Louisbourg and/or Baddeck

[Rockinrobin50]

We will be in Sydney, Nova Scotia on the Ruby Princess Oct 7th from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Is there enough time to go to Louisbourg and Baddeck? If not which one is the best time spent?

 

 

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[martincath]

Possible, but highly inefficient things to string together - they're in opposite directions from Sydney, Louisbourg approx 45mins drive away and Baddeck an hour. The only good element to squeezing both these into one day is you can skip going back through downtown Sydney when driving between the two attractions, but you're still looking at close to 4 hours of driving on unfamiliar roads - leaving only a couple of hours at each attraction if you grab a really quick lunch.

 

I'd suggest picking one of these two, and adding on the Miners Museum in Glace Bay if you do Louisbourg and the Highland Village (discussed on another thread just over the last couple of days) if you do Baddeck.

 

We did each of these routes on two consecutive days on a roadtrip and both were great days - a couple of hours driving total for Louisbourg/Mine and three for Baddeck/Highland Village (if the 5:00pm time you listed was for departure rather than boarding, I'd be inclined to do the shorter route).

 

Here's a map with both loops - I dragged the route out onto the 255 along the coast to Louisbourg as it's more scenic than the quickest route but only adds 5 minutes to the drive time.

 

Personally I found the miners museum the best attraction we visited on the island. The tour with a retired miner was tremendous.

[Putterdude]

It will take you about 45 minutes in either direction from Sydney to the Fortress of Louisburg and it about 1.5 hrs from Louisburg to Baddeck. To enjoy the Fortress to the fullest extent you need to spend 3 to 4 hrs there. So while it is indeed possible to take in both I think you will find it a bit rushed. If I had to choose between the two it would be the Fortress...no question about it.

[Rockinrobin50]

Thank you both, martincath and putterdude, for your responses. I think we will probably go with Louisbourg which was my original choice.

[maryann ns]

You have a difficult decision to make.

 

I think Louisbourg is fantastic, but it is not fully open in October. If you plan on coming back (and you will once you are here!) then you may want to leave Louisbourg for a summer visit. http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ns/louisbourg/visit/heures-hours.aspx

 

The drive around the Bras D'Or Lakes from Sydney to Baddeck, on to Iona and the Highland Village Museum and then on to Sydney is beautiful, especially in the fall.

https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=Esplanade,+Sydney,+NS&daddr=Baddeck,+NS+to:Iona,+NS+to:Christmas+Island,+NS+to:Esplanade,+Sydney,+NS&hl=en&sll=44.004261,-62.918551&sspn=9.243121,21.51123&geocode=FcgPwAId-nZp_Ck3cZLkLvtnSzGi1NYfQuHwCg%3BFc1tvwIdDPVg_CnPkSNJLGJdSzHz0SeXSM56XA%3BFZdPvQId8Bxg_Cl3_U_XX2hdSzG-umoFiqZDow%3BFRVTvQIdPNpg_CmZziwES11dSzEAyrn5qH_PAw%3BFcgPwAId-nZp_Ck3cZLkLvtnSzGi1NYfQuHwCg&oq=esp&mra=ls&t=m&z=10

[martincath]

While Maryann is of course correct about the fortress being in shoulder season rather than peak at the time of your visit, the opening hours are exactly the same as summer - just fewer food options and 'costumed interpreters.'

 

We visited in shoulder season ourselves and found it a good balance - there were staff stationed at key buildings to explain what was going on, but it didn't feel like a rennaissance faire with costumed performers all over the place. Two hours was enough time to walk around and see the site, and we spent another hour or so chatting with the staff and grabbing a bite - if it had been fully-staffed and we wanted to interact with all of the performers it would have been a looooonnnng day.

[Rockinrobin50]

Thank you Marryann. I'm really interested in the Fall colors as I live on the West coast in Oregon and previously in Southern California where there aren't any Fall colors. It's still going to be a tough choice. Is Oct 7th too early to see them?

[donaldsc]

Tough decision as they are so totally different. However, if I was forced to make one, I would pick Baddeck because of the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. I have been to lots of fortresses but there is only one Alexander Graham Bell Museum. We spent most of a day there.

 

Also, the fortress may be open when you are there but you need to check how open it will be. It is latish in the season.

 

DON

Edited September 15, 2014 by donaldsc

[martincath]

Tough decision as they are so totally different. However, if I was forced to make one, I would pick Baddeck because of the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. I have been to lots of fortresses but there is only one Alexander Graham Bell Museum. We spent most of a day there.

 

Also, the fortress may be open when you are there but you need to check how open it will be. It is latish in the season.

 

DON

Actually not the case Don - there's the homestead museum in Brantford, Ontario and he spent as much or more time in Boston than Baddeck, including of course his most famous work on the telephone coming to fruition there. He's buried at the Baddeck site - by all accounts he did very much enjoy it there - but in his own words he regarded himself as a American after he was naturalized, and he was never a Canadian citizen at all... as a Scots-Canadian it's a wee bit annoying you Yanks have the best claim to him;-)

[Putterdude]

Thank you Marryann. I'm really interested in the Fall colors as I live on the West coast in Oregon and previously in Southern California where there aren't any Fall colors. It's still going to be a tough choice. Is Oct 7th too early to see them?

 

I know Florence quite well having golfed at some of your fine sand dune golf course over the years. But the highlight is the Best Western across the river that settled toward the river and when you lie in bed you have a lovely view of the river.

[donaldsc]

Actually not the case Don - there's the homestead museum in Brantford, Ontario and he spent as much or more time in Boston than Baddeck, including of course his most famous work on the telephone coming to fruition there. He's buried at the Baddeck site - by all accounts he did very much enjoy it there - but in his own words he regarded himself as a American after he was naturalized, and he was never a Canadian citizen at all... as a Scots-Canadian it's a wee bit annoying you Yanks have the best claim to him;-)

 

I do not know about the other Bell museums but I am reasonably sure that they do not have the depth of displays that the Baddeck museum has. As I said, we spent a really long time there. It is a wonderful museum.

 

DON

[maryann ns]

Normally I would say that the leaf colours in Cape Breton are at their peak in the second to third week of October, but judging from the fact that some spashes of colour are appearing already on the mainland, the peak may be a bit earlier this year.

[Rockinrobin50]

Hey Putterdude, I kind of thought you were into golf because of your name. Have you been to the newer golf course called Sandpines? It's quite beautiful if the wind is not blowing. I was born and lived in Southern California all my life until we retired 8 years ago and moved to this amazing piece of Heaven. We actually live in Dunes City but our mailing address is in Florence. I'm really looking forward to seeing the East Coast and some Fall colors since most of our trees are fir trees and don't have leaves.

[Rockinrobin50]

Normally I would say that the leaf colours in Cape Breton are at their peak in the second to third week of October, but judging from the fact that some spashes of colour are appearing already on the mainland, the peak may be a bit earlier this year.

 

Thanks Maryann. I'm crossing my fingers that the leaves will be popping a little early this year. I agonized about choosing the right time to go.