Stay in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

The Annapolis Valley is home to more than a dozen wineries along a compact wine trail that you can drive in a single day. Benjamin Bridge, in the Gaspereau Valley, produces world-class traditional-method sparkling wines that have drawn comparisons to Champagne. Luckett Vineyards is known for its panoramic hilltop tasting room and the iconic red British phone booth standing among the vines — it's a working phone, and yes, everyone picks it up. Lightfoot & Wolfville is an organic and biodynamic winery run by 8th-generation Valley farmers, producing cool-climate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and the distinctive Schürebe varietal.

Domaine de Grand Pré, the province's first winery (established in the late 1970s), pairs its wines with a fine-dining restaurant overlooking the vineyard. Planters Ridge Winery operates from a lovingly restored 1860 barn in Port Williams with sweeping Valley views. For cider lovers, the Annapolis Cider Company on Main Street in Wolfville ferments juice from local Valley orchards into crisp, dry ciders — the taproom is a perfect afternoon stop. Pick up a Nova Scotia wine trail map at any winery and plot your own route.

The Bay of Fundy produces the highest tides on Earth, with 160 billion tonnes of water flowing in and out every 12 hours and a tidal range that can exceed 16 metres. At Blomidon Provincial Park, red sandstone cliffs rise 180 metres above the bay, and a 13.5 km trail system offers stunning look-offs along the ridge. At low tide, you can walk the exposed ocean floor and hunt for agates, amethyst, and fossils among the volcanic rock.

The Cape Split trail is a 16 km return hike (about 5 hours) along the spine of the peninsula to one of the most dramatic headlands in Atlantic Canada, with views across the Minas Channel where the tidal currents churn below. Halls Harbour, a tiny fishing village on the Fundy shore, is famous for its lobster pound — pick a live lobster, have it cooked on the spot, and eat it on the wharf while the tide transforms the harbour around you. For a proper adrenaline rush, book a tidal bore rafting trip on the Shubenacadie River, where the incoming Fundy tide reverses the river's flow and creates rapids with waves up to 4 metres high.

Grand-Pré National Historic Site, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012, is the most significant Acadian heritage site in the world. It tells the story of the settlers who arrived in 1682 and built an ingenious system of dykes and wooden sluices called aboiteaux to reclaim the Fundy marshlands for farming — and of the Deportation of 1755 when British forces expelled over 2,200 Acadians from this single community. The site includes the memorial church, beautiful gardens, and a statue of Evangeline inspired by Longfellow's famous 1847 poem.

Further west, Annapolis Royal is one of Canada's oldest European settlements, founded as Port-Royal in 1605. Fort Anne — the country's first designated National Historic Site — withstood thirteen military sieges and changed hands between the French and British seven times. The nearby Port-Royal National Historic Site is a faithful reconstruction of the original 1605 Habitation, the first successful French settlement in North America. The Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens span 17 acres overlooking a tidal river, featuring an Acadian section with a replicated 1671 thatched-roof house and nearly 2,000 rose bushes representing 250 varieties.

The Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival, running since 1933, is a beloved late-May celebration of the region's agricultural heritage. The Valley's orchards produce the majority of Nova Scotia's apples, and in autumn, U-pick farms like Dempsey Corner Orchards open their gates to visitors for apple picking, cider pressing, and hayrides through the trees. The Wolfville Farmers' Market, operating year-round every Saturday from 8:30 am to 1:00 pm, brings together over 60 vendors selling local produce, baked goods, smoked meats, and handmade crafts — in summer it sets up outdoors on Front Street, and in winter it moves indoors to the Acadia Student Union Building.

Devour! The Food Film Fest, held each October in Wolfville, is the world's largest film festival dedicated to food — a week of screenings, chef dinners, and culinary workshops that draws filmmakers and food lovers from around the globe. In nearby Windsor, the Great Pumpkin Regatta is exactly what it sounds like: competitors hollow out giant Atlantic pumpkins and paddle them across Lake Pesaquid in a race that has to be seen to be believed. Between the festivals, the farms, and the markets, the Valley's food culture is as much a reason to visit as the wine.