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New Brunswick Hot Spots

Overview | Hot Spots | Suggested Itineraries | New Brunswick Advertisers

Saint John

Founded by American settlers in May of 1783, the harbour city of Saint John must have seemed formidable to early travellers. Sarah Frost, one such visitor, wrote in her diary, "It is, I think, the roughest land I have ever saw." To this day, visitors can see the remnants of that rough land in the hills on which the city is built. To the west of the harbour lie Carleton heights and the Martello Tower. This venerable fortress, Saint John's oldest tourist attraction dating back to the War of 1812, is an example of how early settlers took advantage of the geological and geographical location and built a city that has become one of the province's most popular destinations.

Downtown, the 19th-century buildings in the Trinity Royal area are among the best examples of that century's architecture anywhere in Canada. Many house antique and gift shops, while others are home to restaurants that range from submarine-sandwich shops to lobster eateries. Two downtown locations offer dinner theatre.

King Street is the shortest, steepest and widest main street in Canada. Walk up it to King's Square, with its colourful flowerbeds and bronze-and-granite monuments. Take in a musical performance near the filigreed, two-tiered Edwardian bandstand outside the old City Market, just opposite the park. Several museums in the downtown area are worth seeing: the New Brunswick Museum, with excellent marine and shipbuilding displays; Saint John Jewish Historical Museum, which celebrates the Jewish community's contribution to the city as merchants and manufacturers; and the 1817 Loyalist House, known for its collection of 18th-century furniture reflecting the living style of a successful merchant in the first 50 years after the city was settled. Two Saint John parks vie for attention: Rockwood Park, a landlocked, 2,200-acre city park; and the Irving Nature Park, a 600-acre finger of green that protrudes into Fundy Bay on the city's west side.

St. Martins

The sea captains' mansions and two covered bridges are the chief attractions here. An excellent museum delves into the shipbuilding and lumbering trades on which the area's commerce was built. Two local restaurants serve seafood chowder at a beachside location not far from red sandstone cliffs, where a huge cave invites exploration. The gates to the spectacular Fundy Trail are six miles east of St. Martins. Low-speed driving roads run parallel to rugged hiking and cycling trails; all routes lead to the remote logging village of Salmon River.

Sussex

More than a dozen covered bridges span the silvery streams that run between many of the farms, which is why the area is considered the covered-bridge capital of Atlantic Canada.

Fundy National Park

Route 114 heads back to the Bay of Fundy and the park. The scenic serpentine descent into the park alone makes the drive worthwhile. Campers can pitch tents while others enjoy the view of the park and the bay from rustic highland chalets. Some of the 60-plus miles of walking trails are challenging, but there are parts that just about anyone can manage. Interpretation centre staff offer fun, child-friendly, storytelling programs at night as well as daytime strolls that explore the bottom of the sea-at low tide, of course. Visitors also rave about the park's saltwater swimming pool and its golf course.

Moncton

Moncton is known for its economic diversification, from railroads to retailing. A proliferation of stores, along with expanded shopping malls, has made the city a happy hunting ground for home decorators, gardening enthusiasts, craftspeople, book lovers and fashionistas.

One of Moncton's renewal projects was the renovated vaudeville Capitol Theatre; another is the late-1760s Treitz Has, which is the province's oldest building. Visitors will find an entertainment complex on each side of the city. The town of Dieppe, on the south side, has the Crystal Palace, with its indoor midway and kids' rides. Adjacent to it is the Ramada Plaza Hotel with themed rooms such as the Rock 'n' Roll Suite, the English Library Suite and the Nautical Suite. Magnetic Hill is on the north side of Moncton. It features a zoo, waterslide, wharf village with souvenir shops, fudge factory and patio dining. Across the street from Magnetic Hill is the waterfront, with go-carts, mini-golf, a driving range and batting cages.

Kouchibouguac National Park

In summer the water is warm and visitors can explore 15.5 miles of barrier islands and soft sand dunes. In the woodlands behind the beaches are 37 miles of sand-packed biking and hiking trails, marsh and river canoeing and 225 species of birds.

Miramichi

In Miramichi City, there's a festival nearly every week. The first is the July 1 Canada Day Festival, and the last is the late-August Agricultural Exhibition. The longest running is the Miramichi Folksong Festival, which takes place the first week of August. The Irish Festival is the third week of July and draws visitors from all over the world.

The Miramichi also has plenty of museums. Just southwest on Route 8, the Atlantic Salmon Museum is at Doaktown. The Miramichi Salmon Conservation Centre at South Esk brings to life the story of the world's best salmon-producing river. At Boiestown, the Central New Brunswick Woodsmen's Museum depicts the province's lumbering heritage. And at Red Bank, the Metepenagiag First Nations encampment portrays life before European settlers arrived in the area.

Bay Of Chaleur

The Bay of Chaleur (chaleur means "warmth") was named by Jacques Cartier in 1534 because of the intense heat. Those who followed thought it temperate enough to settle, and on its sandy shores are the province's two most northern cities, Bathurst and Campbellton. Both are bustling service centres that offer a variety of accommodations and such leisure activities as hiking, cycling, swimming and boating.

Kedgwick/Saint Quentin

There's a Forestry Village Museum in Kedgwick with whimsical chainsaw-carved lumbermen outside. Take a detour at Saint Quentin to reach Mount Carleton, a mix of Acadian woods and mountain peaks, the highest of which reaches 2,690 feet; it's the highest of all of the mountains in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

Edmundston

Edmundston is squeezed between Maine and Quebec and is in the heart of the area known as the Republic of Madawaska, meaning "land of the porcupine." It's customary to pay homage to this quilled animal if you meet him while you admire the downtown lumberman statues, ride along the biking trails or tour the impressive cathedral in the centre of town.

At the New Brunswick Botanical Gardens, the same visitors' law discourages picking any of the 80,000 plants that bloom to the strains of classical music.

Grand Falls

There's a stunning gorge and falls at Grand Falls. Folklore has it that an Indian maiden, Malabeam, led Mohawks to their doom by forcing them to plunge over the falls. Visitors can take a pontoon-boat tour of the mile-long gorge. Grand Falls also marks the beginning of potato country, and the grand vistas of patchwork farmland stretched over the hills are refreshing. Villages built on the riverbanks, such as Perth-Andover, Florenceville and Hartland-with their white clapboard churches, lichen-encrusted covered bridges, locally owned stores and restaurants and roadside artisan studios-pepper this area of the province.

Woodstock / Kings Landing

Woodstock has a fine collection of architecturally and historically important houses such as the Connell House, which dates from 1840, and the 1833 Old Carleton County Courthouse, where the first county council met in New Brunswick. They stand in sharp contrast to newer buildings that vividly demonstrate why Woodstock is the province's fastest-growing small town. Kings Landing interprets Loyalist history through period architecture, furniture, food and costumed storytellers.

Fredericton

Located on the banks of the mighty St. John River, Fredericton, New Brunswick's capital, has many delights including a wonderful farmers' market on Saturdays in the downtown area.

Riverside pathways for biking and walking offer the best opportunity to enjoy the cathedral, domed legislative assembly building, restored Government House and changing of the guard at Officer's Square. Take a riverboat tour to see the city from a different perspective.