Which excursion for fall color?

[LindaKE]

We'll be cruising the second week of October 2009 hoping to see lots of fall color, hopefully within a half day excursion. Can you tell me which areas to look for in excursion descriptions to get a good chance of seeing fall color? Our ports are Bar Harbor, St. John, Halifax, Sydney and Quebec, in that order. DH prefers to do ship's excursions, but I may be able to talk him into a short tour from a private company. In Quebec, I know to see Old Town for interesting spots to see, but, with this question, I'm specifically asking about the chance to see fall color.

Thanks!

[pdoeringer]

We were on the Sept. 21, 2008 cruise on the Norwegian Dream. We visited St John, Halifax, Sydney, and Bar Harbor. We did not see the color change as it was too early. It looked to me that is was 2-3 weeks away which would put it mid October. I figured we would see it in Sydney as it so far north but no luck.

 

We rented a car in Halifax and went to Peggys Cove and then on to Lunenburg. A wonderful drive and Lunenburg is a beautiful city. The rental car cost $32.00 and gas was about $35.00. The ship gets $49 just to Peggys Cove a person.

 

In St John the cabs will take 4 people on a 1 hour tour for $50. That is alot cheaper then the ship. We had a lobster roll at Billy's Seafood at the Central Market in St John - WONDERFUL

[Twickenham]

Fall colour is really hit-or-miss in terms of time of year. The leaves still haven't fully turned here, since we haven't had a killing frost yet. However, there have been years that they've peaked the last week of September.

I think you'll see lots of fall colour from the ship, sailing the St. Lawrence. As for excursions from Québec City, anything involving countryside would probably give you good leaf-viewing. But, in fact, Québec City is one of the best ports for just walking off the ship and sightseeing - you dock right in Old Québec, with lots of interesting things to do an easy walk away.

[pdoeringer]

Just an add on to my previous post.

Bar Harbor we did the Acadia National park tour with Ollies Trolley. A great tour and is $29.00 for 2 1/2 hours. Tickets are available at the ship tender docks or you can make reservations. This is $10-15 cheaper then the ship and our guide was super.

 

We had Lobster in Bar Harbor at West St. Cafe. They serve a 1 pound lobster, clam chowder (the best we have ever had), cole slaw and blueberry pie. This is $28.00 and the whole meal was great.. It is about 1/2 block from where Ollies Trolley drops you off.

 

We had plans to take LULU's Lobster Boat tour in Bar Harbor, but it was cancelled because of high seas and fog. I hear it is a very good tour.

 

In Sydney we took a ship tour because we arrived at noon and left at 8 PM. The rental car places closed at 5 PM and I didn't want to chance renting a car. We took The Heart of the Island tour. It was a good tour.

I would have rented a car but the time issue was a problem to me.

 

Hope this helps

[LindaKE]

Thank you everyone! This is the kind of info I was hoping for. We'll be cruising the second week of October, so hopefully we'll get to see, at least, some color.

[davidnsteph]

We cruised in early October 2004 on the Regal Princess from New York to Montreal. Along the Atlantic, we saw almost no color. By far, the best color was right along the St. Lawrence and in Saguenay Fjord. Quebec was "on fire" with Fall color, with bright red leaves on most trees. We really appreciated the color on a tour of the Beaupre coast, which included Montmorency Falls, Ile d'Orleans and St. Anne de Beaupre. The Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal were also at peak. Enjoy your cruise!

 

DavidnSteph

[tomko2]

Leaves are glorious right now; I would say they probably peaked about 5 days ago (which is early) but until a rainy, windy day arrives we will be get to enjoy them.:D

We had an VERY early frost about 10 days ago; it delayed our golf tee-off for about an 1 hr until the sun hit the greens. We have never had a delay for frost this early in the year.:eek:

Kathy

[sapper1]

The leaves in this area are quite pretty right now. They haven't peaked yet as they are a little slow this year. The morning frosts have been later in coming this year and that is what brings on the colour.