Canadian Maritimes and Newfoundland

Long time reader, first time contributor...

After much deliberation on potential summer trips, I've decided to (finally) visit our Northern Neighbors. I'm looking to drive north from Connecticut into northern New England and then on to New Bruswick and Nova Scotia. I'd also like to take the ferry to Newfoundland and explore there for a while. I can make the trip almost any time for about two and a half to three weeks, though I'd like to catch the peak iceberg and whale watching season, and that seems to be early June.

What can I expect road conditions to be like in the late spring? Will there still be much snow or ice far north? Also, how paranoid should I be about filling up the tank, for fear of being 100 km from the nearest gas station? How much should I budget for gas per gallon/liter in Canada?

This will be my first real road trip -- not counting the weekend I spent driving my car back from Atlanta when I picked it up from the dealer -- so I'd like to take things easy, get out and hike with the camera a lot, and generally not worry much about the logistics of the trip. Any advice (on logisitcs or sights to see) would be appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for the post -- I haven't been to the northern islands yet, but I know some of our regulars have been. We'll see what we can rustle up. I do remember a post from Russ in July 2000 about this area. Do a search (red button top of page) and use New Brunswick and other places as you think of them.

M

Road conditions in May-June are fine, you shouldn't see any snow unless you clim mountain tops:-)) the road may be a little bumpy though because of the melting snow and the changing temperature. But be sure to bring warm clothing since it's really windy on the Coast. I don't know about Nova Scotia or NewFoudland, but gaz prices in Quebec are between 82-89 cents/liter. I would suggest you make a detour by Prince Edward's Island, I never went there but many people told me great things about it (sceneries, red beaches, etc.)

Have a nice trip!

I'm from Boston- my wife has family in PEI. We've done the New Brunswick/PEI/Nova Scotia loop, returning on the Cat into Bar Harbor Maine about 3 times in the last 5 years... We never made it as far as Newfoundland though. The roads will be fine all the way up... the only thing I can say that we noticed is that the summer season doesn't really start until the beginning or middle of June (at least as far as coastal PEI or eastern Nova Scotia go... so the challenge became finding places to stay (more so on Nova Scotia, away from the city)... we always found a place, but some were sort of... less desirable. The golf in PEI is incredible, if you have the desire -- play "the Links at Crow Bush Cove"...

Hello all,

I'm a 25 year old student planning to road trip it thru the eastern maritimes up to Newfoundland as well during this summer. I was wondering about the availability of the campsites, since I'll be camping in order to save money. Are there any free camping sites in the area? Thanks in advance, and if anyone has any additional advice, I'd appreciate it.

Sam