Fortress of Louisbourg and Miners' /Publix bus?

Can I get to the Fortress of Louisbourg by riding a public bus from Sydney?

Someone mentioned that I could ride one to the Miners' Museum. Can you tell me where I pick up the bus in Sydney and any other info I need?

We are on a cruise and the cruise tour to the Fortress is very expensive.

Thanks for any help and advice,

Rabbitlady

re Fortress Louisbourg

- no, you can't get there by public transit. I emailed the Cape Breton Public Transit and asked and this was the reply I received: "Louisbourg is 35 to 40 min away from Sydney and there is no transit available. Your cheapest solution to get back and forth is to rent a Car if you are able. It is cheaper then Taxis"

re Miners' Museum

- it is located in the town of Glace Bay which is about a 50min bus ride from Sydney. The bus takes the 'milk route' = longer to get there than the ship's shorex which says the trip is half an hour. We thought it was a great advantage to take the local bus - not only was it much less expensive, as mentioned previously, but we enjoyed seeing some of the small towns when the bus left the main highway and both the driver and passengers, happy to meet tourists interested in exploring independantly, provided a running commentary as we drove along, explaining what we were passing and telling us about life in Cape Breton.

How to get to the Miners Museum:

1) when you get off the ship, go to the Tourist Information desk in the terminal and get a a free map of Sydney. (I tried asking the guys manning the desk about the bus, but they really didn't know much since, like many of us, they drive everywhere and seldom take public transit at home.)

2) you'll find the most convenient bus stop by walking up Dorchester St - the bus stops just above Charlotte St on the left side of Dorchester - it's only about a 5min walk from the cruise terminal - IIRC, there's a bus shelter, or at least a bench there, even if it isn't signed. All the buses seem to stop there, so just ask anyone waiting.

3) The bus you want is Route #1 to Glace Bay

- you can download the route map and schedule from the Cape Breton Public Transit website below - don't worry that the sched says 2007 or 2008 - it's current. The buses seem to arrive at the stop mentioned above at about 10min to the hour and leave on the hour - we easily caught the 9am bus

http://www.cbrm.ns.ca/portal/community/transit/default.asp

4) When you get to Glace Bay, the bus will stop on Commercial St

- download the map in the Visitor Information section of the Miners' Museum website and you'll see it http://www.minersmuseum.com/index.htm

- just ask the bus driver to point you in the right direction, and, although the website says it's a mile from downtown Glace Bay, it seemed a shorter walk than that to us - more like 1km

As soon as you get to the Miners' Museum, buy a ticket for the underground tour - it's great.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Additional useful info re Sydney:

1) there's free WiFi in the cruise terminal (also in Quebec City and Charlottetown)

2) There are many booths inside the cruise terminal where local craftsmen are selling their works at very reasonable prices as well as the retail outlets outside on the pier

3) Cape Bretoners give a wonderful performance on the pier for better than half an hour before the ship sails - it includes a brass band from North Sydney, and an excellent singer. Don't miss it! For some reason, the ship's daily program mentioned the pipers on the pier in Halifax, but not this.

Luvnorway,

You are truly great! Thanks so much for answering these questions. I will definetely go the bus route you explained because I may end up doing the ship's tour for the Fortress.

Rabbitlady and hubby

Rabbitlady

- I've forgotten whether you said you were doing a B2B, and if, so will be in Sydney twice.

If you're only going to be there one day, I doubt you'd have time to do both the ship's Louisbourg shorex and take the bus to Glace Bay to the Miners' Museum.

If you tried it, you wouldn't have enough time at the Miners' Museum to make the trip worthwhile.

Yes, we'll be there twice. We can't wait!

Thanks again,

Rabbitlady