| Sydney Nova Scotia |
*All Admission Fees are Included*
An amazing tour which includes Cape Breton Highlands Village, stop for Oatcakes with tea/coffee, we will make our way to English Harbour and ride a cable ferry which crosses all of 400 feet of water!, Guided Tour of Alexander Graham Bell Museum,visit to Baddeck where Alexander Graham Bell lived, walk through
Baddeck Marina and the tiny streets dotted with local cafes, craft stores and shopping
We begin our day in Iona, and the Cape Breton Highlands Village. Carved along the famous Cabot Trail coastline, its known for its spectacular highlands and ocean scenery. The Cape Breton Highlands are the most striking feature of northern Cape Breton. Steep cliffs and deep river canyons carve into a forested plateau bordering the Atlantic Ocean ( fees included)
Baile nan Gàidheal, or Highland Village is an outdoor living history museum and Gaelic folklife centre that illustrates the story, culture and identity of Nova Scotia Gaels. Located on a stunning 43-acre property overlooking the majestic Bras d’Or Lake in Iona, Nova Scotia, the heart of Cape Breton Island., it is part of the Nova Scotia Museum operated locally by the Nova Scotia Highland Village Society.
30,000 settlers left Scotland for a better life in the new world in the late 1700 and early 1800’s, and you will feel as though you are in Scotland
Experience the blacksmith working his forge, costumed animators demonstrating spinning weaving, wool-dying, and other hand-crafts, our farm-hands working with traditional livestock, and much more.
Smell the aromas of a meal cooking on an open hearth and feel a connection to our past as you make your way around our site and marvel at the panoramic viewscapes.
We will visit the kitchen, and be treated to coffee / tea, and Scottish Oatcakes, while enjoying fiddle music. (the oatcakes recipe passed down from generations, will be given to each of us before we leave)
We continue our way to the quant fishing village of Englishtown. Here will will cross the mouth of St Annes Bay on the Englishtown Cable Ferry. (fee included) This ferry takes only a few minutes, you are on and off as quick as you blink. We will be guided by cables as the ferry makes its way to the other side, all 400 feet.
Off the ferry and on our way Baddeck. Here we will do a guided tour of the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. ( fee included).
Alexander Graham Bell worked on hundreds of projects throughout his career and received patents in various fields. however, he is most well known for inventing the telephone. On March 7,1876, Bell was granted his telephone patent. By 1877, the Bell Telephone Company, was created. In 1915, Bell made the first transcontinental phone call from New York to San Francisco.
Bell and his family moved to Baddeck Nova Scotia in the 1880s, where they built a large home called Beinn Bhreagh. ( meaning Beautiful Mountain is Scottish Gaelic) To this day my brother in law works at Beinn Bhreagh, where Bell family homes still exist. The last descendant of Bell still lives in Beinn Bhreagh - his great great
granddaughter. Beinn Bhreagh is not accessible to the public.(I have been fortunate enough to visit the estate via my brother in law)
Bell died in Baddeck Nova Scotia on August 2, 1922, at the age of 75. During Bell’s funeral, every phone in North America was silenced to pay tribute to the inventor.
From Bell Museum we do a walking tour of Baddeck (home to my parents and siblings for 30 years). Baddeck has been described as the beginning – and the end – of the Cabot Trail Nestled along the shore of the Bras d’Or Lake. The streets are spotted with cafes and boutiques, and there is a beautiful Marina. Here we will have time to shop or catch a bite to eat. (own cost)
We then make our way back towards the ship, allowing time for a visit to the Big Ceilidh Fiddle which reaches a height of 60 feet and made of solid steel! The Big Fiddle, as many call it, is a tribute to the folk music and traditions of the province’s Celtic community. There is then time to visit the Interpretation Centre before calling it a day.
