Some touring questions on Saint John, NB

[SF]

1. We will be renting a car and driving to see the coast but we aren't sure if we should go to St. Andrews or in the other direction to St. Martins? Which road trip and town is better for photo's as our son is into photography?

 

2. Is it too far to go to The Hopewell Rocks and then head back to St. Martins if we plan on seeing the reversing falls before starting our car trip? We also want to leave some time for the sights in town like City Market, Loyalist House, and Barbour's General Store.

 

3. Should we see the reversing falls in the morning before leaving or should we save that and the town sights for when we return?

 

4. Is it better to return the car after the road trip and do the town sights on foot, are the places in walking distance to the ship or would we be better to keep the car and return it at the end of the day?

 

5. If we need the car for the town sights is there parking nearby?

 

We are trying to finalize our plans so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Our ship is in from 10am -6pm and we would like to be back to board the ship by 5 or 5:15pm.

[Acey]

1. We will be renting a car and driving to see the coast but we aren't sure if we should go to St. Andrews or in the other direction to St. Martins? Which road trip and town is better for photo's as our son is into photography?

 

My suggestion would be St. Martin's because it is closer to the ship and is a quaint fishing village. When the tide goes out the boats sit on the harbour floor like someone pulled the plug on a bathtub. Your son may be interested to know that where the ship docks in Saint John (Trinity Royal) is a photographer's delight, having some of the oldest architechure in Canada. If the fog rolls in it gives the photos even more mystique.

 

2. Is it too far to go to The Hopewell Rocks and then head back to St. Martins if we plan on seeing the reversing falls before starting our car trip? We also want to leave some time for the sights in town like City Market, Loyalist House, and Barbour's General Store.

 

Doing all this in one day is too much IMO. If you leave out Hopewell Rocks which is over a 2 hour drive each direction, you should be able to do everything else comfortably.

 

3. Should we see the reversing falls in the morning before leaving or should we save that and the town sights for when we return?

 

Reversing Falls needs to be timed with the tides in order to see it in it's full wonder. If you go in the morning - it may be slack tide and pretty boring.

 

4. Is it better to return the car after the road trip and do the town sights on foot, are the places in walking distance to the ship or would we be better to keep the car and return it at the end of the day?

 

Better to drop off car after trip as everything else is easily on foot. Driving a car in the "uptown" area can be an exercise in frustration.

 

5. If we need the car for the town sights is there parking nearby?

 

There is parking at Reversing Falls. For the market, barbour's general store and Loyalist House you might as well park the car where you rented it from or else you will be searching for a spot on the street nearby anyhow.

 

We are trying to finalize our plans so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Our ship is in from 10am -6pm and we would like to be back to board the ship by 5 or 5:15pm.

 

Hope this helps

[SF]

Acey:

 

Thank you so much for all the great information in response to my questions.:)

 

We decided to scratch Hopewell Rocks and stick with seeing St. Martins. If I judged correctly it's about 1 hour out of town so the whole trip including stopping should be about 3 hours. That will leave us plenty of time for the sights in town.

 

We will be in Saint John on Thurs. Oct. 29th from 10am- 4pm and it looks like the schedule for the reversing falls won't work as the tides are either too early or too late. Did I figure this correctly? Any suggestions?

[Acey]

Acey:

 

Thank you so much for all the great information in response to my questions.:)

 

We decided to scratch Hopewell Rocks and stick with seeing St. Martins. If I judged correctly it's about 1 hour out of town so the whole trip including stopping should be about 3 hours. That will leave us plenty of time for the sights in town.

 

We will be in Saint John on Thurs. Oct. 29th from 10am- 4pm and it looks like the schedule for the reversing falls won't work as the tides are either too early or too late. Did I figure this correctly? Any suggestions?

 

IMO you are not missing much with Reversing Falls unless you are doing the jet boat ride. It's more accurately described as rapids and in my opinion (although not popular) is that they are not worth going out of your way for. If they are part of an organized tour maybe a different story. I see that you will be arriving at the Marco Polo (Pugsley) terminal so AVIS is the closest car rental agency a couple blocks to the left once you exit the terminal grounds. I would book early as they may sell out on cruise ship days. Alternatively there is Enterprise Car Rental - 15 minute walk.

[SF]

Thank you for replying. We rented the car at 132 Station Street so that must be the Enterprise you mentioned.

[Acey]

Thank you for replying. We rented the car at 132 Station Street so that must be the Enterprise you mentioned.

 

Yes that is Enterprise Rent A Car - although a 15 minute walk it's the most convenient for pulling out and going right to St Martin's and returning car (pull out of lot to right and follow your nose)... when you hit a fork in the road 1 minute away keep to the right and stay on route 111

[SF]

Thanks for the directions. What street is the Avis rental car place on? Would like to check them too, maybe they have a cheaper rate.

[Acey]

Thanks for the directions. What street is the Avis rental car place on? Would like to check them too, maybe they have a cheaper rate.

 

4 Water Street

(506) 634-7750

[SF]

I checked Avis out but they have limited kilometers (only 150) and Enterprise has unlimited so we plan on doing more than the allowed 150 with Avis so I think even though they are a little closer we will stick with Enterprise.