Planning a Trip

Getting There -- Routes 107 and 7 run along or near the coast from Dartmouth to Stillwater (near Sherbrooke). Other local routes -- including numbers 211, 316, 16, and 344 -- continue onward along the coast to the causeway to Cape Breton. An excursion along the entire coastal route -- from Dartmouth to Cape Breton Island with a detour to Canso -- is about 400km (250 miles) in length. Driving time would vary wildly, depending on your capacity for making detours.

Visitor Information -- Several tourist information centers are staffed along the route. You'll find the best stocked and most helpful centers in Sheet Harbour inside the MacPhee House Museum (next to the waterfall; tel. 902/885-2595); in Sherbrooke Village, in the little yellow building at the entrance to the historic complex that also serves as the museum's info center (tel. 902/522-2400); and in Canso at 1297 Union St., on the waterfront (tel. 902/366-2170). All are open daily in summer.