Halifax in Canada - experiences in Nova Scotia

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Are you familiar with Halifax, Canada? Maybe you've even been here? We visited Halifax, Canada in the summer of 2012 for a conference. Luckily, we had booked some extra time to discover this beautiful Canadian city. Halifax turned out to be a gem!

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Halifax in Canada

Halifax is the provincial capital and also the largest city in the province of Nova Scotia in Canada. Nova Scotia ("New Scotland" in Latin) is located on the southeast coast of Canada, and is the most populated coastal province in the country. It was given the name Nova Scotia in 1713, when it was conquered by the British.

The municipality of Halifax has just over 370 000 inhabitants. The city was founded in 1749 and named after George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax. The city is famous for a violent accident in 1917, when two ships collided and caused an explosion that was not surpassed in size until the arrival of the atomic bomb. More than 2000 people died and much of the city was destroyed. Today, Halifax feels like a nice holiday town, at least in the summer.

What to do in Halifax?

We visited Halifax because I (Helena) was here on the a scientific conference on intellectual disability. The conference lasted a whole week, and Peter and I decided to stay a few more days to look around. So what can you do in Halifax? Here are our top five tips for things to do!

1. strolling in the harbour

The harbour in Halifax is very pleasant with a long promenade. In the summer, it has a great holiday atmosphere with small shops selling ice cream or fast food, jewellery stalls and nice seafood restaurants. There are also benches and sun loungers for those who just want to relax for a while.

You can stroll along the harbour and look at all the boats, from cargo ships to sailboats and huge luxury yachts. Aboard the yachts, you can see the hustle and bustle of life, always with a large crew taking care of business. Almost all of them carry flags from tax havens ...

A slightly different boat, which we also saw in the harbour, is Theodore Tugboat, or Bosse Bogserbåt as it is called in Swedish. The boat is known from a Canadian TV series for children about a tugboat that lives in a harbour together with all his boat friends. The TV show apparently originated right here in Halifax!

2. Eating fish and seafood

You should definitely take the opportunity to eating fish and seafood when in Halifax, Canada. There are plenty of fish restaurants along the harbour, mainly serving salmon, haddock, lobster, scampi, crabmeat, mussels, scallops and other seafood. oyster. Seafood can be served as is or cooked in stews, soups, gratins, pasta, crepes, salads and sandwiches.

It felt like there was an abundance of lobster, because lobster was served everywhere and with everything. For example, when we ordered a fish stew, we could almost be sure that it would contain lobster, even if it was not clearly specified on the menu. It was also possible (at least when we were here) to get a lobster taco at the nearest taco bar or lobster roll, in the form of a McLobster, at McDonald's!

3. go on a boat trip with a sailing ship

There are many different boats and boat tours in Halifax Harbour, and we chose to take the a boat trip with a large classic sailing ship. The ship we chose to go on was incredibly beautiful and was steered traditionally, using manpower to hoist and carry the sails. The young officers steering the boat were incredibly skilful - fun to watch! For our part, we were content to sit on the deck and enjoy the ride.

4. go on a guided tour by amphibious boat

One day we took a so-called "Harbour Hopper tour", that is, a tour with an amphibious boat. This green-blue intermediate between car and boat started on land and drove straight into the water. We were given an interesting tour of the city first from the sea side, and then by driving around the city as a completely "normal" car. The vehicle? It has apparently served in the Vietnam War, but then, in peacetime, got a much more pleasant task.

5. Shopping

There are a lot of shops in Halifax and we did some shopping while we were there. We found the fashion and clothing style quite different from home, but that's what's interesting when you're travelling!

When it came to sizes, we had to choose slightly smaller sizes than we do at home. For example, I shopped for some tops in the "extra small" size and that would never happen in Sweden. Here I buy medium, and sometimes even large.

We also had to think about prices. The price on the clothes in the shop, the price is before you have added VAT. It works when you get used to it, but in the beginning you have to think about it. It's easy to think that everything is cheaper than it really is!

Accommodation in Halifax

There are plenty of hotels in Halifax, and many are located in the centre or down by the water. We stayed at a hotel called The Prince George Hotel. Apart from the fact that breakfast was expensive and not included in the price (but that seems to be the norm here), we were happy with the hotel. The room was comfortable and we had a nice view of the harbour and a short walk to the city centre.

Restaurants in Halifax

As we mentioned earlier, seafood is a must in Halifax! Our absolute favourite restaurant was Murphy's, located down by the harbour on Lower Water Street.

Travelling to Halifax

For example, you can fly with SAS, Brittish Airways or Finnair to London, and from there to Halifax with, for example, AirCanada or Lufthansa. Another option is to fly with SAS to New York and from there to Halifax.

See more in Canada

Of course, there is so much to see in Canada! We haven't been anywhere else in Canada yet, but we would love to see more of the great outdoors.

A completely different reason to travel to Canada is to go on a hockey trip! Please read our interview with Peter's niece Dessi about their hockey trip to Canada.

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