GermanytoCanada

I have not had too many issues with driving in NS. Most of the roads are so quiet that even occasional unpredictable behaviour is rarely dangerous. I certainly saw far more potential incidents in ON, with people driving far more aggressively on far busier roads.

​​​​​After driving in Germany for four years and several weeks a year in Italy, I will take a truck tailgating me in Canada over being tailgated by a Bavarian in a large BMW (about a foot from your rear bumper) at 220km/h any day. ​Most Canadian drivers in NS seem to drive so slowly that getting into an accident should be fairly difficult for an experienced driver. Anyone who finds Canadian driving difficult has probably never driven anywhere too challenging like in Naples (where obeying traffic lights is considered optional and they are generally ignored) or driving around roundabouts the wrong way (because the correct way is full of cars on one side of it). Anyone finding Canadian driver stressful should spend a weekend driving in Naples or Cairo - problem solved (assuming you survive the experience).

I think the 4 way stops work very well. Providing you keep an eye on the order people arrive, they shouldn't be an issue.

As for poutine, I had the same feeling at first but now I love it. They should make you eat a plate of the stuff at the Citizenship test. What is annoying is getting poutine with regular cheese rather than cheese curds - first world problems.


​​​​​​
​​​​​​
​​​​





​​​​​​

​​

BristolUK

I'm not a driver but I have plenty of experience of the passenger seat with different drivers in different cars. I don't think the perspective is too different.

I can imagine half a dozen scenarios of confusion as to who is really first because you're looking right and left as well as over the other side while making sure you don't rear end the car in front.

And when you've got the order in your head - say right goes next, then left, then you - but then left decides to go first, do you instinctively want to pull away because you know you were due after left or do you wait for right to go, because that's fair but now the order has changed for others waiting and confusion reigns.

It must help in these parts where everyone is polite and there's not much traffic anyway.

Howefamily

There is an accident daily. Its likely not as bad as what you have encountered but its still dangerous unfortunately. There is little collaboration between drivers, its more of a "its my right of way" and "get out of my way" style interspersed with lack of focus. Just keep that in mind and you should be ok.

Tumbling_Dice

I would agree if we were talking about Nova Scotia overall. My comment, as I mentioned, applied to the Halifax area. Get within 50 km of Halifax and the driving changes.

I have driven in quite a few mad places, including Sicily. It didn't take long to work out what people will generally do in a given scenario. In Halifax, there is none of this predictability. It doesn't even stem from aggressiveness, although that is increasing. It is more carelessness, complacency or a lack of awareness of the impact a given action will have on traffic around them. It is all very well stopping to let a pedestrian across the road... when it nearly / does end(s) up in a multi car pile up, not so good.

All that being said, I did marvel at what happens when a traffic light is out... people treat it as a stop sign and, generally (odd tosser aside), everyone takes it slow and considerate... that would never happen in the areas of the UK I have lived in.

Tumbling_Dice

By the way, I am sorry I derailed your thread.

Nova Scotia is a fantastic place and I love the buzz Halifax (and Dartmouth) have about them these days. I have been coming here since 2001 and can tell you this is a place that is slowly getting its act together.

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

scilly

You newbies ought to be glad that you never drove in Halifax prior to 2005 ........ the Armdale Rotary was a place to be avoided y visitors at all costs. Only a born Haligonian could have understood it!

That roundabout has 5 roads entering it, all pretty busy, and was designed in the late 1940s to handle about 10,000 vehicles a day. For some unknown reason (to a European used to roundabouts), the original plan was for all vehicles to yield and proceed while entering AND while in the circle. Everyone was confused as to what to do .............. and apparently Halifax went to the extent of appointing a "commissionaire" to patrol and "assist in controlling" the traffic. The roundabout was handling about 60,000 vehicles a day by the mid-2000s

We had to use that roundabout several times between 1999 and 2005 ....... it was an absolute b****y mess! One to be avoided whenever possible!

However, you might also imagine the confusion, congestion, etc when the rules were changed in October 2005 to be consistent with all other roundabouts.


BTW ............. we have noticed over our long time on this side of the Atlantic, that roundabouts used to be very rare in both the US and in Canada. More and more of them have been built in recent years in Canada (don't know about the US), but they're still a bit of a curiosity .............. Vancouver is installing lots of mini-roundabouts to quieten traffic in residential areas, and people really do not know how to handle those. Planting shave had to be installed on them as a plain circular concrete "dome" just let people drive right over it.

crofty82

dbd33

St. Lawrence Market. That's the place to visit in Toronto. Maybe also La Maquette.

scilly

That is a great train trip, we do it twice a year. The scenery is fantastic. Enjoy yourselves

I do hope you have splurged on Sleeper Plus Class. The Renaissance cabins are very small, but that ticket allows you to spend all your time up in the Dome Car at the back of the train or in the lounge in that same car. You may be lucky if you are travelling sleeper, because I see that the train you are on also has some of the old Canadian stainless steel cars, and those cabins are a little bit larger.

Please try to carry only what you need on the train for the 20-22 hour trip to Montreal as there is no room in the cabin for large luggage ........ check it through to Montreal.

Unfortunately, I am not sure whether Economy Class passengers can check bags, you may have to take them on the train with you and stow them in the baggage storage area in your car. I also think the seats are pretty tight. You can buy food in the Service Car, or you may be able to pay for meals in the Dining Car if they are not too busy.

You can blame the UK for the size of these cars, and Canada for falling for a cheap deal that should never have gone through!! The Renaissance Class cars were bought cheap from England back about 2000/2001, and then cost multi-millions to be adapted to Canada, including electrics and undercarriages! They were originally built for the overnight run from either London to Edinburgh or London to Paris, and are not really suitable for the longer distance.

I have to admit that when we travel on the Ocean, we now really splurge and take the large cabin for 2 in the Dome Car ........ it's a long walk forward to the Dining Car, but the extra space is worth it!

You will love Montreal ......... lots to see and do, and lots of places to eat.

Tumbling_Dice

I nearly got wiped out the first time I want round that in 2002 odds.

It is, to my mind, still a disaster today. I think it is meant to be a spiral roundabout, which makes sense given the five roads that feed into it, but needs to be done right. It isn't. Add this to the general carelessness of the Haligonian drivers, and you have a recipe for disaster. I stood there for half an hour one day watching the traffic, and it is all horns and near misses.

scilly

I agree ...... although we haven't even tried to go through there since about 2006.

I guess it made sense to the developers at the time, but it would be a very hard place to re-do from scratch, which is what is really needed.

crofty82

scilly

Waiting to go in for dinner???

Do go back to the Park Car at the very back of the train after dinner, if you haven't already been there for the Dome Car .............. there may be musicians on the train. VIA has a very interesting program for The Ocean and The Canadian (Toronto->Vancouver). Musicians apply, have an interview and an audition (or audition disc), fi accepted they get free board and food in return for playing upto 3 gigs a day in the Service Car in Economy and in the Park Car for sleeper passengers.

It's usually 2, sometimes only 1 musician(s), usually guitars or keyboard, sometimes cello and violin (!), type of music ranging from soul - blues - country. You never know what you will get!!

Enjoy Montreal. Toronto isn't my favourite town ...... it might be yours!

scilly

I just wanted to add that we have visited Montreal a number of times over the years, but about 2 years ago we had a day and a half there, and decided to take the Greyhound City Hop On Hop Off tour.

I'd done it many years ago but OH had not. We stayed on the bus, took about 2 hours, but it was a great way to see the major sites. We had a great guide, knew lots and was funny as well. We did it in October, a chilly but dry day, so we rode in the open top of the (supposed*) London bus.

You could do that, then go into Old Town, and practise your French ..... but be ready not to be understood if you speak Parisian French!


*I say this because there is a "London" double decker now parked permanently in Saskatoon, serving as a place to buy burgers that has a Chester license plate, and there used to be one in Victoria that had a plate from Oldham.

seascape