Heading from Halifax toward Cape Breton Island (or vice versa), you have to choose between two basic routes. If you're burning to get to your destination, take the main roads of Route 102 connecting to Route 104 (the Trans-Canada Hwy.). If you're in no particular hurry and are most content venturing down narrow lanes, destination unknown, by all means allow a couple of days to wind along the Eastern Shore, mostly along Route 7. Along the way you'll be rewarded with glimpses of a rugged coastline that's wilder and more remote than the coast south of Halifax. Communities tend to be farther apart, less genteel, and those that you come upon have fewer services and fewer tourists. With its rugged terrain and remote locales, this region is a good bet for those drawn to the outdoors and seeking coastal solitude.
Be forewarned that the Eastern Shore isn't always breathtakingly scenic if you limit yourself to the main road. You'll drive through cutover woodlands and past scrappy towns. To get the most out of the Eastern Shore, you should be committed to making periodic detours, the more impetuous the better. Wander down dead-end roads to coastal peninsulas, where you might come upon wild roses blooming madly in the fog, or inland to the persistent forest, home of moose and sudden dusk.
