Getting There -- Cape Breton is connected to the mainland via the Canso Causeway, a 24m-wide (79-ft.), 65m-deep (213-ft.), 1,290m-long (4,232-ft.) stone causeway built in 1955 with 10 million tons of rock. (You can see a half-mountain, the other half of which was sacrificed for the cause, as you approach the island on the Trans-Canada Hwy.) The causeway is 262km (163 miles) from the New Brunswick border at Amherst, 272km (169 miles) from Halifax.
Visitor Information -- Nine tourist information centers dot the island. The best stocked (and a much-recommended first stop) is the bustling Port Hastings Info Centre (tel. 902/625-4201), located on your right just after crossing the Canso Causeway. It's open daily from 8am to 8:30pm most of the year and closed from January through late April.
Special Events -- Celtic Colours (tel. 877/285-2321 or 902/562-6700; www.celtic-colours.com) is a big annual music shindig timed to approximate the peak of the lovely highland foliage. Few tourists know about it -- until now, that is -- and the concentration of local Celtic musicians getting together for good times and music beneath lovely foliage is simply astounding if you're into this sort of thing. It usually begins around the second week of October and lasts a full foot-stompin', pennywhistlin', fiddle-playin' week. The musical performances, by such international stars as the Chieftains -- or, even better, the up-and-coming next Chieftains -- are the obvious highlight, though they can cost as much as C$60 (US$54/£30) per person for a real headline act. More typical ceilidh nights cost about C$20 (US$18/£10), and popular local performers sell out months in advance; call well ahead if you've got your heart set on some particular act or another. Otherwise, just buy a ticket to anything. You almost can't go wrong.
