Road trips are a great way to intimately explore an area. If you’re looking to tour Canada’s East Coast, I have an itinerary for you! Sit back and let me plan your trip for you.
Trip Summary
I recommend having a minimum of 7 days to follow this itinerary, however the more time the better so you don’t have to rush as much. It does require a good amount of driving!
In short, I planned this trip from Toronto-ish Ontario to Quebec, New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia, back to New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario.
Day 1 – On The Road
The first two days most likely won’t be super eventful because you’re going to be on the road for the longest amount of time until your return home.
I started my trip near Toronto, and on the first day made it to Montmorency Falls in Quebec as my first stop of the trip. It was a great place to stretch my legs, and it was nice to see this waterfall in another season!
After Montmorency, I drove for another 2 hours and car camped at a truck stop that had a bathroom nearby. I don’t have an exact location for this one, but we passed many!
Day 2 – Into New Brunswick
The next day we hit the road very early and hiked the Grand Tour Trail at Bic National Park. This park looked like a place mermaids would live! Afterwards, we drove all the way into PEI. We explored Charlottetown and had some of the best french fries and ice cream we’ve seriously ever had!
We didn’t take the ferry to Nova Scotia, but depending on the price we maybe should have – we didn’t know about it until later! We slept at a motel in New Brunswick after exploring PEI.
Heads up, PEI costs $50 on the way out over the bridge.
Day 3 – Driving to Cape Breton
We had another early morning where we just wanted to make it to the furthest point away from home of our trip, Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We drove all the way to Highlands Hostel, an old church converted into a hostel and we stayed there the night.
Day 4 – Cape Breton
We spent the entire day exploring Meat Cove and Cape Breton Highlands National Park. There are many trails, waterfalls, and the Cabot Trail is so magnificent to see! We stopped at almost every lookout.
On the way to our stay for the night, we also stopped at the Gypsum Mine Lake. This spot would be incredible in the winter!
I definitely wish we had an extra day here for the trails, but we headed to a dome near Truro called Breezy Petals Camping Resort. It was a great little stay!
Day 5 – Halifax Region
The first place we explored this day was Burntcoat Head Park where we walked the ocean floor in the bay of Fundy! Make sure you check tide times before coming here.
Next stop was in Lunenburg, where we grabbed an early lunch at the Dockside. We also grabbed some souvenirs at the shops here! It’s a very cute little town.
We also went to Oak Island, now I’m not actually going to include this in my itinerary because it’s not currently running tours and it’s certainly not the most beautiful place, but it’s a riveting treasure hunt that’s been happening for decades. There’s a TV show that my husband loves on it, which is why we went.
It was finally time to see Peggy’s Cove. To be honest, I wasn’t very excited to see this spot because it’s very popular and I thought it would be run down and not very exciting….boy was I wrong. I’m so happy I went, it is so beautiful and seeing the sunset here was just spectacular. I will never forget this stop!
We finished the day by driving to Moncton, New Brunswick and staying at the Moncton Hotel. It was an affordable motel with a great complimentary breakfast.
Day 6 – New Brunswick
First thing we did after breakfast was checked the tide times and headed to Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park. This park is gorgeous! Please be careful of any falling rocks.
Next up was Fundy National Park. Now my road trip was in early April and a lot of the trails were still closed because of the snow, but that just means I need to come back and explore more! This park has a lot of beautiful trails.
We used this part of the day to go get tattoos, however if I had more time I would have visited St Andrews!
This next stop is one of the highlights of the whole trip. We stayed at La Belle Cabane in Kingston, New Brunswick at the Coyote Cabin and it is hands down my favourite stay I’ve ever had! Go here – trust me.
Day 7 – The Way Home
Like I said, if you have the chance to make this trip longer I totally recommend it. That way you can break up the driving a bit more, as well as explore more.
We made a few little stops on the way home, my favourite being the World’s Longest Covered Bridge in Hartland, NB.
Places I Didn’t Get To See But Also Want to Check Out:
- Cape Split Provincial Park, NS
- Mount Carleton, NB
- Laverty Falls Trail, NS
- Franey Trail Lookout, NS
- Forillon National Park, QC
Budgeting
We drove a Toyota Corolla Hybrid and spent a total of $503 on gas.
The more you car camp, the more you’ll save on stays – but you have to pack smartly so you have room. Or pack a tent and find some cheaper campsites (check out Hipcamp).
When in tourist areas eating out, ask them to remove any tourist taxes.
Pack a cooler with a lot of high protein foods and beverages. Also pack a lot of water! The more meals you make yourself, the more you’ll save.
How To Use This Itinerary
Below you’ll find a map highlighting places to hike, sight see, sleep and eat at. Go through them and pick out your absolute “must-experience” items and maybe add some other stops off others lists, that way you know what you’re planning your trip around.
After priority ranking your stops, map them out to see which routes make the most sense and this will help you decide what order you’ll visit everything. When that’s done, you can start to make a layout of your calendar, blocking off activity time, drive time, and meal times. Remember to always give yourself more time than you think you’ll need.
Check out my custom map for this itinerary HERE.
What To Pack
Of course what you pack depends on what time of year you go, but here are some things I’d take with me no matter the weather!
- Camera equipment
- Jerry can – some places (like Cape Breton) didn’t have many gas stations in certain areas
- Cooler full of protein rich food
- Phone chargers
- Car camping equipment OR tent camping
- Boots – some locations are very muddy (Burntcoat Head Park and Hopewell Rocks especially)
This trip was absolutely incredible. Every person we met along the way was so kind, the locations were breathtaking, and I’ll never forget the taste of all the food. I hope you have an amazing time as well!
Kate 🗺️ 🥾
yourmatiekatie 
How far between gas stations and restaurants?
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