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Halifax |
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The Halifax Regional municipality
is both the largest city in Atlantic
Canada and the capital city of Nova
Scotia. It is also a major hub city for transportation in the Maritimes,
as it offers an international
airport, a passenger and cargo train
terminal, a Canadian
Forces Base and a major
port. One of the primary industries in the Maritimes is tourism, and many
of the visitors to Atlantic Canada will encounter Halifax at one point or another
along their journey.
The Halifax Regional is
an eclectic city that has a mix of artists, business people, students, seafarers
and more. Many are attracted to this vibrant city because it has all the amenities
of a large metropolitan centre yet still retains a certain small town charm.
For more information on Halifax, click
here.
This WorldWeb.com Travel
Guide article can help travellers with their accommodation choice with three
important information sources:
1) Accommodation
Directory - This is a complete accommodation directory containing detailed
information about hotels, B&Bs, luxury resorts, campgrounds and more. With
links to accommodation websites and interactive maps, this directory will help
visitors find the right place to stay based on their personal preferences.
2) Room
Search & Secure Room Reservations - This convenient room search
page allows the user to check for room availability and then make a secure room
reservation at appropriate properties. Although this is a useful feature anytime
of year, the online Secure Room Reservations page is particularly helpful in
the peak seasons when finding accommodation at properties can be difficult.
3) Maps -
The Halifax map can assist visitors in choosing where to stay by not only indicating
where accommodations are located, but also where they are in relation to attractions,
restaurants, shops, tours, transportation and more.
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Map
of the Halifax Regional - Click to Enlarge |
TYPES OF ACCOMMODATIONS
The Halifax Regional has a number of accommodation choices, but visitors will
find mostly an array of hotels, from budget motor inns to five-star luxury accommodations.
For the real budget traveller, Halifax has a few backpacker -style hostels.
Conference
facilities are available in many of the big-chain hotels in the city.
The residential areas of
the city have a variety of B
& Bs and even the occasional inn.
For people looking for more secluded accommodations, such as cabins, campgrounds
and lodges, it's best to look outside the city limits.
WHEN TO GO
The peak tourist season
in Halifax is definitely during the summer when sun-seekers, boaters and sightseers
converge to enjoy the warm weather, the extensive beaches and the plethora of
outdoor festivals. Autumn
is also a nice time to visit the city, as the changing colours make for a spectacular
natural canvas, though fall-travellers should bring an umbrella—November
is typically the wettest month of the year.
The lack of winter activities
around the city makes winter a slow tourist season in Halifax, perfect for those
who don't mind braving the cool temperatures, which dip as low as -10°C
(14°F), and snow which accumulates up to 64 mm (25 in) each month, to avoid
the crowds. Spring
begins to bring people back again, as flowers bloom and the days grow longer
and warmer.
AREAS
The Halifax Regional consists
of a number of communities, all former independent municipalities that amalgamated
in the 1990s to become the Halifax Regional. These communities include Halifax,
Dartmouth, Bedford,
Sackville
and Cole Harbour.
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| Westin
Nova Scotian at Dusk 1 |
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Downtown Halifax
Central Halifax is located on a peninsula that juts into the Halifax Harbour.
This core region of the city has the most accommodation options, including several
hotels that overlook the harbour, including the Casino
Nova Scotia Hotel, which offers a number of restaurants and bars, as
well as a large casino offering live entertainment, slot machines and more.
Downtown surrounds the historic Halifax
Citadel, and the most prestigious hotels can be found near the citadel
and on Lower Water street along the Harbour.
Downtown Halifax is the
sight of the historic Nova
Scotian Hotel, located at the train station, which served as a supply
hub for the trains that travelled westward across Canada. The hotel was originally
built by Canada National Rail and overlooks the Harbour. It is now part of the
Westin chain and is located next to a major film studio. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
has visited the property twice.
Getting Around
Downtown Halifax can be easily explored on foot, and it is here that many of
Halifax's major attractions and activities are based, so staying in in this
busy urban centre is convenient. If exploration on foot is not an option, central
Halifax has an intricate public
bus system, as well as ferries
that can take passengers to Dartmouth and other areas in the harbour. Taxis
can easily be hailed or booked in Halifax as well, and there are a number of
car rental offices. Parking in lots and on the street can be found quite easily,
especially on evenings and weekends.
Useful Links:
Halifax
Accommodations Page
Halifax Hotel Rooms Search
Halifax Interactive
Map
Dartmouth
Across the harbour from Halifax is Dartmouth, a large municipal area that rivals
downtown Halifax in both amenities and accommodations. Several big-name properties
can be found here at rates more reasonable than those found in the core of the
city. The catch? Dartmouth's location necessitates that those travelling into
central Halifax either take a ferry or cross one of two toll
bridges, which can be congested during peak times. Still, Dartmouth
has a number of malls,
restaurants
and residential areas that make it a place worth visiting in its own right.
Compared to Halifax, Dartmouth
is a newer, more commercialized, primarily residential city offering less historic
properties and sights, and more brand-name shops and restaurants. Hotels
in the area are mainly big-name corporate hotels catering to the business traveller,
and budget motels, catering to the car and RV traveller. Dartmouth has a few
independent hotels, and offers a number of B
& Bs, more than are available in Halifax. Because Dartmouth is less
metropolitan than Halifax, there are also a few campgrounds
that would not be found in Halifax.
Getting Around
Dartmouth is connected to Halifax and the rest of the Halifax regional via the
Halifax
Metro Transit system, which offers bus and ferry service. Dartmouth
is a suburban area that is built mainly for vehicles, and parking is plentiful
at malls and restaurants. Car
rental agencies are available throughout the city, and taxis
are also readily available.
Useful Links:
Dartmouth
Accommodations Pages
Darmouth Interactive Map
Halifax Airport
The
Halifax International Airport, Canada's seventh busiest airport is located
in the town of Enfield, approximately 40 km (25 mi) from downtown Halifax. Because
the town of Enfield
is so small, there are a limited number of accommodation
choices for visitors to the airport area. Two hotels
offer accommodations, and a number of B
& Bs can be found in the surrounding area, but other than that,
travellers will have to make their own way to central Halifax.
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Room
at the Airport Hotel Halifax 2 |
Getting Around
It will cost travellers nothing to get from the airport to one of the airport
hotels in Enfield, because each hotel offers a complimentary shuttle service.
However, it costs over $50 to get from the Halifax airport to central Halifax
in a taxi. Several car rental companies have offices in the airport, and reservations
are recommended. Another transportation option into Halifax is to take the airporter
shuttle bus, which takes visitors to various locations in downtown Halifax
for approximately $16 for a one way trip and $28 for a round trip.
Other Areas in the Halifax
Regional
The Halifax Regional area has a number of other communities, which offer independent
accommodation choices that are free of the big hotel names that dominate the
landscape of the rest of the city. Both Bedford
and Fall River
have hotels, while in other bedroom communities such as Herring
Cove, Portugese
Cove, Elmsdale,
Eastern Passage,
Waverly
and Lower Sackville,
visitors will find B & Bs. In more far out neighbourhoods like Upper Sackville,
there are campgrounds for city dwellers with a fancy for the great outdoors.
Getting Around
The Halifax Metro Transit system offers bus service to many bedroom communities,
including Bedford, Cole Harbour and Lower Sackville; however, in some of the
more outlying residential communities like Waverly, Upper Sackville and Eastern
Passage, visitors will be expected to provide their own transportation, whether
it be via a car or taxi.
UNIQUE EXPERIENCES
Nova Scotia is a place where maritime life collides with earth-bound wilderness,
and many tour operators in Nova Scotia offer multi-day excursions designed to
give visitors a taste of Nova Scotia with the guidance of a qualified expert.
Several types of boating
excursions are available, from kayaking
adventures that involve camping in provincial parks, to luxury sailing
vacations aboard a modern yacht. For the less sporty, culinary
tours offer tours of vineyards and restaurants, while guests will usually
bunk down for the night in a B & B or small local inn.
Hotels often offer package
deals for their guests that include both accommodation and access or discounts
to an activity or attraction nearby.
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| The
Halifax Skyline at Night |
PHOTOS COURTESY OF:
- The Westin Nova Scotian
Hotel; Westin Nova Scotian at Dusk; Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- The Airport Hotel
Halifax; Room at the Airport Hotel Halifax; Enfield, Nova Scotia, Canada
