Ichinensei

So the wife came up with the genius idea of driving from Toronto to Halifax, do the touristy thing there, Lunenburg, Peggy's Cove, maybe Cape Breton Island drive in the National Park and then back, All in 7-8 days.

Cannot fly (long story) and VIA costs $400 plus takes 29 hours. Only choice is drive and it has to be rental since we both own two very unreliable cars.

Does car rental companies allow cars to be taken out of province? And has anyone driven the 1800km to Nova Scotia. Any good masseuse in Nova Scotia as I will drive straight there for a massage before anything else.

Seat13F_AC_CRJ

In my humble opinion, 7-8 days for this trip is insufficient. Are you aware it will take you anywhere from 16-20 hours in each direction? I live in YOW and my family is in YSJ so I have done most of your route more times than I care to count.

If you have no alternative, I suggest you time your YYZ departure to avoid the worst of the Toronto and Montreal traffic. Just before you reach the Montreal suburbs, turn south on Autoroute 30 (toll bridge) and stay on 30 until it reconnects with A-20. The $2.50 toll is worth the investment to avoid the unpredictability of Montreal traffic.
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NoName678

Have you considered taking the train to Montreal (timing it so it is not rush hour) and renting there to drive the rest of the way? Still a long drive to Halifax but it will give you at least some relief and perhaps the money saved on gas and potentially a day of rental will pay for the tickets (though I don't know the relative car rental prices in Toronto vs. Montreal vs. Dorval).

Seat13F_AC_CRJ

And another thing...
Driving from Halifax to Sydney is almost five hours, which does not include stops to actually look at anything on Cape Breton.
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Antonio8069

To answer your question, you will have no problem renting a car at YYZ and taking it to NS. Just make sure the rate you book is unlimited (kilometres).

The straight driving time is 20 h. The only problem the route is BORING and 6 h into your drive, you have to navigate YUL in its 5th season - CONSTRUCTION. Do your self a favour........pack a GPS, find route 30 (south shore) and pay a small toll to transit via the south shore of the St. Lawrence.

IF you don't want to drive it straight (2 drivers), plan a stopover in Quebec City. You won't be disappointed!

There are # alternatives to the long, boring drive. For example, you can take a wonderful ferry from Saint John, NB to Digby, Nova Scotia. The problem is that will set you back $378 CAD! There is also a very scenic ferry from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth NS (The Cat). If either is an option, I suggest booking one way only.

There is even a 2-lane highway from the Eastern Townships to Calais via northern Maine. Stephen King territory. Cuts the distance incredibly. (You need to check auto insurance if you opt for either of the latter).

Final point.....Sydney is not really a tourist destination. The main destination (as you suggest) is the Cape Breton national park (drive it south to north for best views IF you are not a nervous driver).

B1

But if you fly then Porter is having a seat sale - each way is less than $200. Then you don't have to drive so much and can rent a car with limited kms. I found that renting in downtown Halifax (Priceline) and dropping off at the airport is half the price of YHZ pick-up. There is a transit bus from YHZ to the car rental location downtown for about $3.50. The cost for fuel for about 2000 kms is significant plus the car rental. The problem with driving to Halifax is that if you stay in Canada you have to go considerably out of your way. The direct route requires a boat.

Ichinensei

Looks like we will be driving after all. We will drive our own car. Fingers crossed. Going there, we will be go YYZ to Grand Falls, NB and stay overnight. Basically it will be GF, Halifax, Halifax, Baddeck, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Montreal and then back home, with short stop at Ganananoque for a thousand island boat tour, Can't believe the wife has been in Canada 20+ years and not done any of these.

For Baddeck, it will be leave 7am, go to CP NP, hike the Skyline trail, make the Cabot Trail loop, then make way down to New Glasgow or somewhere for dinner and catch either the 6pm or 9pm ferry to PEI, then drive to Charlottetown? Am i mad? i calculated the mileage to be 87.9 + 116 + 302 to Caribou. Not bad. And once i crossed over to PEI, the drive to Charlottetown is not bad.

We will make the crossing on Monday June 13th,. Call the ferry company and they say it is free but first come first serve.. They say show up 1 hour prior, anyone seeing any problem with this?

Antonio8069

You know, I have made this trip many times, and (even I) can't figure out what ferry you are asking about? Is it the Wood Islands ferry?

http://www.ferries.ca/nova-scotia-to...erry/schedule/

If so, this is a little-used ferry since the fixed link (aka the bridge) was opened several years ago. (If not, PM me please).

(Your original request did not refer to PEI, which is why I ignored it in my original post!)

radnub

The Baddeck trip is doable but it's going to be a long day and I'm sure there are other spots that you may want to stop off at as well so I'd probably aim for the 9pm ferry in Pictou. From the ferry it's just about an hour to Charlottetown.

Edit #2: At first I said you can make a reservation online but I just checked and you can't make a one-way reservation on the Caribou (NS side) to Wood Islands (PEI side). My apologies for the wrong information.

I disagree that it's little-used ferry as it can be quite popular throughout the summer and fall. The bridge however is definitely the more reliable option if you are on a tight schedule as the ferry could be cancelled due to high winds/bad weather at any time. I prefer the ferry as I come from Antigonish as I a) don't mind the wait b) like the boat ride. I do dislike the drive to the bridge though so I'm quite bias towards that ferry!

Edit: ...and why the ferry is 'free' is because you only pay when you leave the island either by boat or by bridge. Note: the bridge is cheaper!

Seat13F_AC_CRJ

Edmunston is a better place for an overnight stop. Many reasonable quality motels/hotels to choose from and a few restaurants. Not much choice in Grand Falls.
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YVR Cockroach

I know some, or a lot of people, who have been in Canada all their lives (a lot longer than how long your wife has been in country for) and have done none of these.

Ichinensei

not the driving, but joining a chinese bus tour to MAritimes


Staying at a place in St Andre, 25km from Grand Falls.

Should be a nice trip. hope it doenst rain any of the days.

and thank you everyone for suggestions and stuff. ^

B407

Enterprise does not allow their cars to be taken out of province. Not sure if you can pay extra to have that restriction limited.

Sister brand National and other majors like Hertz, Budget and Avis do not have that restriction.

ATL10A

......

ATL10A

No.....it is well used ferry and reservations are recommended in the summer and especially weekends. I know....I've lived there and there have been times I shown up without a reservation and had to wait for the next crossing.

The bridge and ferry serve different markets. The end point of the bridge near Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick is about 175 km from the ferry terminal at Caribou, Nova Scotia (or 225km via the TransCanada Highway). On the PEI side.....the terminals are 110 km apart.

I only take the bridge in the winter. It’s a much longer drive via the bridge if you are going to PEI from eastern Nova Scotia or Cape Breton.