Ask Lonely Planet: Eastern seaboard has the whale factor

A giant fiddle greets you at Sydport. Photo / Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture and Heritage

My wife and I are planning to visit Canada's eastern seaboard using rental cars and cruises if available. Could you suggest a scenic itinerary that includes Newfoundland.
- Chris Ingram

Karla Zimmerman, co-author of Lonely Planet Canada, writes:

Hopefully you have at least two weeks for your trip and you don't mind driving a bit. You can take in a lot of wild, windswept and whale-riddled scenery between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Start in Halifax, Atlantic Canada's hub, and spend a few days enjoying the cosmopolitan life. Then hit the road east to Celtic-tinged Cape Breton Island. It's about a five-hour drive and there's no ferry involved as a causeway connects the mainland to the island. As you approach the town of Baddeck, veer off on the Cabot Trail, a well-marked 300km loop through the region. It winds and climbs over coastal mountains, with heart-stopping sea views at every turn.

Cheticamp makes a fine stop - it's a deeply Acadian fishing community known for its arts. It's also the gateway into the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, where you'll likely see loads of moose and bald eagles. When you reach Pleasant Bay, you can watch whales or chant with monks at the local Tibetan monastery. Meat Cove is a lovely placefor a hike. And don't miss your art fix at the studios along the St Ann's Loop before arriving in industrial North Sydney for the ferry to Newfoundland.

It's a six-hour sail over the Cabot Strait to Port aux Basques. The ferry goes daily, but be sure to book in advance (marine-atlantic.ca). When you've had your fill of the sleepy town, steer for Gros Morne National Park - a good four-hour drive north on the Trans-Canada Highway. The world heritage site is rich with mountain hikes, sea kayak tours, fjords and weird rock formations. If you've still got three or four days, continue north up the Viking Trail to its awe-inspiring endpoint: L'Anse aux Meadows. This was North America's first settlement, where Leif Eriksson and his Viking pals homesteaded 1000 years ago.

If you've only got a week, you're probably best focusing on Cape Breton Island and leaving Newfoundland for another trip. Be sure to tote your dancing shoes - foot-stompin', crazy-fiddlin' music vibrates throughout Cape Breton's pubs.

Visit novascotia.com and newfoundlandandlabrador.com.

Avoid the pit Falls

My wife and I have a total of six days in New York City, which will include two days travelling and staying at Niagara Falls. Can you advise us on the most cost effective way to get to Niagara (we won't have a car) and suggest an itinerary for New York City itself. Also can you recommend any of the pizza and hot dog restaurants New York is renowned for.
- Brent Byers

Lonely Planet's US travel editor Robert Reid writes:

Probably the best way to see Niagara Falls with that timeframe is on an air tour. City Sights has a new one-day tour, with transfers, flight, bus tour, Maid of the Mist boat tour and lunch - but it's US$479 per person (see here).

If you went by train, you wouldn't really save money or get more time. Amtrak's Empire Builder takes about 10 hours one way to Niagara Falls - leaving at New York on No 63 to arrive at 4:33pm to see it after dark, then take a boat tour before the 2:30pm return to New York, arriving at 11:45pm - a tough two days. And that doesn't include the cabs.

I have to ask, are you sure you want to see the falls? It's big and mighty, yet very tackily built up. You could always take the Long Island Railroad to Southampton, which was recently picked by Dr Beach - an oceanographer celebrity, if such a title exists - as America's best beach. It is nice. And the historic town, with high-end shops and Shinnecock Native American cultural institutes nearby, adds extra appeal too.

Or just give those days to New York. You ask about pizza - that's a lifelong chase. Many pick John's in Greenwich Village as a top slice, or Grimaldi's checkered-table tops under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn, but I'd go with Lucali - a newish Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn spot you queue up for at 6pm and bring your own wine or beer. It's simple, with only a few choices - and as close to perfect as you can get.

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