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Canadian Maritimes road trip New Brunswick

Welcome to:

New Brunswick

''The Picture Province''

49 %

Nature

Start with Fundy National Park

Top Discoveries

Moncton, Fundy, Shediac, Fredericton…

Days

Our estimated time in New Brunswick

ew Brunswick is one of four Atlantic provinces on the east coast of Canada. According to the Constitution of Canada, New Brunswick is the only bilingual province. About two-thirds of the population declare themselves anglophones, and one third francophones.

This blog is based on our Canadian Maritimes New Brunswick road trip. If visiting for the first time, we recommend a minimum of 5 days to visit a few cities in the Province. However it would be possible to spend 10+ days in this magnificent province!

About New Brunswick

Although Fredericton is New Brunswick’s capital, Moncton is the largest city.

Since New Brunswick is a coastal province, we recommend to plan your New Brunswick road trip during the summer time. The climate is cooler than Ontario and Quebec provinces yet more humid.

New Brunswick is also known for beautiful nature places as the Hopewell Rocks and Fundy national park. Read on

View of Fundy Bay

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What to do in New Brunswick?

We’ve prepared this blog based on our Road Trip experience. Feel free to consult our content below. Additionally, if you want to extend your Road Trip, here is the official New Brunswick website for trip planning.

We visited Moncton, drove along the Fundy Coastal Route, hiked a few trails in the Fundy National Park and found a few hidden gems like Cape Enrage.

1. Hopewell Rocks

What are the Hopewell Rocks? Well, many refer to these as the Flowerpots Rocks or simply The Rocks. They are rock formations caused by tidal erosion in The Hopewell Rocks Ocean and they stand 40–70 feet tall

Ideally, we recommend that you visit Hopewell Rocks during both high tide and low tide. The schedule is posted inside the main interpretation centre as well as online.

Here is the link to the Official Hopewell Rocks Website for their schedule and rates. There’s also an option to purchase tickets online.

Canoe expedition

We’re paying it forward here, because we really wish we would have known about Baymount’s Kayak adventure in advance! We missed our chance to kayak around the rocks, but hopefully this means you’re better prepared and can plan in advance.

It’s possible to visit the Official website for Baymount Adventures. They offer a few kayak expeditions, this way you can see which you prefer.

Demoiselle Beach

Everyone seemed to gravitate towards the Flowerpots Rock, which is only part of the attraction. We suggest that you visit not only the rocks, but also around the park because they have an amazing beach. Perhaps you’ll be lucky and have it all to yourselves while everyone admire the Rocks. It’s also a great spot if you’re one to meditate a little!

The way there was just beautiful and we were lucky to enjoy the park with few people around. If you’re up for hiking, you’ll find viewpoints and great trails like this one below.

Your admission ticket will be good for 2 consecutive days with multiple entries. This means you can return at any time during that period in order to see both the high and low tides.

With that in mind, be sure to return at night!

2. Cape Enrage

Cape Enrage came to us as a surprise. During our New Brunswick road trip, we saw a lighthouse sign while driving along the Fundy Coastal highway and decided to visit. It was totally worth exploring because we found yet another great Destination or hidden gem as we like to call them.

Two entrance tickets cost us $12.00cad which barely made a dent in our piggy bank (Nilo the Elephant in our case 😉 )

Once at Cape Enrage, you can visit the lighthouse, beautiful coastal views and walk along the ocean floor. There are additional and paid activities are available onsite such as Zip lining, repelling and rock climbing.

Cape Enrage Interpretive Centre has many spots offering amazing views. First, from the Lighthouse, which lucky for us was a gorgeous sunny day. Despite the sunny day and the calm looking pictures, there were violent winds. For this reason, we recommend that you bring extra clothing perhaps a windbreaker or sweater.

The lighthouse is working since 1838 and the current tower is over 140 years old.

The next amazing viewpoint is down at the shore. For this you will need to go down a flight of stairs… but it’s soo worth it ! Once on the ocean floor, we recommend that you walk along the coast and around the bend. As you make your way around, you’ll notice the jagged shoreline for miles (shown in the right picture below).

3. Alma Village

The village is located at the Fundy National Park entrance.

This is a New Brunswick road trip must for you seafood lovers! There are many seafood restaurant options along the main strip. Regrettably, we didn’t choose the correct opportunity since we were on a tight budget during this particular trip.

Alternatively, there’s a nice boardwalk and beach to visit.

The beach was deserted, which was great to relax after lunch. We found the same chocolate colour water as the Hopewell Rocks. That’s because of the strong water flow which agitates the earth below.

4. Fundy Park

We left the Hopewell Rocks around mid-day, ate a quick sandwich in the car and then headed to the Fundy National Park. The drive took roughly 35 minutes (from Hopewell Rocks national park).

The National Park is located on the Bay of Fundy, at the edge of Alma village. A quick tip, make sure to plan one full day here. This is a must visit for your New Brunswick road trip. We feel it’s also important to plan for a minimum of 1 full day to visit the park.

It’s easy to forget your park pass, so we recommend that you leave it on the dash at all times to avoid receiving a fine.

According to Wikipedia, the Fundy National park was officially opened on 29 July 1950. The Park showcases a rugged coastline which rises up to the Canadian Highlands, with the highest tides in the world and more than 25 waterfalls. It’s a rather large natural setting, since the Park covers an area of 207 km2 (80 sq mi) along Goose Bay, the northwestern branch of the Bay of Fundy. When one looks across the Bay, one can see the northern Nova Scotia coast.

4.1 Dickson Falls

The first place we visited inside the Fundy National Park was the Dickson Falls. We highly recommend it because it’s a fairly easy walking trail with spectacular views along the way.

You will feel as though you are in an “Enchanted Forest” from a magic and legendary fairy tale!

It’s a small to medium size trail with a beautiful creek along the way to the main falls. As depicted in the image, there are steps to climb which might not make it stroller/wheelchair friendly. Besides that, we think children would enjoy spending some time in this gorgeous nature setting.

4.2 Point Wolfe

After discovering the beautiful Dickson Falls, we drove to the “Point Wolfe” located beyond this woody Point Wolfe covered bridge (built in 1992). There’s a parking area nearby where you can leave the car and roam the area freely.

From there we took a beautiful trail to the shore, in time for low tide allowing us access to walk on the Point Wolfe Beach.

This hike was a unique experience for us because it led to a deserted low tide ocean floor.

According local information, the Point Wolfe River, was once the centre of a blooming lumber industry in New Brunswick. Mills sprung up on most rivers along to the Bay of Fundy. The Point Wolfe mill was opened in 1826 and continued, off and on, for almost 100 years.

5. Moncton

Today, Moncton is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick with roughly 145,000 habitants.

Although we spend the majority of our time visiting National Parks, we did take a little time to visit the charming city centre. Read on to find out more activities just outside the city centre.

We had dinner at the Pump House BrewPub, however there were many restaurants going up and down Main St. Consider looking into the Fox & Hound Neighbourhood Pub.

If you’re interested in great tasting seafood, we’ll have to recommend Alma village!

After dinner, we took a nice walk to explore downtown.

During our stroll near the riverfront, we discovered a place called ‘Promenade Terry Fox’. The tidal bore is quite spectacular and a great place to witness the tide’s strength.

Moncton also has great attractions just outside the city centre. Be sure to check out Magnetic Hill, the Zoo, winery, Magic Mountain and more!

6. Shediac

Shediac is a short 20 minutes drive from Moncton.

We associate Shediac with 2 things, 1. the world’s largest lobster and 2. eating lobster! Before crossing the Confederation bridge, we decided to stop in Shediac for some sights and lobster. Be sure to inquire about their lobster season in order to get the best experience.

Shediac is known as the “Lobster Capital of the World” and it’s not hard to miss the 90 tonne “Giant” Lobster sculpture next to the Tourist Information Centre. We chatted with a friendly chap at the tourist centre and he was interesting to speak with and gave us great local tips!

There are many restaurants to choose from yet we chose Lobster Deck Eat in & take-out to try their Lobster.

The restaurant is more a Take-out style, but there’s also an option to eat in.

7. Fredericton

Continuing our New Brunswick road trip, we recommend visiting Fredericton city, which is also New Brunswick’s capital.

For perspective, it’s roughly 2 hours from Moncton and 4 1/2 hours driving distance from Halifax.

We enjoyed our walk next to St John River for nice views and the lighthouse.

The city is small enough that it’s possible to walk everywhere.

Besides the usual restaurants and stores, what really struck us were the amount of historical houses. It’s possible to spend hours discovering them through the city. What’s even cooler were the signs in front of each house, depicting the year the house was built and its origin.

As we mentioned, Fredericton is all about historical houses. A perfect example of that was the B&B where we spent the night. Canada Select, Carriage House Inn

8. Hartland

We stopped in Hartland during the last stretch of our New Brunswick road trip. On the way back to Montreal we pegged a few last minute discoveries, the first one was located in Hartland. Home of the longest covered bridge, standing at 1232 feet long.

For your information, Hartland is located 1h20 minutes driving distance from Fredericton.

The Bridge is both interesting and unique! There’s a gorgeous nature display with the Saint John’s River flowing underneath.

You’ll find a small gift shop on the western side of the crossing. We recommend that you visit and see their beautiful covered Bridge painting and local nature art decorations.

9. Grand Falls

One of our last discoveries during our New Brunswick road trip was Grand-Sault. This is a formidable place to stop for lunch or a picnic right next to the falls. Thanks to the local Farmer’s Market, you’ll be able to load up on some great grub.

According to Wikipedia, the town derives its name from a waterfall created by a series of rock ledges. Some of which drops 23 metres (75 ft). However that day the water was low and we couldn’t see the full effect.

Lastly, just next to the fall you will find an information centre, there’s a washroom, a café and you can do zip line if you are looking for some excitement.

Canadian Maritimes eBook

Our motivation is your satisfaction!

Inside our book you’ll find a full index, tips for saving money and hidden gems for New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Plus helpful tips to help maximize your time and money.

Did you know you could combine your Hopewell Rocks ticket with a Kayak expedition !?
List of very affordable and authentic seafood restaurants !
Recommendations and time allocation for various attractions.
Interactive hyperlinks for local businesses.
and much more!

Itineraries and Attractions recommendations

The Hopewell Rocks, Flowerpots rocks, trail + beach – we recommend 1/2 to a Full day
Cape Enrage, lighthouse, zipline adventures and ocean floor beach – 1/2 to a Full day
Magnetic Hill’s Zoo and attractions – 1/2 to a Full day
The Fundy National Park (Dickson Falls, Point Wolfe) + Alma village – 1 Full day and more
Shediac’s 90 tonne lobster, tourist welcome centre + seafood lunch – 1/4 to a 1/2 day
Fredericton’s historical feel – 1/2 to a Full day

Where to Stay ?

Moncton : We stayed in the city of Moncton and travelled to the Fundy Bay each day. Alternatively you can look for lodging in Magnetic Hill to be closer to attractions.
Alma Village: Stay in the centre of the action with Alma’s various BnB’s.
Fundy National Park: Stay at the Fundy Highlands Motel & Chalets or reserve a campground and sleep under the stars.
Fredericton: Consider the ‘Carriage House Inn’, a short 15 minute walk from downtown Fredericton.

Coming soon :
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