My Nova Scotia Favourites
A coastal grandma’s tour of delights
Hi Friend!
I’ve been away for a bit, enjoying a summer holiday visiting family and friends in Nova Scotia. If you haven’t heard of it, Nova Scotia is a maritime province in eastern Canada known for its rugged coastline, scenic landscapes, and rich cultural history. It includes the mainland peninsula, Cape Breton Island, and many smaller islands.
I’m so grateful to visit this beautiful place and love the people, culture, and strong sense of community! Every year, I think about making a list of special places to visit but never get around to it (there are a lot of them). So, I figured this newsletter would be a perfect spot for those suggestions. Let’s dive in:
South Shore Spots
I spend most of my time in Nova Scotia on the south shore, specifically in Lunenburg. It’s an adorable little town with brightly coloured heritage houses and stunning beaches. Here are my favourite spots to visit.
Eating and Drinking
Ploughman’s Lunch: This cafe is so sweet, located in Petite Riviere on the way to Rissers Beach it’s a great spot to grab lunch, pastries and a nice coffee. They also have delicious local buffalo milk soft serve too!
La Have Bakery: is a local institution, I have been coming here and picking up their delicious squares since I was small (their Nanaimo bar is a personal fave). A great place for bread, treats, coffee, frozen prepared foods (they have a homemade frozen section with meat pies, pasta sauces, quiche etc.) and grocery. The building also hosts a cute local craft co-op, bookstore and a skateboard shop.
Lincoln Street Food: A really lovely dinner spot with a rotating menu that prioritizes local, seasonal produce with lots of vegan/ gf options. Make a reservation!
Shore Lunch: a really beautiful food truck (both literally and figuratively) serving fresh, delicious rice bowls! Perfect to pack up and take to the beach!
Rose Bay General Store: This place was suggested to me several times and I’m so glad we checked it out! Very close to some gorgeous beaches, really fresh food and a sweet little grocer too!
Famous Town Pie Shop: a teeny and absolutely adorable cafe serving beautiful cakes and baked goods!I love their savory hand pies (the pie crust is perfect!) and great coffee too
No9 Coffee: a great coffee shop tucked away in downtown Lunenburg with a magical back patio and delicious warm cinnamon rolls.
Fish Shack: Very simple and tasty fish and chips spot with a beautiful patio overlooking the harbor (and sometimes even The Bluenose).
Shops
Block Shop Books: a small and well-stocked book shop next door to Number 9 coffee. I was really blown away by how welcoming the staff was to my daughter (a very excitable toddler) , they were so sweet and really put us at ease. Lovely selection and cute merch!
Conifer Shop: a really special homeware shop with beautiful antiques and curated goods. I love their french linens and silverware. They’ve done such a great job making their space feel so romantic!
Lunenburg Farmers Market: Farmer’s Market culture in Nova Scotia is great and especially in Lunenburg! I love picking up fresh produce and flowers from their local farms like Sweet Fern Farm. They also have a few bakeries (Ploughman’s Lunch being one of them!) and several local artists and makers selling their goods: don’t miss Ok Sea Salt or Blue Hive Bees. A perfect spot for snacks and souvenirs!
Mother of Cod Vintage: a fun little shack in La Have along the way to Crescent beach, it has some really fun vintage pieces for kids and adults.
Daytime People: a clothing shop located just across from La Have Bakery. Bright beautiful clothing designed locally and made with organic cotton. I really love the bold prints this season’s silhouette’s have to offer.
*Slowly Slowly: Located in Halifax but worth the trip imo! Great selection of small clothing brands (with sizes up to 2xl), jewelry, ceramics and apothecary. Very beautiful and well made while also being really bright and fun!
*Isle At Ease: located a few blocks away from Slowly Slowly in Halifax, this beautiful new shop features stunning kitchen and homewares. I was particularly drawn to their rainbow assortment of Sabre flatware and risograph prints.
*not technically in the south shore but I had to mention these gems!
Best Beaches (in my option): Rissers Beach Provincial Park, Hirtle's Beach Green Bay Beach, Cherry Hill Beach, Crescent Beach
Cape Breton Essentials
Cape Breton is truly magical, I highly recommend visiting some of the best beaches in the country. The drive along the Cabot Trail is stunning. If you decide to go to Cape Breton you need to hit up these spots:
The Periwinkle Cafe: amazing coffee/food and vibe! I love the team there and always feel so well taken care of! If you book far in advance you can also stay there too!
Brookside Takeout: If you’re going to get a lobster roll get it here! It came recommended by Hailey (aka @depressionerabaking) and I loved it!
Chowder House: Very nostalgic for our family, the chowder is great but the views are unreal!
Larch Wood: stop in a visit this stunning shop filled to the brim with beautiful cutting boards made locally! They usually have great deals in store, it’s such a nice gift or souvenir.
Special Guest Suggestions
I got an amazing list of suggestions from Brenna of House of Ferments. I love her work and have featured her on my blog a few years ago (you can read it here). Brenna lives in Nova Scotia and shared a few really special, local spots around the Halifax area and in Cape Breton
Halifax & Dartmouth
Aster Cafe - excellent vibe, and top notch vegan/veg Ethiopian options
Evan's Seafood super fresh and great menu items, localted along the Dartmouth waterfront
Nature Folk : a modern bathhouse and sauna. I recommend a spa circuit, and oyster after (conveniently located very close to Evan's Seafood)
Pon Pon Foods really nice folks, fermented foods, Dartmouth market
Cape Breton
L'abri: a lovely spot in Cheticamp for a nice dinner overlooking the harbour.
Cafe Marie: a very cute cafe in Sydney that is a social enterprise supporting the work of New Dawn Meals on Wheels
Knotty Pine Cottages: cottage rentals with a small restaurant offering which includes handmade dumplings along the cabot trail!
High Wheeler Cafe: a great little spot in Baddeck, I suggest the fatoush + coffee!
Fish Out of Water: a new food truck in Margaree Forks, offering Acaian inspired dishes made with local ingredients!
I hope this list inspires you to visit this magical place, Nova Scotia is so dear to my heart and such a big part of my childhood and family. I’m grateful for the time I spend here and love seeing the amazing work of local small businesses to make these places such amazing spots for locals and visitors.
Trips always inspire me and I’ve got a lot of recipes to test out and get to, I’ll be back to regular programming soon.
Thanks for being here!
xx Fran