As two Central American titans of tourism, how do you choose between Costa Rica and Panama? Both have incredible landscapes teeming with wildlife, beautiful beaches dotted along both the Pacific and Caribbean coastlines and a vibrant local culture.
23.05.2024 - 14:47 / lonelyplanet.com / Nova Scotia
Embraced by the North Atlantic, Nova Scotia’s seasons, weather and attractions follow a predictable annual cycle. The icy Labrador ocean current that slips past the east coast tempers temperatures year-round, clearing summer skies, whipping up winter storms and delaying seasons by weeks.
The peak tourist season is July through August, with outdoor festivals, boat tours, museums and restaurants in full swing. The Halifax waterfront is the epicenter of tourism, almost always abuzz with activity. Increased demand translates to increased prices for accommodations, rental cars and activities. Food and drink prices remain steady year-round.
Most big attractions, museums, parks and guided activities aren’t yet fully open in late spring and gear down in early fall. These months, particularly the fall, are the best times for budget travelers. Come winter (November to April), many attractions either lock their doors or leave their grounds open and unserviced for occasional visitors. However, winter is changing in Nova Scotia – the weather is becoming ever milder and new activities are coming online. Prices rise and fall with the ebb and flow of the seasons.
Defined by high blue skies, warm breezes and a must-do list as long as a Nova Scotia silver sand beach, July and August are just so heavenly that most residents spend their summers at home. Meanwhile, tens of thousands migrate from beyond the province to their Nova Scotia summer cottage. The most popular accommodations – seaside cottages and glamping domes – are sold out many months in advance.
Summer in Nova Scotia sees the whales return to the Bay of Fundy and around Cape Breton, guaranteeing up-close encounters with the ocean’s great, gentle creatures on whale-watching tours from ports like Tiverton and Pleasant Bay. Nova Scotia beaches are rarely overcrowded because of the sheer number and length of fine sand beaches where water temperatures often discourage swimming. Comfortable campgrounds and hiking trails through vast park wilderness tempt most people outside.
Seaside patios, craft beer taprooms, wineries and a frenzied events calendar attract road trippers and residents eager to explore. Festival season hits fever pitch, most of them outdoors and weekend-long, like the Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Canso, the Halifax Busker Festival and Canada Day festivities on July 1 across the province.
Many residents will say that September and October are the best months in Nova Scotia. They welcome moderate temperatures as the summer heat is replaced by cool, less humid evenings. Things improve for visitors as well: prices drop, biting pests disappear, and forests glow with the changing colors, lighting up whole mountainsides on scenic drives like the Cabot Trail.
As two Central American titans of tourism, how do you choose between Costa Rica and Panama? Both have incredible landscapes teeming with wildlife, beautiful beaches dotted along both the Pacific and Caribbean coastlines and a vibrant local culture.
A new tourist fee in Bali. Higher hotel taxes in Amsterdam and Paris. Stricter rules on public drinking in Milan and Majorca. Ahead of the summer travel season, leaders in many tourist spots have adopted measures to tame the tourist crowds — or at least earn more revenue from them.
A man died after entering a plane's engine at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Wednesday.
Economy class is exactly what it sounds like: a standard airplane seat with very few frills. Basic economy has even fewer. A lot of times that’s OK; we’ll put up with it just to get where we’re going. But sometimes we travelers want something better—say, a little extra legroom and little more dignity. That’s where airlines’ premium offerings come in. In some cases, that’s called Premium Economy; other times, though, the cabin class is an additional step up from that—closer to the business end of the spectrum than the coach end. The perks of this upper-middle part of the plane vary from airline to airline—as does the price—so we asked our staff and reporters to weigh in on which airlines offer a version of Premium Economy that is worth the cost. In my own travels, I recently tried out KLM’s “Premium Comfort” class, which is yet another level up for fliers. Here’s what we all had to say.
Hotel rewards programs often partner with airlines, allowing you to convert your hotel points to airline miles. This gives you more redemption options, but is it a good use of your points?
Flying into New York City is an exciting but sometimes confusing voyage. The New York metro area has three major airports, as well as several smaller airports, and various airline options, public transit options and connections between all of them. Depending on where you’re looking to end up in New York City, how much you want to spend and what types of flexibility or amenities you’re looking for, you can decide between the city’s two international airports, LaGuardia International Airport (LGA) or John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), both in Queens, or Newark International Airport (EWR) in Newark, New Jersey. Here’s how to choose.
Andrew Cifa joins The Logan Hotel, Philadelphia, as the new Director of Sales and Marketing, bringing over two decades of hospitality expertise.
Halifax is a harbor town. A narrow neck opens up to the protected waters of Bedford Basin, making it ideal as a naval and shipping port. Before Europeans arrived, this body of water was a sanctuary and home to Indigenous Mi’kmaq for millennia.
Two Indian cities along the Ganges each have claims to fame.
Nova Scotia, Canada’s second smallest province, offers a surprising variety of landscapes. Rocky headlands end in sweeping crescents of white sand, and the ancient mountains of Cape Breton Island add another dimension. Mammoth tides pick fishing boats up and set them down again in the Bay of Fundy, and rivers stitch together small lakes across the interior. The capital, Halifax – home to a third of Nova Scotia’s population – its walkable waterfront is a beehive of bars, restaurants and attractions. The key to visiting Nova Scotia on a budget? Get outside and explore all these beautiful places.
A friend recently said that living in Southeast Asia was akin to winning one of Willy Wonka's golden tickets. And it's impossible to dismiss a long list of advantages that include the cuisine, cultural heritage, diverse landscapes, low cost of living, and generally friendly, laid-back hosts.
They tell a story in the Magdalen Islands about a winter so bitter that they were completely cut off, with no way to guide their boats through the frozen harbors.