Almost Canadian

Cheaper property/easier to obtain PR (NS seems happy to take anyone with a pulse), and location by the sea.

Simon Legree

Because my OH is originally from N.S. We came back at retirement after 30+ years in Ontario.
While the plane ride from Halifax to UK might be a little shorter there is very little choice of carriers. AC (Mapleflot) all year round and Canadian Affair, in the travel season, are about all there is.

sarah_matt

Maybe hire an RV, most campsite are open in May. When we arrived in Halifax, we stayed put in Halifax/Dartmouth, and now we wish we had hired/brought an RV and travelled around at our leisure before buying a house. I know its only a fact finding trip, an RV maybe worth a look into...and the roads and car parks are large enough to cater this form of transport, and if money is tight, there are plenty of WAL-MARTS around where you can sleep over night in the carparks. What I'm trying to say is travel around NS with your suitcase with you.

This is only our opinion, only you can make the choice - Good Luck and enjoy NS however you travel around it.

AndrewUK

Thanks Sarah!

I agree - we have decided to travel around and see as much of the major towns as possible!

dormy

When we did our reccies, we planned our route around hotels in the areas we wanted, and it still felt like all we were doing was driving. Very exhausting, and our overwhelming memory of the trips were highways and trees.

The province is small in Canadian terms but big in UK terms, Halifax to Sydney is 5 hours, Hlaifax yarmouth 3 or 4 depending on which route you take. If you stay in one area and drive to others you will not have time to see anything.

Simon Legree

I think if you check you will find that, thanks to a certain politically well connected campground operator, overnight parking in Wal-Mart parking lots is prohibited now. It's encouraged by Wal_mart almost everywhere in North America except N.S. RV magazine even declared NS "RV unfriendly". I don't think the ban has been lifted so you better check it out if you intend to park up overnight at Wal-Mart.

NovaBlues

I totally agree with everyone who said to travel around.

It's impossible to realise just how tiring driving here can be. Some of the roads are soooo long and quiet with thousands of acres of pine trees on either side and it can get very hypnotic and boring! So if you are going the same highway route back each evening, you'll be fed up before you've moved here.

Besides, there are some amazing places to see and some really good accommodation (see www.novascotia.com ), which you will miss if you have to head back to Halifax every evening.

It's good to spend the night around the place you are looking at living, as some places become totally different after sun down. You can get a true picture of what a place is like.

There are always C@P sites (free internet access sites) in most towns so you can look for and book accommodation as you go and remain free as a bird and change your plans and route as you go.

It's unrealistic to think that you can drive around and see everywhere in a short space of time. We tried

Have fun!

Simon Legree

Maybe you should decide what exactly the trip is all about. Is it just to take in the Nova Scotia experience or are you wanting to find out where there are jobs, nice neighborhoods or whatever your interests are. The main one for most prospective settlers is the availability of employment. In that case you might want a different schedule from a touristy one. Not a lot of job prospects in Pugwash for instance. Just a suggestion to help you get the most out of your time here.

snowdogs

I can't comment on NS but when we did our recce earlier this year in AB we originally planned to stay in different towns & cities to explore more. Two adults two kids for 2 weeks in feb meant we had loads of stuff to pack unpack load and unload.
Also alot of the hotels we googled for a family room seem to be 2 double beds,
again not practical for us.We just found it easier to use 2 bases over the 2 weeks and drive there and back, sometimes just drive through. RV seams like a good option, enjoy your trip

NovaBlues

Simon's right, employment hubs do dictate geographical areas, which are "livable", particularly in winter. Unless of course you want to go totally off grid, of which I know many people who do.

Towns with better opportunities for employment will vary vastly depending upon what type of employment you are looking for. Employment here is also very seasonal as tourism is one of the biggest employers, so touristy towns like Mahone Bay are fab in summer and look the epitomy of NS life but in winter the employment opps are depleted.

Oh and if you decide on the Fundy shore...I have a beautiful heritage home in a nice wee town that's likely to be coming up for sale!!

Londonuck

We reccied NS about 4 years ago. Its a very easy place to drive around. Roads are empty and easy to navigate. Shame the weather ruined it for us. Nice people and nice countryside. What made it nicer was the rental fella gave us a free upgrade from a compact to this