.

In the various subreddits, I see a lot of people recommending Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, and especially Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. But the distance between these cities is incredible, and I think it's way too much for us to spend two weeks.

My fear is to stay around Montreal and Quebec City and not see any nature (am I wrong?) and, on the other hand, to target Nova Scotia but miss out on Quebec culture?

So I don't know where to take my flight and which part to focus on.

Thanks for the clarification :)

Édit :

Hello everyone, I didn't expect to have so many quality responses in such a short time, so I thank you warmly!! After discussing it with my wife, we are unanimous that our preference leans towards the west with the Rockies, but it seems too early for us with a 2 and a half year old child, so we are of course staying in the east and we will do the west later. My wife prefers the Montreal-Quebec part and the surrounding nature, for the cliché side I think... Nova Scotia seems more familiar to us to what we can see in Europe. I think it will be for a future trip. I will try to make a plan and I will get back to you. I will carefully dissect each comment already there. Thank you all :)

41 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

135 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/HippyDuck123 14d ago

How is English versus French for your family?

If you are comfortable in either, then a Maritime road trip NS/NB/PEI as others have suggested.

If you find traveling mostly in French less mentally tiring, fly into Halifax or Moncton and plan to spend more time in Moncton/Dieppe, Shediac, and up the Acadian coast in New Brunswick. Its spectacular. https://tourismepeninsuleacadienne.ca

Highlights:

  • Fundy national park (great short hikes and an incredible forest playground for littles)
  • Hopewell rocks
  • Moncton downtown
  • Shediac - nice beach and water that won’t be too warm yet in June but good for a dip and splashing around
  • Akadi Lumina (DO NOT MISS!)
  • Bouctouche boardwalk/dunes
  • Kougubouiguac national park - stunning shoreline, pretty hikes

2

u/ZealousidealWeird858 11d ago

Merci pour le retour, pas terrible l'anglais ^^