Four Days On Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

If Cape Breton is not yet on your radar, I highly recommend it be! Currently, the eastern provinces in Canada have their borders restricted, but once they open again (hopefully by this summer), you should add this magical island to your list of places to uncover. I took a trip this past summer with my sisters to Cape Breton and spent 4 days driving around the world famous, Cabot Trail. As someone who loves a good road trip, this was high on my Jeep bucket list! And let me tell you, it exceeded my expectations. Check out our four day itinerary below!

Day 1

Drive: Halifax – Baddeck 

We started the morning relatively well rested considering we were out for Canada Day the day before! With some iced coffees to start the morning and a freshly packed Jeep, we were super excited for the trip! We headed out from my sister’s place in Halifax at 8:30am, the drive to Baddeck was going to be about 4 hours (without stops) so we wanted to get a head start on the day. The drive north was smooth, it took about 3.5 hours to get to the entry point of the island and honestly the excitement was building big time, photos only do so much justice to Nova Scotia’s landscape. The views as you approach that part of the province are absolutely stunning. 

Before arriving at my family friend’s B&B in Baddeck, we made a stop for lunch at Big Spruce Brewing. Love this brewery. Great vibe, really unique flavours in their beer and lots of choice for local food at their food truck that’s located right next to their lush grass patio. I had a flight (my go to at breweries) along with some fresh shrimp dumplings. They had a killer soundtrack put together too, it was a really nice welcome onto the island. 

After lunch, we were only about 20 minutes away from our B&B. We met with my friend Paula who gave us THE most warm welcome. We settled into our rooms and didn’t waste any time before heading off onto the next adventure, driving up the east side of the Cabot Trail, heading north to Cape Breton Highlands National Park to check out Ingonish Beach and Middle Head Trail. 

We planned our route going clockwise, starting in Baddeck and heading west up and over the top of the island. Now, there’s a lot of debate as to which way to drive around the Cabot Trail, and after trying out both ways at least part of the way, I really don’t think it matters. Each direction is stunning and you can pull over at various look off points along the way. Ingonish Beach is about an hour north, on the east side from Baddeck. I was really excited for a picnic on the beach, but even in July the weather can be unpredictable in Cape Breton. The tide ended up coming in and the cloud cover was rolling in pretty intensely, we left the beach soon after. 

One of my hiking highlights from the trip was Middle Head Trail. The landscape was so varied that I never felt bored along the trail. You had views of the ocean the whole time, mixed with forest cover and wide open green fields. So stunning! 

We beat the rain and headed back to Baddeck for the night, we had dinner in town at a local restaurant on the harbour, called The Freight Shed. I had the mussels and a local pint from Big Spruce. And yes, it was incredibly delicious. I would recommend this spot to anyone, it was a really lovely spot to end the day.

Day 2 

Drive: Baddeck – Margaree Forks 

The next morning we would be heading west along the trail to Margaree Forks where we would spend the night camping at Live Life In Tents, a private campground owned by some Cape Breton locals. Before we left Baddeck, Paula treated us to a lovely breakfast at the town’s local cafe, the Yellow Cello.

Then we were off! The weather wasn’t so great that morning, so we decided to break up the day with another hike at Uisige Ban Falls Provincial Park. A relatively easy hike that led to a towering waterfall through a lush green forest, it was beautiful! This took about an hour in total, with time for some photos of course. 

Once we wrapped up the hike, we drove another 40 minutes or so to our campsite for the night. Mother Nature would NOT make up her mind as it would go from down pouring to sun and back to down pouring every 15 minutes, the island weather was completely confusing to me as a girl from Southern Ontario. But once we got there, my summertime sunshine wishes came true. The sun came out and stayed out! We were able to check in, set up our tent, and grab the paddle boards for an evening on the ocean. Our time spent paddle boarding was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for all of us. We showed up a little late to do a paddle with other people down the river so Lee, the owner of the site hooked us up with the board rentals and got them on my Jeep with no troubles. It was the first time I had put anything on the roof and I was so excited about it! Some padding and ropes was enough to hold three boards safely. We got to the Margaree Harbour in the early evening and left just before sunset, it was absolutely magical. 

That night we kept it pretty low key and enjoyed a fire at our campsite. The sun was setting as we had dinner and built the fire, truly one of the most idyllic spots I’ve ever camped at. 

Day 3

Drive: Margaree Forks – Pleasant Bay

We had quite a bit of ground to cover on our third day so we headed out by 10am and drove north along the Cabot Trail to Inverness. The one thing I will say about camping for one night only, it’s quite a bit of work! But well worth it for this spot. We stopped on our way that morning to check out the Dancing Goat Cafe for some quality coffee and breakfast! This spot was recommended to me by the guys at Live Life in Tents and yes, it was well worth the trip in the opposite direction by about 15 minutes. 

Once we got back on the road, within an hour we made it to Inverness and stopped for a bucket list hike at Gypsum Mines, hands down the most stunning view I had seen in a long time. The mines had been turned into a quarry and made for an awesome hike and an epic spot to swim. Pics below of my smiling face after climbing to the top look off point!

After all that walking, it was time for lunch. We ended up finding a super trendy spot called L’abri Cafe in Cheticamp, that was also recommended to us by the team at the campground. A bit pricey, BUT well worth it for the atmosphere, the views and the food. Coming from Toronto, I really appreciated this spot! Our family ended up meeting us there for lunch as they ended up driving the trail that weekend too. July is a popular month for people visiting the island, know that before you go!

After refuelling we parted ways and headed towards the National Park, but this time on the west coast. It was even more stunning on this side!!! My jaw dropped as we got closer to the top of the island, the mountains were unlike anything I had seen before. Another bucket list hike for me was the Skyline Trail, which is located off of the Cabot Trail just outside of Cheticamp. This was the longest hike we did, took about 3 hours in total. This was one of our only hot days on the trip, so we definitely needed to pack lots of water for the trek. The landscape out to the peak of the trail was all pretty similar, sprawling grass lands. But the the view at the look out point was worth every step! There were stairs cascading down towards the ocean, overlooking the Cabot Trail. Again, another jaw dropping moment. We spent a decent amount of time at the lookout, taking it all in and of course I had to grab some drone footage! We wrapped up and hiked back another hour or so to the car.

We were beat at this point and ready to head to Pleasant Bay where we’d be “glamping” in a trailer that night. I found this gem on AirBnB, more or less off grid but with all the amenities you’d need. Hot tub and fire pit included! We didn’t think to get dinner along to way so Carly and I tried to find a grocery store open past 6pm, that wasn’t possible… So we ended up in Cape North at a chip truck. It was the most remote food truck I had ever been too and I low key loved it. After a long day of driving I was ready for the hot tub and some wine. We had such an awesome night by the fire to top the day off. Highly recommend this spot! 

Day 4

Drive: Pleasant Bay – Home

I’ll start by saying that three nights and four days was not enough time on Cape Breton Island. I definitely could have used one more night to fit everything in that I wanted to! For a relatively small island, there’s A LOT to see and do. I would have liked to try out the river tubing at Live Life in Tents and also spend a bit more time in the area surrounding Pleasant Bay and do more hikes at the National Park. But, Sam had to get back to work and I had to start packing up to head back to Ontario, I’d be going back to work soon. So the last day was more of less just driving. We stopped at a few look off points so I could get some more drone footage and really took our time enjoying the northern drive through the park in Cape North. We headed south down the east side of the island and stopped in Ingonish again for some lunch at Main Street Restaurant. A great meal to end the trip and then a very long drive home. We dropped Sam in Halifax and then Carly and I went back to the Annapolis Valley, where our family lives. 

Just writing this blog brings back the best memories and puts a smile on my face. Cape Breton is such a one of a kind spot that I hope everyone gets to visit one day. I recommend giving yourself at least 5 days if you can! I’d LOVE to go back in September or October when the leaves start to change, I can only imagine how breathtaking those views would be. It’s a magical land of mountain ranges, vast landscapes of forest, cliff like coast lines and some of the friendliest people in the country. Well, Nova Scortians are the friendliest people in Canada, in my opinion. 🙂