Visitor Information

Visitor Information

It's well worth a toll-free call or postcard in advance of your trip to stock up on the free literature and maps that provincial authorities liberally bestow upon those considering a vacation in their province.

Nova Scotia Dept. of Tourism, P.O. Box 456, Halifax, NS B3J 2R5. tel. 800/565-0000 or 902/425-5781; explore@gov.ns.ca.

Tourism New Brunswick, P.O. Box 12345, Fredericton, NB E7M 5C3. tel. 800/561-0123; info@tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

Tourism PEI, P.O. Box 940, Charlottetown, PEI C1A 7M5. tel. 888/734-7529 or 902/368-4444; peiplay@gov.pe.ca.

Newfoundland and Labrador Dept. of Tourism, Culture, & Recreation, P.O. Box 8700, St. John's, NL AJ6 4K2. tel. 800/563-6353 or 709/729-2830; tourisminfo@mail.gov.nl.ca.

Information Centers

All four provinces staff helpful visitor centers at key access points, including the main roadways into the provinces and the major cities. The best-run centers are in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, which have a cordial staff and exceptionally well-stocked brochure racks overflowing with maps, menus, and booklets. These centers provide a surplus of information on local attractions but can also fill you in on what's happening anywhere in the province so you can plan a few days in advance. If the staffers don't have the information you need at their fingertips, they'll make phone calls and track it down for you. New Brunswick's information centers are also helpful, though not as numerous. Newfoundland's visitor centers -- with the exception of the modern information centers near the two main ferry terminals -- are typically less polished and sophisticated than in the other provinces, but the authorities have been successful in making improvements over the past couple of years.

All four provinces publish free, magazine-size travel guides crammed with routine but often essential information on hotels, inns, campgrounds, and attractions. Nova Scotia's Doers & Dreamers Guide sets an international standard for high quality information, but the others are all excellent and unfailingly helpful. If you haven't obtained a guide in advance by mail, be sure to request one at the first center you come to when entering a province.

Internet Resources

Information on the Web is growing at an explosive rate, with some of the data more reliable than others. Here are a few places to start your search:

Nova Scotia: A tour of accommodations and tourism sites, presented by Nova Scotia Economic Development and Tourism, can be found at www.explorens.com and www.novascotia.com.

Nova Scotia Provincial Parks: The province's website provides basic, up-to-date information about the many excellent parks at www.parks.gov.ns.ca.

New Brunswick: The official tourism site offers a good place to start: www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca.

Prince Edward Island: The official PEI online information center is www.peiplay.com.

Newfoundland & Labrador: The official website is www.gov.nl.ca/tourism.

National Parks: For information about travels in the region's national parks, a good first stop is the Parks Canada official website at www.pc.gc.ca.