Begin your journey in Toronto or Montreal and travel to Halifax aboard VIA Rail's Touring Class Service, exploring the rolling landscape of Canada's Eastern Provinces. Arrive in Halifax and explore the Atlantic Maritimes via motor coach, visiting top attractions and numerous historical landmarks.
This tour is a combination of a round trip train to Halifax and a motorcoach tour of the Maritimes.
VIA's Touring Class provides an instructive introduction to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. This first-class, overnight journey between Montreal and Halifax offers maritime learning, touring, dining and relaxing in a deluxe on-board environment that's as generous and sociable as Maritimers themselves.
Fresh salt air, sandy beaches, rocky coves, cosmopolitan cities, remote lighthouses, rich history, warm hospitality, rustic fishing villages, succulent seafood, unspoiled nature, varied activities, first-rate facilities and travel routes...all of these things and more make Canada's Maritime Provinces one of the world's most popular destinations. Get a taste of the Maritimes on this delightful tour of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
Destinations: Nova Scotia: Halifax, Nova Scotia: Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia: Digby, Nova Scotia: Grand Pre, New Brunswick: Moncton, New Brunswick: Hopewell Cape, Prince Edward Island: Charlottetown, Nova Scotia: Baddeck, Nova Scotia: Cheticamp, Nova Scotia: Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia: Neils Harbour, Nova Scotia: Louisbourg
Day 1: Thursday: Toronto/Montreal - Halifax
It's a lunch time departure from Toronto or an early evening departure from Montreal on VIA Rail's Touring Class service. Make your train trip to the Maritimes a tourist experience in itself. By combining the many comforts of train travel and the thrill of discovery, Touring Class Service offers more than a ticket to the Maritimes: through the guidance and companionship of a Learning Coordinator, it will show you the way to the region's past and traditions. In a setting reminiscent of the legendary transcontinental trains, the Learning Coordinator will provide the cultural backdrop to the rolling Maritimes seascapes through informative, yet entertaining presentations carefully intertwined with the passing scenery, while setting the course to create an interactive environment open and inviting to everyone. When you travel in Touring class, you are given access to the very best VIA Rail has to offer: cozy accommodations and delicious meals. Refreshments remain available to you at any time, and you have exclusive access to their amazing touring cars, complete with panoramic dome and comfortable seating. (Dinner)
Day 2: Friday: Arrive in Halifax
Travel through New Brunswick for arrival in Halifax in the late afternoon. Your vacation begins at a hotel that is ideally located in the downtown core where you will spend two nights. (Breakfast, Lunch)
Day 3: Saturday: Halifax touring
Enjoy a Deluxe Historic Halifax City Tour this morning. The afternoon is free to further explore this delightful seaside city. This evening meet your fellow travelers and Tour Director at a welcome reception.
Day 4: Sunday: Halifax - Digby
Discover the rustic charm of the famous fishing village of Peggy's Cove. Next, visit the UNESCO World Heritage Town of Lunenburg where you have a choice of admission to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic or a walking tour of this historic community. Travel across country to Digby where you will overnight at The Pines Resort over looking the Bay of Fundy - home to the world's largest tides. (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 5: Monday: Digby - Moncton
Your journey takes you through the lush Annapolis Valley and on to Grand Pre where fact and fiction blend to reveal the romance of the Land of Evangeline. Continue past the communities of Truro and Amherst as you cross into New Brunswick, spending the night in the bilingual city of Moncton. (Breakfast)
Day 6: Tuesday: Moncton - Charlottetown
Your guided tour continues to Hopewell Rocks where you may walk on the ocean floor at low tide. After lunch, cross to Prince Edward Island on Confederation Bridge, the world's longest continuous multi-span bridge, and enjoy a delicious lobster supper (meat alternative available) before checking in to your Charlottetown accommodations for the next two nights. (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 7: Wednesday: Prince Edward Island touring
Enjoy a free morning in Charlottetown. Your included afternoon tour begins with a tour of Charlottetown, Canada's Birthplace, then visiting the red sandstone cliffs, white beaches, gently sloping sand dunes and green fields of Prince Edward Island National Park. Lucy Maud Montgomery describes the scenery in her "Anne of Green Gables" books. Visit the home of "Green Gables", a Mecca for people from around the globe. (Breakfast, Lunch)
Day 8: Thursday: Charlottetown - Baddeck
Take the ferry to Nova Scotia, and then proceed to Cape Breton Island - "the Scotland of North America." Visit the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site in Baddeck to marvel at the many accomplishments of this genius. Spend two nights at a charming lakeside resort in the heart of Baddeck. (Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 9: Friday: Cabot Trail touring
You're off to experience one of the prettiest drives in North America, the Cabot Trail. Cape Breton Highlands National Park is next, as you wind along this ribbon of highway, where the mountains meet the sea. The vistas abound as you travel over the flat-topped mountains. Tonight there is a "Farewell" dinner. (Breakfast, Picnic Lunch, Dinner)
Arrivals in July, August and September enjoy a bonus while on the Cabot Trail: a whale watching boat tour (weather permitting) (Included).
Day 10: Saturday: Baddeck - Halifax
The Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site awaits you. This reconstruction recreates one-fifth of the town of 1744 - words will not do justice to the scope of this tribute to New France. Roam the streets talking with some of the costumed guides who remain in character, or sample the sustenance of the era. Your tour continues along the shores of Bras d'Or to the mainland. The last night is at a downtown Halifax hotel. (Breakfast)
Day 11: Sunday: Halifax - Montreal/Toronto
Although you begin journey homeward today, VIA Rail's Touring Class service allows you to continue enjoying the best of the Maritimes just a little bit longer! (Lunch, Dinner)
Day 12: Monday: Arrive in Montreal/Toronto
Your tour ends on arrival in Montreal at approximately 8:30 AM or connect to Toronto where your tour ends at approximately 3:30 PM. (Continental Breakfast)
Highlights
Departure from Toronto or Montreal
VIA Rail's Touring Class Service - Round Trip
Two Nights Sleeping Accommodations on the Train
Nine nights accommodations in hotels
Transfers in Halifax from/to VIA Rail station
Admission to Atlantic Canada's Best Sightseeing Attractions
Peggy's Cove Annapolis Valley
Hopewell Rocks
Lobster Dinner
Confederation Bridge
Prince Edward Island National Park
Ferry from Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia
Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Fortress of Louisbourg
8 Days of transportation by motorcoach throughout the Maritime provinces
8 Days with a local Atlantic Canadian tour director/guide
19 Meals: 1 continental breakfast, 8 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 1 box lunch, 6 dinners
Notes:
Touring Class service is not available during the value season. You will still have private accommodations; however meals are not included on the train
