Charlottetown

You may be on a holiday to Canada, but head to Atlantic Canada, and it feels like you are someplace else! You are at the heart of the Maritime country where the breeze carries the whiff of the ocean and is heavy with tales of treacherous waters, brave fishermen, and cruel pirates. You are at the site of the first European settlement in North America; here “Canadian” is actually a quirky, colorful mix of the British, Gaelic, Scottish, and French. A holiday in Atlantic Canada is a journey back in time when life flowed slowly and people marched to Nature’s rhythms. In Atlantic Canada people lovingly hold on to customs and traditions and show off their heritage—many families of Nova Scotia still speak Gaelic. An Atlantic Canada holiday is a journey into the heart of Mother Nature and seeing Her many unknown faces.

Do you want to immerse yourself in the stark, surreal winter beauty of Canada? Then take an Atlantic Canada holiday in winter. Do you want to soak up the summer sun and party away the nights under a canopy of million stars? Then go on a holiday to Atlantic Canada in summer.

There are ample charms to be discovered in Atlantic Canada in every season. If it is not Mother Nature putting up a show for you, then the locals invite you to let down your hair and eat, drink, and make merry. Explore this region at different times of the year; you will be amazed to discover that every season has its own special color, shape, scent, tune, and flavor.

Winters Warmed by Festive Lights

The locals are not the ones to balk at a few inches of snow and some gusts of wind. So even during the depths of winter, Atlantic Canada turns into a gigantic playground where locals and visitors meet to have fun. Winter here is a time for festivities—Snow West, Corner Brook Winter Carnival, Nova Scotia Icewine Festival, Jack Frost Children’s Winterfest, FROSTival, and Ice Carnival are some of the prominent winter festivals in the region when Man infuses color into the silvery white landscape and fills the wintry hush with peals of laughter and sounds of gaiety.

Spring: A Time to Head Outdoors

The spring air is definitely contagious. The warm sunny days are perfect for hikes and rides. Mother Nature sheds Her white wintry cloak and puts on a fresh coat of colors; it is a great time to hit the little-known trails of the Gros Morne National Park and drive down the Cabot Trail, past the multi-hued forests flanked by the azure seas. Spring is also the time to shrug off all vestiges of wintry laziness and get busy partying. With the Maple Capital of Atlantic Canada Festival and the Frye Festival underway, those with a sweet tooth and bookworms can happily spend their days indulging in their loves.

Summer Tunes

Summer is the official whale-watching season in Atlantic Canada. Belugas, pilots, humpbacks, minkes, and sperms throng (Yes, they do teem the seas!) the coasts of Newfoundland & Labrador and Nova Scotia during the summer months. And if you are around Newfoundland & Labrador during your Atlantic Canada holidays, you might even be lucky to spot a spotted blue whale. You can go whale-watching on a boat or a kayak or really get up, close, and personal with these gigantic mammals by snorkeling with them.Summer is also the time when the streets of Charlottetown and Halifax get run over by musicophiles, out to shake a leg and swing to the beats of country, rap and rock, blues, and jazz. The Evolve Festival, Halifax Rocks, Cavendish Beach Music Festival, and New Glasgow Riverfront Jubilee are some prominent summer music festivals of Atlantic Canada.

Autumnal Hues and Mystery in the Air

Leaf-peepers, ahoy! Autumn in Atlantic Canada presents a dizzying sight. The maple, larch, and poplar forests of New Brunswick take on brilliant shades of red, orange, gold, and fuchsia, and it seems the landscape is on fire. The temperatures have not yet plummeted to freezing lows, so you can be outdoors for as long as you want and gaze at the leaves changing color against the blue skies, the white lighthouses, the silvery sands, and a mysterious autumnal haze that casts surreal shadows on the ground and seems to make everything flicker.The hues of autumn spill over to the dinner table as well. Indulge, a food and wine festival, beckons foodies looking out for gastronomic adventures with colorful platters, an assortment of tastes, and exotic aromas that have hidden in them centuries of traditions.