Toronto. Montreal. Vancouver and Quebec City — when it comes to Canada, its best-known cities have been thoroughly discovered.
But there is a far more rural, small-town and distinctive side to our neighbor to the north — its farther-flung Maritime provinces. French-inflected New Brunswick, colorful Nova Scotia and stark, otherworldly Newfoundland are entire worlds unto themselves, each with a slip-back-in-time flavor.
Just a few hours away by airplane, the Maritimes are relatively easy to reach and filled with monumental architecture, eye-popping icebergs and pristine wildlife. They make for an easy Gotham escape over and over again.
French-fried freedom
Most folks think of Quebec as Canada’s only French-speaking province. But New Brunswick is Canada’s only officially bilingual province — meaning French and English are equally codified by law (Quebec is officially Francophone only).
The province’s French roots are different than in Quebec: this is the heart of Acadian country, home to the descendants of French settlers who arrived during the 16th century. In fact, the word “Cajun” comes from the word Acadian — a result of some Acadians making their way down to Louisiana to join their fellow Catholics in the one-time French colony.
Today, Acadian culture is still alive and well in New Brunswick, where most folks speak both French and English, often at the same time.
Amid this cultural mishmash, New Brunswick offers some of North America’s most stunning natural beauty. Make your base in Moncton, where New Brunswick’s French and English cultures collide and explore breathtaking landscapes, including the Bay of Fundy, to witness the highest tides in the world.
Twice daily the tides surge upwards of 35 feet owing to the Bay’s unique shape, like water sloshing in a giant bathtub. The Bay is an easy drive to New Brunswick’s dense and verdant Acadian forest, another setting of geological firsts.
Where the northern boreal forest and the southern deciduous forest collide, a mix of hardwood and softwood tree species thrive unlike anywhere else on the continent.
Beyond its sheer natural beauty, New Brunswick also offers an exceptional range of tastes and tipples. The recently launched Good Cheer Trail salutes New Brunswick’s status as one of Canada’s top producers of independent beers.
The trail, which stretches across the province, uses an interactive map to help visitors explore local breweries — whether by foot, bike or even rollerblades.
If traveling with kids, consider a stop in Dumfries for the more family-friendly “From Sap to Sugar” tour to immerse yourselves in New Brunswick’s centuries-old maps syrup traditions.
New Brunswick is too modestly sized to lure the traditional five-star giants, but Saint John, its onetime capital city (it’s now Fredericton), recently saw the debut of the sleek Crowne Plaza Saint John Harbour. The property offers 135 stylish rooms and is located close to the airport, downtown and directly on the city’s scenic harbor.
New-found glory
Locals may lovingly call Newfoundland “the Rock,” but its booming capital of St. John’s (not to be confused with the city above) confirms Canada’s easternmost province is anything but a hard place.
Flush with oil and natural gas dollars and blessed with an almost other-worldly sense of natural beauty, St. John’s and the surrounding villages are a small-town/big-country reprieve from the conventional.
A British dominion until 1949, Newfoundland was the last province to join Canada. Some 75 years later, Newfoundlanders still cling to their unique heritage, century-old customs, legend and cuisine. From cod pots to whale pods, icebergs to jelly bean-colored row-houses, Newfoundland is a place of cinematic landscapes and warm, friendly folks.
This year, Newfoundland and Labrador celebrate the 75th anniversary of joining Canada with the Year of the Arts. The ongoing event features an expansive range of festivals, music performances and art exhibitions celebrating local artists, writers and musicians.
Make your base in St. John’s — ideally at the Ryan Mansion, originally built in 1911 by the fabulously wealthy Ryan Brothers in 1911 and a Queen Anne-era testament to cod industry wealth. Its design celebrates the high ideals of period’s aesthetic and comes complete with a grand white English Oak staircase designed by the same artisans who crafted the Titanic.
While in town, be sure to shop for the best of locally made goodies. The Newfoundland Chocolate Company is family-owned and operated, producing hand-make chocolate bars, bark, truffles and drops from both European chocolate blends, as well as single-source varietals from South and Central America.
Despite their cosmopolitan ingredients, the delicacies respect local traditions and are infused with freshly picked berries and spiked with Screech, a local rum.
A St. John’s sartorial staple, Johnny Ruth takes its name from a Romanian-American immigrant who sold clothing and crafts throughout St. John’s in the 1940s. More than half a century later, his name-sake shop stocks a mostly made-in-Canada selection of women’s outerwear, jewelry, shoes, skirts and dresses, including all-weather goods ideal for combatting local weather. The shop’s in-house line of all-natural soaps and body products are as good for your skin as they are for the environment.
Finish up the day with a stop at the Quidi Vidi Brewery, which is set in the eponymous waterside fishing district that looks straight out of the pages of Melville.
This hops hall has become maritime Canada’s largest microbrewery (jumbo shrimp, anyone?) since opening its doors in 1996. Today, it produces more than a half dozen flagship beers and ales, all made in small batches and served throughout Canada.
Although the 1892 Traditional Ale is Quidi Vidi’s best-known label, Iceberg is perhaps the most unusual. It’s brewed from glacial water harvested each summer from passing icebergs. Taste them all during a brewery tour, which includes fresh-from-the-tap samples for grown-ups, along with brewery production basics for fans of ages.
Finally, for those who can swing it, stay at the extraordinary Fogo Island Inn, a decade-old groundbreaking tourism initiative. Designed by architect Todd Saunders, a Newfoundlander now based in Norway, the inn is a boxy contemporary-design masterpiece set on stilts and almost eerily floating over the sea.
The hotel’s chef uses only local products for the restaurant, which has been voted one of the best eateries in Canada.
Community events, rooms furnished with handmade pieces based on traditional island crafts and intensive island tours deliver a truly immersive and unforgettable experience.
’Fax me
Geography, ethnicity, economics: These are the factors that traditionally define city districts. But for Halifax, the 1917 Halifax Explosion nearly leveled an entire quarter of the city, paving the way for the city’s current incarnation.
The blast resulted from a collision between the French-flagged SS Mont-Blanc and Norwegian-flagged SS Imo — both in service during World War I. Laden with explosives, the Mont-Blanc collided with the Imo, resulting in an inferno that killed 2,000, injured 9,000 more and destroyed more than 1 square mile in size, most of it along the city’s North End. More than a century later, the Halifax Explosion ranks as the world’s largest man-made accident.
The big bang sent this once vibrant manufacturing district into a period of economic and cultural decline. But over the last few decades, the North End has regained a sense of vibrancy, particularly within the historic Hydrostone District completed between the World Wars. Galleries, restaurants and eco-minded retail complexes such as the fashion-meets-art-fused Creative Crossing are giving the North End a truly global, cosmopolitan edge.
In between are the North End’s tell-tale row houses, all elegantly laid out in their pastel-painted glory.
Make your base at the Prince George Hotel, with 203 rooms set just below the city’s massive Citadel and within walking distance of key Halifax historic sites, such as the Harbour, its Convention Center and the Botanical Gardens.
The swimming pool is a great way to keep the kids distracted. Speaking of grown-ups, the Prince George is within walking distance of the Brooklyn Warehouse (Brooklyn Warehouse.ca) in the heart of the North End. Owner George Christakos and Chef Graeme Ruppel test-ate at more than 30 Brooklyn boîtes before finalizing their source-local/cook-global menu.
Inspired by the Slow Food movement, most of Ruppel’s food is organic and farm-to-table. The place is big on beers, with more than a dozen brews, many Halifax-made, along with a small list of reds, whites and rosés. There are cocktails, too — just don’t even think of ordering a Manhattan!
