Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic

The sprawling Fisheries Museum is professionally designed and curated, and deserves credit for taking a topic some consider dull -- fishing -- and actually making it relatively fun for kids to learn about. The museum has also been upgraded and expanded to keep pace with the times. You'll find aquarium exhibits on the first floor, including a touch-tank for kids and answers to questions like "Do fish sleep?" Look for the massive 7kg (15-lb.) lobster here, estimated to be more than 30 years old. Detailed dioramas depict the whys and hows of fishing from dories, colonial schooners, and other historic vessels. There's a newer exhibit called "Sea Monsters," too (look for me there), and a third-floor section on "Rum Runners." While here you'll learn a whole bunch about the Bluenose, a replica of which ties up in Lunenburg when it's not touring elsewhere. Outside, you can tour several other vessels -- a trawler and a salt-bank schooner among them -- and visit a working boat shop and a scallop-shucking house. Allow at least 2 hours to probe all the corners of this engaging museum, which is appropriately right on the waterfront.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

Back to Top