The Best of the Ceilidh Trail

Classic Attractions

Port Hastings Historical Society & Archives

Port Hastings Historical Society & Archives

24 Highway 19, Port Hastings

Enjoy the panoramic view of the Strait of Canso, the genealogical records and history of the area, including extensive displays on the world’s largest deepest man-made causeway.

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Cape Breton Celtic Music Interpretive Centre

Cape Breton Celtic Music Interpretive Centre

Judique

Here you’ll find the Buddy MacMaster School of Fiddling, workshops hosted by master musicians, an in-depth musical archive and library, demonstrations, exhibits, weekly ceilidhs and impromptu musical celebrations.

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Glenora Distillery

Glenora Distillery

Highway 19, Glenville

Cradled in the picturesque Inverness hills is Canada’s only distiller of single-malt whisky. Stop by to enjoy a warming tipple of Glen Breton Rare, a tour and a song.

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Inverness County Centre for the Arts

Inverness County Centre for the Arts

Highway 19, Inverness

This fine arts centre showcases the work of local and international artists in its gallery, music studio and shop.

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Inverness Miners Museum

Inverness Miners Museum

62 Lower Railway Street, Inverness

Relive the heyday of the coal mining industry from 1803 on, through extensive displays, artifacts and photographs collected in the former Canadian National Railway Station (c 1901).

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Inverness Raceway

Inverness Raceway

112 Forrest Street, Inverness

Twice a week all summer, this half-mile track features nine cards of harness racing. Place your wagers on the trotters and colts at the Atlantic Sire Stakes or another of the exciting races.

Red Shoe Pub

Red Shoe Pub

Highway 19, Mabou

Owned and operated by the renowned musical Rankin family, this cozy nook serves up old-fashioned Cape Breton hospitality, great food and drink, and live entertainment from the island’s foremost traditional musicians.

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West Mabou Beach Provincial Park

West Mabou Beach Provincial Park

Little Mabou Road

Bring your rod and reel: the walking trails off this beautiful sandy beach lead to a well-stocked fishing pond.

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    Great Photo Spots

    Broad Cove Banks Road

    Broad Cove Banks Road

    Inverness

    For a panoramic ocean vista, follow the narrow gravel road along the edge of the bluffs above the sea. You’re likely to see lobstermen hauling traps from their boats onto the wharves below.

    Port Hood Beach

    Port Hood Beach

    The setting sun flares gently behind Port Hood Island, just off the shore of this wide golden-sanded beach. With its green meadows, high bluffs and brightly painted houses, it’s one of the most-captured scenes on the Ceilidh Trail.

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      Unique Shops & Gifts

      Doug Fraser Art Studio

      Doug Fraser Art Studio

      178 Lochban Road, Inverness

      Fraser’s oil paintings evoke the luminous skies, misty atmospheres and natural serenity of the island of his birth.

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      Galloping Cows Fine Foods

      Galloping Cows Fine Foods

      Route 1, Port Hood

      Bring home a taste of Cape Breton Island: pick up a jar of gingered sea salt, blueberry-rhubarb preserves, cranberry pepper jelly, maple butter or another of the gourmet delights made at this charming shop.

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      Suzanne Craig Designs

      Suzanne Craig Designs

      595 Mabou Mines Road

      Lushly detailed botanical prints of Cape Breton’s native flora, including beautiful arrangements of mayflowers, blue flag irises and heather, along with cranberries, chanterelle mushrooms and fiddlehead ferns.

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        Don’t-Miss Festivals & Events

        West Mabou Family Square Dances

        West Mabou Family Square Dances

        Mabou

        The West Mabou Sports Club offers family square dances every Saturday night throughout the year. Enjoy outdoor dancing under the stars on our stage during summer months.

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        Broad Cove Scottish Concert

        Broad Cove Scottish Concert

        Broad Cove, July 31, 2011

        Learn a jig and clap along to the reels and fiddle music at the largest outdoor Scottish concert in Cape Breton. Broad Cove is home to one of the island’s two Celtic music schools, and the talent pool here seems bottomless.

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        Chestico Days Summer Festival

        Chestico Days Summer Festival

        Port Hood, August 2-7, 2011

        This week-long summer festival features a golf tournament, horse and road races, ceilidhs and concerts, a barbecue and beer garden, parades, boat rides and fireworks.

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        Kintyre Farm Scottish Concert

        Kintyre Farm Scottish Concert

        Judique, August 21, 2011

        This annual outdoor family concert features Inverness County’s famed fiddlers, singers, dancers, pipers and Celtic guitarists. Kintyre has a natural amphitheatre nestled in the gentle hills of a pioneer farm—pack a blanket or lawn chair for this scenic country setting.

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          22-Oct-2011 2:22 PM
          On Oct 18 I was finally able to get out on the road for a bit of leaf peeping. Left Halifax and ...

          (Source: Nova Scotia Leaf Watch)
          16-Oct-2011 8:28 PM
          Although the leaves have fallen off the tree on the Island that I was watching, there are lots of ...

          (Source: Nova Scotia Leaf Watch)
          16-Oct-2011 12:05 PM
          I was too late getting a shot of the beautiful colours of a few trees on the island near the bridge ...

          (Source: Nova Scotia Leaf Watch)
          16-Oct-2011 12:00 PM
          The cabot trail from Cheticamp to Ingonish was pretty green last weekend (Oct 8) when I drove it. I ...

          (Source: Nova Scotia Leaf Watch)
          15-Oct-2011 7:11 PM
          Lots of nice bright reds and yellows today (Oct 15) on Highway 14 from Elmsdale to Windsor and ...

          (Source: Nova Scotia Leaf Watch)
          The feed was updated at 07-Feb-2012 5:23 AM
          30-Jan-2012 2:33 PM
          As Valentine's Day approaches thoughts turn to romance and Nova Scotia is naturally a very romantic place because it is shaped by the sea.
          12-Jan-2012 11:58 AM
          After the scenic Cape d'Or Lighthouse, I travel to Port Greville to the Age of Sail Museum. This Museum displays themes such as lumbering, shipbuilding, marine life and many items that immerse visitors in this great era of Nova Scotia's history.
          12-Jan-2012 11:51 AM
          If you have ever been to the Town of Oxford you've probably seen the friendly giant wild blueberry greeting you to the "Wild Blueberry Capital of Canada." Nova Scotia is the largest processor of wild blueberries in the world!
          12-Jan-2012 11:47 AM
          There's something about hiking along a shoreline in the fall that I enjoy. It must be the cooler temperature, or the scenery when the leaves have started to fall off the trees. The grass is still green and I need to be outside!
          12-Jan-2012 11:42 AM
          The first day of our three day trip to Pictou, Antigonish and Guysborough. Today we visit the The Hector Exhibit Centre & Archives and explore the historic town of Pictou.
          The feed was updated at 07-Feb-2012 5:23 AM