Sydney, Canada

[takemeaway2008]

Hi. Looking for an excursion in Sydney. Really want to get out and explore since I'll probably never go there again. There's a Gaelic village trip. Has anyone done this and is it worth it? I'm afraid to invest the time and find it low key with no activity. Thanks. 

[Frncie]

We loved the Fortress of Louisbourg, where the French set up an outpost in the early days of Canada. We rented a car and drove about a half hour across the island. We were there in early October, and things were winding down before closing for the winter. Even so, the tour was great, lots of costumed volunteers, demonstrations, tours of the buildings, history stories, gift shop, small cafe. If you don’t want to drive, you can probably find a tour. This was one of the highlights of our trip. Highly recommend.

[mailmama]

We agree! We used Celebrity excursion and rode a bus to Louisbourg. Great trip as the guide explained things all along the way. Costumed characters showed life as it was in the fort. The "military" demonstrations were really interesting....especially the cannon firing! We loved our day in Sydney also. Plenty of time when we returned to explore the little city. Would love to go back to this port.....twice hasn't been enough!

[3rdGenCunarder]

Louisbourg is an excellent choice. My only complaint is that any tour I've seen doesn't allow enough time on your own after the tour. 

[Super Curly]

Does the regular fortress admission include a tour? Hoping to rent a car and visit Louisbourg and Bell museum in Baddeck. There is a ship tour but it is much more expensive.

[SueMo]

We have done the Highland Village, which I think you are referring to.  We enjoyed it a lot.  It is set in a beautiful scenic spot, and costumed villagers tell you about each building you visit (bakery, school, smithy, etc.).  We rented a car for the day, but if you are looking for a tour company, check out the Great Scots tour through Cabot Discovery Tours.

[Super Curly]

3 hours ago, SueMo said:

We have done the Highland Village, which I think you are referring to.  We enjoyed it a lot.  It is set in a beautiful scenic spot, and costumed villagers tell you about each building you visit (bakery, school, smithy, etc.).  We rented a car for the day, but if you are looking for a tour company, check out the Great Scots tour through Cabot Discovery Tours.

Actually, I was asking about Louisbourg. Does the admission include any sort of guide or guidance? How necessary is that or is self-guiding easy?

[SueMo]

42 minutes ago, Super Curly said:

Actually, I was asking about Louisbourg. Does the admission include any sort of guide or guidance? How necessary is that or is self-guiding easy?

Sorry, I was addressing the OP.

[SueMo]

Here is the website for Highland (Gaelic) Village:  https://highlandvillage.novascotia.ca

 

[Snow cat]

On 3/10/2022 at 11:20 AM, Super Curly said:

Actually, I was asking about Louisbourg. Does the admission include any sort of guide or guidance? How necessary is that or is self-guiding easy?

Be aware Louisbourg and Baddeck are different directions and not both do-able on same trip. Louisbourg entrance fees include a self guided tour with map. It is very easy and there are people working in buildings in period costumes answering questions and providing commentary.  There are optional guided tours available. Louisbourg is very interesting and well worth the visit. Highly recommended.

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by Snow cat
misspelling

[Mary229]

The last time we were there we were able to rent a car for $30 a day.  With 4 passengers that was quite the bargain.  We drove to the fort easily and spent most of our day there.  I agree that you must choose one direction to drive, the distances aren’t that great but the roads can be busy in the afternoon. At the fort there are interpreters at each building but I did not notice that there is guided tour.  It is a part of the national park system and you can find lots of information on that website.  

[takemeaway2008]

On 3/10/2022 at 10:43 AM, SueMo said:

We have done the Highland Village, which I think you are referring to.  We enjoyed it a lot.  It is set in a beautiful scenic spot, and costumed villagers tell you about each building you visit (bakery, school, smithy, etc.).  We rented a car for the day, but if you are looking for a tour company, check out the Great Scots tour through Cabot Discovery Tours.

 

Great, thanks for letting me know! Sometimes you don't know how well run places like these are. Now I have to decide between this and the fort. 

 

 

[Super Curly]

Holland America offers an excursion that goes to both Louisbourg and Baddeck so I thought if they can do both in a day, so can we!

[Mary229]

2 hours ago, Super Curly said:

Holland America offers an excursion that goes to both Louisbourg and Baddeck so I thought if they can do both in a day, so can we!

Check cruise timetables and make sure you aren't there on the weekends.  those rural roads can get very slow and very busy

[Super Curly]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

Check cruise timetables and make sure you aren't there on the weekends.  those rural roads can get very slow and very busy

Thanks for the advice. We are due there on a Tuesday. I'm wondering traffic direction-wise whether to start at Baddek or Louisbourg.

[Mary229]

At least on Tuesday you will only have tourist traffic and not local fair/festival traffic.  Cruisetimetables allows you to enter your day and see how many ships will be in port.

[Priszm]

On 3/12/2022 at 5:48 PM, Mary229 said:

The last time we were there we were able to rent a car for $30 a day.  With 4 passengers that was quite the bargain.  We drove to the fort easily and spent most of our day there.  I agree that you must choose one direction to drive, the distances aren’t that great but the roads can be busy in the afternoon. At the fort there are interpreters at each building but I did not notice that there is guided tour.  It is a part of the national park system and you can find lots of information on that website.  

 

Who did you rent through? 

[Mary229]

9 hours ago, Priszm said:

 

Who did you rent through? 

Budget.  It is about 1/2 mile from the port or it was.  The crisis was hard on car agencies

[ken_ll]

On 3/12/2022 at 6:48 PM, Mary229 said:

The last time we were there we were able to rent a car for $30 a day. 

The days of a $30 car rental are over.  In the last 2 years prices are up, availability is down.  In many places, $100/day is a bargain.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Has anyone done a ship's tour to the Highland Village? Cunard's website is a mess with conflicting information, like whether there's lunch/refreshments. They call the tour "Heart of the Island" and say it's a 3.5 hour tour, with 1.5 hours on site. Is that enough time to see the village? The recommendation for Cabot Discovery Tours is longer than I want and has stops I've already been to. 

[takemeaway2008]

On 4/19/2022 at 10:33 AM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Has anyone done a ship's tour to the Highland Village? Cunard's website is a mess with conflicting information, like whether there's lunch/refreshments. They call the tour "Heart of the Island" and say it's a 3.5 hour tour, with 1.5 hours on site. Is that enough time to see the village? The recommendation for Cabot Discovery Tours is longer than I want and has stops I've already been to. 

 

I'm thinking about it. Not sure. There's so much to choose from and I'm pretty sure that I'll never go there again. There's a post above that says it's great. 

[Floridastorm]

It's a 50 mile drive or 1 hour to the Alexander Graham Bell Historical Museum in Baddeck.  And, well worth it. For those into all of the accomplishments of this great scientist, go for it. A lot of aviation exhibits also. Amazing place and one could spend hours exploring. Not crowded and excellent highway getting there from Sydney. Leaving Baddeck we decided to return to Sydney on the other part of the circular highway 223. However, that was a long drive and just watch your time as it's a longer drive than it looks on a map. 

[1kaper]

3 hours ago, Floridastorm said:

It's a 50 mile drive or 1 hour to the Alexander Graham Bell Historical Museum in Baddeck.  And, well worth it. For those into all of the accomplishments of this great scientist, go for it. A lot of aviation exhibits also. Amazing place and one could spend hours exploring. Not crowded and excellent highway getting there from Sydney. Leaving Baddeck we decided to return to Sydney on the other part of the circular highway 223. However, that was a long drive and just watch your time as it's a longer drive than it looks on a map. 

 

And Baddeck is a lovely little town to visit. Couple of nice restaurants. You can take a sailing tour on the Amoeba.  Or hang out at the beach. 
 

There are two very nice scenic look offs on either side of Kelly’s Mountain heading to Baddeck. 

[riffatsea]

It appears that there are NO car rentals available at all in Sydney for our date in September

Too bad!

[SueMo]

If you're not familiar with Tom's Port Guides, I highly recommend them.  Some of the information may be dated, but about 5 years ago we rented a car in Sydney and used his Cape Breton Tour Guide.  We followed the Baddock/Highland Village route and had a really great day. 

 

https://www.tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/capebretontours-02-05-2013.pdf

https://www.tomsportguides.com/uploads/5/8/5/4/58547429/sydney-ns-02-05-2013.pdf