Hi - we're coming over to explore New Brunswick in September; flying in to Halifax and then catching the train to NB next day. Can anyone recommend a nice but not overly expensive hotel, preferably either near the airport or train station, for an overnight stop?

Also how long should we allow on the way back - train gets in at 16.20, flight leaves at 19.45 - will that be enough time to get from the station to the airport and through check-in, security etc, or should we do an overnight stop in Halifax on the way back as well?

We stayed at the Lord Nelson, which was presentable, reasonably priced and central. I don't know where the train station is but the airport is way out of town so I'd aim to be near the railway.

We will have checked in baggage on the train, if that makes any difference. (Never had to check-in on a train before, this is all a new experience.)

Thanks dbd - I'll investigate the Lord N (very appropriate as we're visiting from Norfolk! ).

How far out is 'way out'? Is there reasonable transport to and from the airport?

It's 20 miles or so. I've always picked up a rental car at the airport but Halifax is a big student town ( 5 ? universities) so there must be buses as well as taxis. Incidentally, otraynor and I drove across NB a couple of weeks ago, it was as expected, beautiful and bilingual but with many moose and many many bugs. Get a bug spray with lots of Deet.

Hi, The airport is actualy at a place called enfield, Its a bit like calling Gatwick a london airport,which they do. We stayed at the airport hotel which
is just a couple of mins drive (or taxi) from the airport. It was about £25 for
a double room which we found about an average price for room only.It was a
nice hotel with resturante,bar and a pool. I would think 3 hours to get from
train to airport might be pushing it since you normaly have to be at the airport 3 hours before the flight. Good luck

Tony.

The train station is downtown at the far end of Hollis St. The Westin Nova Scotian is right next door - it was built as the hotel for the train passengers and so I think is still actually attached. It may be on the higher end of the price range though. Lord Nelson is on Spring Garden Rd, so you could take a taxi from the train station there in about 5-10 minutes or walk it in 15-20 minutes. A couple other downtown hotels with reasonable prices are the Citadel Inn and Sheraton Four Points.

The Halifax airport definitely does NOT have reasonable transportation to and from. It is a 30-40 minute drive from downtown. There is an occasional bus service by a company called Zinck's, but they are not very frequent and are prone to losing bookings and missing stops. Basically the only way from the airport into town is by taxi, which costs approx $40. Really, Halifax airport is one of the least accessible airports I have ever been to (I am from Halifax and love it, but am all too aware of its faults).

Three hours from train to airport would be do-able, but could cut things close, especially if the train is late, you get stuck in traffic to the airport, etc (a surprising number of people live out near Enfield and commute into Halifax, so if you are trying to get out there around 5:00, it is the same time as everyone going home). However, I have never had to wait very long going through check-in and security at the airport, so you may be ok.

Haliburton Inn is great, cheap and 1000x better than the Lord Nelson http://www.halliburton.ns.ca/

Many thanks for the advice everyone. Looks like the best option is going to be taxi from the airport and two overnights then.

The railway hotel looks lovely but a bit more than we're hoping to spend, especially if we're doing two nights, will work my way through the other links - I do wish more hotels would put up a straightforward price list on their websites (I know it's variable but they could at least give a guide price) rather than having to work your way through 90% of the booking process just to find out how much it would cost. Also having a bit of trouble getting my head round this 'one train a day' business.

We found ' The Waverly Arms' (near the rr station) to be a reasonably priced hotel. Its a charming, older place with a lot of history. Highly reccommended by us.

I was in Halifax last month for 3 nights. I stayed at the Lord Nelson. Decent hotel and nice pub serving food in there too but go early because it gets busy later (before 7pm seemed best).

I booked on expedia as they had a special expedia only price for the Lord Neslon. It was about £60 per night for the room.

If you get a taxi from the airport, I'd get in a Limo they are only $45 I think compared to $42 for a normal taxi. The taxi I was in was awful! I didn't see the limo prices until I was at Halifax airport again flying out.

Many thanks for all the info everyone, I've made notes of it all but it looks now as if we'll have to put off our trip for a bit . Would it be completely insane to do it in the middle of winter (mid December or mid February)?

We want to come over in winter at some point anyway, to see if we can stand it, but would it be possible to combine that with our first 'exploring' trip to find out more about the region, or is it going to be difficult getting around NB at that time of year?

On second thoughts, time for a new thread I think ...