South Shore

Discovering Seafaring Heritage&Adventure

There are certain things you expect to find along Nova Scotia’s South Shore. Of course, you expect to come across some of the dozens of proud lighthouses standing watch along this rugged coast. You expect quaint small towns, like Lunenburg and Shelburne, with historic streetscapes so unchanged you feel as though you might just have entered a centuries-wide time warp. You’re not surprised to find a calendar full of cool events like Mahone Bay’s Classic Boat Festival and the annual autumn Scarecrow Festival. You look forward to an afternoon aboard a locally designed Cape Island boat, spotting whales, seals and porpoises playing in the waves. And you eagerly await a tour aboard our beloved schooner Bluenose II where the only sounds are the creaking masts and the water lapping at the wooden gunnels. You expect all this. What you might not expect is a restaurant like Fleur de Sel, one of Canada's culinary hot spots, situated just a stone’s throw from the Lunenburg wharves where those Cape Island boats are tied up. You might not expect boutique shopping that offers up red-hot international labels for home décor and accessories or the chic boots from Australia that everyone is wearing. You might not expect to find more art galleries per capita than most major city centres. Whatever you do hope is in store, there’s one thing you can be sure of – the South Shore will live up to and far beyond your great holiday expectations. Plan to fall in love with the scenery and have your breath taken away by sights like thousands of brant geese lifting off in flight together. Book a tour on foot, by bike or kayak to see it all up close.

Please use the map in the top right corner of the page to explore the individual Municipalities and Communities that make up this region.