hi
we are trying to plan a recce trip to nova scotia and the question is would a winter months recce be crazy?

Of all the provinces, as far as I understand, Nova Scotia might be the easiest - it has a reasonably mild climate for Canada although there is always a chance of needing a snowmobile to get around depending on when in winter you intend to go!

Can be hard to get a judge of what certain areas are like in the winter -

It would not be crazy at all. Anyone thinking of moving to anywhere in Canada should get a feel of what winter is like before taking the plunge.

Selling a house in the winter is a great way to hide all of the weeds etc on a lawn.

I dont understand why anyone would do a reccie only to see a place at its best, surely you want to know if you can hack it at its most bleak too?

Personally I think a winter reccie a good idea if you can afford it.

I would think it was a good idea too - in the very worst part of winter - alright you might not want to go anywhere or do much because it's too cold but at least you'll know what it could be like for a few months of the year.

We didn't do a winter recce, we did very little in the way of recce

I agree with the other posters - while you may not get a true feel for some things in winter, I personally think its almost a 'must' to see Canada in winter before making a move. I've lived about half my life in Canada and the other half in Scotland and no amount of imagination can prepare you for the difference

I'd say to anyone that if they have the time and money, to do a recce in both summer and winter (although I realise this isn't always an option).

That said, there can be a lot of fun in a winter in Canada if you can learn to embrace it and find something to do that you enjoy

We did our first recee in winter to see if we could handle the cold. It was cold but not particularly snowy and managed to rule out more than we ruled in. We then did a second Recee in the summer and found exactly what we were looking for. If you can afford it do both.

If you're thinking about living here in the winter weather months (Nov-April) then, without a plan and/or being crazy, some people will opine, hindsightly, that you should have done a recce.

Come to Alberta, stay for a week and within those 7 days at any time of the year you should be able to experience snow / blistering heat and anything else in between.

If you're lucky you might even get a twister.

Is that the frontal version of a wedgie?

We didn't do a recce at all. I think if I did one in winter it would have totally put me off moving. Hmmm in hindsight, wish we would have done one now.

Problem is, after just 1 week or even 2, you can't get a grasp on what it's like to live somewhere. It's just a holiday which is always great.

I'm not sure it makes much difference when you recce, as lorry says it's more of a holiday and aside from getting a general feel for the place, it's just fun. I suspect that if we had visited winnipeg in -40 we would have turned and run. you need to get acclimatised to winter - in november when its 7 below its cold, in february minus7 is a lovely warm day. Actually as it turned out I prefer winter to summer (although shaving a few weeks off it would be welcome)

We did a recce to alberta in feb, thought if we saw the place at its worst we were under no illusions. We must have had a good 2 weeks weather wise as we only saw blue skies and sun shine. One of the first things we had to do was go out and buy sun glasses.

We all had a great time, although bad weather would have influenced our plans.I would recommend having a back up in case weather could play a part in what you intend to do/see .

In the same day we saw temps from +2 drop to -9 then rise to +9. As long as your prepared you will be fine.