What a super day! We finally got to take a tour we’d hoped to take for years—Cabot Trail. It was a long one at 7 hours and covered most of the eastern portion of the Trail. And it was so worth the wait.
August 25, 2025
11:56 pm
When we got to our seats on the tour bus, we found a map showing us our planned stops. This was very helpful as it also showed where we were in relation to other places we’d visited on previous calls on Sydney. For instance, I’d forgotten that Bras d’or Lake was actually southwest of Sydney. But today we were going north—all the way to Ingonish, roughly 145 km (90 miles) north of Sydney and 32 km (20 miles) from the top-most point of the Cabot Trail.
Our driver shared some cool facts with us—among them were that Cape Breton is home to 56 ethnic groups and that everyone learns to speak Scottish.
Our first stop was a scenic overview at St. Ann’s Bay, near the starting point of the Cabot Trail (75 km, 46 miles from Sydney). It was green and mountainous.
A few miles up the road we stopped at a gift shop at Gaelic College. I bought a book called Women of Courage: 15 Cape Breton Lives. I added a tartan scrunchie.
In a show of Canadian hospitality, one of our fellow travelers told us she was invited to use the private bathroom While we were at this gift shop, there was a long line for the restroom and one of our fellow travelers told us she was invited to use the private bathroom of someone who worked there!
Then it was about an hour’s drive to our next stop, Wreck Cove. We were very high up at this point and enjoyed a vast panorama of the Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Cabot Trail we had been on previously. Breathtaking!
Along the way we saw pockets of new developments. Our guide told us that most of the land is privately owned. It’s still so remote, though.
About a half hour later we reached Ingonish, where we had a great lunch in a restaurant called Coastal Restaurant & Pub. What a feast! Mussels, seafood chowder, tomato basil soup, biscuits (with a secret ingredient I won’t divulge), rolls, cheese, cold cuts, egg salad, chicken salad, and apple crisp. We ate around 2:45 and were not hungry for many hours afterwards. It was delicious!
Then we made a photo stop at Ingonish Beach. Our guide told us the water temperature was 19°C (66°F), which is actually quite warm.
Our final stop in the area was the lower portion of Cape Breton Highlands National Park (“950 square kilometers of protected wilderness”). While it was just a quick stop, the views there were tremendous, even on this overcast day.
It is truly one of the most scenic highways I’ve ever visited. And we only saw maybe one-third of it. Our guide said to drive it fully would take more than 8 hours. Maybe someday—and as long as we leave it to the pros as the roads can be steep and winding.
We got back to the ship around 6:45 and, as we’d anticipated, we were not hungry for dinner. My son and I went to a phenomenal show at 8:30, a Beatles tribute by the live band Power of 4. It became a huge singalong.
After the show, around 9:30, we stopped by O’Sheehan’s Pub for the late night menu. They are open until 4:00 am. I had an order of chicken wings and our son enjoyed his cheeseburger and fries. O’Sheehan’s is also open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for comfort food. The space is large and comfortable. We’ll have to come back.
Next up: On our own in PEI
