6-Day Cabot Trail Nova Scotia Coastal Bike Tour

The two pick-up location today are Westin Nova Scotian Hotel at 10am or the Halifax Airport at 10:45am, in front of the Alt Hotel. There’s a 4-hour shuttle to the first hotel in Baddeck with a box lunch on the way. A welcome dinner awaits you at a historical inn in Baddeck, where you have the chance to feast on fresh lake trout or Digby scallops, arguably the world’s best. This charming hamlet is nestled on the shores of the Bras d’Or Lakes. It's the place where Alexander Graham Bell tinkered, and where an engaging museum bearing his name is located. You get there early enough to take in the sights before dinner.
Accommodation: Telegraph House Hotel
Meals: Dinner

Leaving your lovely inn, cycle across the one-lane Baddeck Bridge, where families of bald eagles may be seen showing their young how best to fish. You bike through the splendid Margaree Valley along Lake O’Law. You have an optional 16-mile bicycle ride in the afternoon, crisscrossing the Margaree River Valley … or possibly a swim at a nearby swimming hole. Your ultimate destination is the Normaway Inn, set upon a beautiful 250 acres.

Tonight you get a taste of foot-stomping Cape Breton music in the evening at the Fiddler’s Barn!
Accommodation: Normaway Inn
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Biking: 36 miles, optional 16 miles (58 kilometres)
Terrain: Easier to Intermediate

Salmon are abundant along the Margaree River making the Margaree Valley an angler’s paradise. You have the opportunity to visit the Margaree Salmon Museum this morning as you leave the valley and join the coast road to Chéticamp. In Chéticamp, you have your first chance to go whale watching, as well as garnering your first glimpse of the Highlands, where you cycle over the next two days.
Accommodation: Silver Lining Inn
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Biking: 32 miles (51 kilometres)
Terrain: Easier to Intermediate

Today’s ride has you cycling into Cape Breton Highland’s National Park. The Highlands encompass almost 1,000 square kilometers of breathtaking terrain that descends to dramatic rocky shorelines. The park is teaming with wildlife: moose, eagles, foxes, deer, coyotes, lynx and bobcats are plentiful. You climb French and North mountains and then head back to our relaxing inn.
Accommodation: Silver Lining Inn
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Biking: 48 miles (77 kilometres)
Terrain: Advanced

You continue cycling along the Cabot Trail taking the scenic route through Neil's Harbour on the way to Ingonish. Before lunch, you bike down to the quaint fishing village of White Point, where whales and seals often frolic just offshore. The world-famous Highland Links Golf Course is located in Ingonish for those who might want to get in a round of golf before dinner.
Accommodation: The Markland Resort
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Biking: 31 to 48 miles (50 to 77 kilometres)
Terrain: Intermediate

You continue cycling the Cabot Trail over Cape Smokey, where your descent has you gasping with delight. Before lunch at the Clucking Hen, take the opportunity to visit the area’s local artisans. After lunch it’s off to Englishtown … where a cable ferry shuttles you across the St. Ann's Bay, where Giant Angus MacAskill — who stood 7-foot-9 — once lived in the 1800s. Then we load the bicycles on the van for the return trip to Halifax. The plan is to arrive at the Halifax Airport between 6 and 6:30 p.m.
Accommodation: Not applicable
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Biking: 20 to 26 miles (32 to 41 kilometres)
Terrain: Intermediate