Rough Itinerary
| Day | Notes | Driving Hours |
| Thursday | From NYC area, leave early afternoon, arrive in Lubec, ME | 11 (NYC) |
| Friday | Spend first half of the morning enjoying Campobello Island. Drive along Fundy, through National Park. Overnight in Shediac,NB area. |
7 |
| Saturday | Follow Acadian Shore up New Brunswick to Perce | 8 |
| Sunday | Perce around town of Gaspe and Florillon National Park, to Matane |
6 |
| Monday | Complete loop via Matapedia valley, return home through New Brunswick | 15 (NYC) 11 (NH/MA) |
Itinerary Notes
Minimum Length: 5 days / 4 nights, including about half a day of activities split over the trip.
The trip is entirely a loop, so there is no backtracking except near Campobello Island.
Description
The 1900km/1100mile-long all-season loop route is entirely paved. Some portions are freeway, while the rest are often high-quality super-2 highway, except around the Gaspe Peninsula. Driving at night is not an issue.
This trip takes you to Campobello Island on Passamaquoddy Bay, and then on up the Bay of Fundy coast, then a run along NB's Northumberland coast. The trip is capped by a circumnavigation of the Gaspe Peninsula. Suffice to say that there plenty of sights along the way. The Bay of Fundy boasts the highest tides in the world, the effect of which is quite visible.
We'll stay in Shediac, NB, the lobster capital of the Maritimes, or near Kouchibouquac National Park. Beyond Miramichi is the heavily Acadian portion of NB.
The Gaspé loop starts at the border with NB, and rolls along the coast of Chaleur Bay, where Champlain first landed in 1508. At Percé is the enormous and famous rock arch that is hundreds of feet high and navigable underneath at high tide. Tours out onto the promontory and by boat are available in summer months. The road from Percé to Gaspé is hilly and twisting, a fabulous drive to a town perched on a hill. The peninsula consists of the northern tip of the Appalachians as the plunge into the Atlantic, in Florillon National Park. The park is home to WWII battlements that overlooked some of the few navy battles with Nazis in North America.
The route home is along the north shore, where the road hugs the coast tenaciously, meandering in and out of coves. Signs abound warning of waves. Then we turn inland, to cross the peninsula using the Matapedia valley, where the road hangs onto the hillsides, with the river on the other shoulder. A speedy trip across New Brunswick and down Maine makes for a late Monday night return.
Sights / Attractions
St.-Andrews-by-the-sea, Bay of Fundy, highest tides in the world, Fundy National Park, Kajimkajuk National Park, Shediac, Acadia, Perce, Gaspe, Florillon National Park
Claims to Fame
Canada has the most coastline of any country in the world, this trip allows you to cover some of the best of it accessible via road.
Links
2002 Trip to NS Lighthouse Route
2003 Trip to Cape Breton
Honeymoon Travelogue