Peggy's Cove Small-Group Express Tour from Halifax

Peggy's Point Lighthouse

Peggy's Point Lighthouse is the image of Nova Scotia that travellers remember most. The white octagonal tower with its red lantern was built in 1915 and still serves as an active aid to navigation for the coast. It stands on a sweep of bare, smooth granite polished by glaciers and the Atlantic, and on a windy day the surf explodes against the rocks below, which is exactly what most visitors come to photograph.

Is Peggy's Cove worth visiting? For the lighthouse alone, most people say yes. Walk out across the pale granite, frame the tower against the sky and watch the waves, but stay on the light-coloured rock: signs warn that the dark, wet rocks near the water are slippery and that waves here can be dangerous. Your guide gives you the best photo tips before you set off on your own.

Peggy's Cove fishing village

Peggy's Cove is a tiny working fishing community of only a few dozen residents, set around a narrow inlet on St. Margarets Bay, about 43 kilometres from Halifax. Brightly painted wooden houses, fishing sheds on stilts, stacks of lobster traps and small boats tied to the wharves make it one of the most photographed villages in Canada, and the whole area is protected to keep its character.

During your free time you can wander the lanes at your own pace, visit the artisan and craft shops, watch the fishermen's wharves and stop for a snack or a bowl of chowder at a local cafe. The giant granite boulders scattered across the landscape are glacial erratics, dropped by melting ice at the end of the last ice age, and they give the area its almost lunar look.

The drive along Nova Scotia's South Shore

The road from Halifax to Peggy's Cove takes about 50 minutes each way and leads you out of the city into a landscape of rocky inlets, small coves, bogs and stunted evergreens shaped by the ocean wind. Your driver-guide uses the time to share local stories and insider tips about Nova Scotia, its fishing heritage and the communities of the South Shore.

Travelling in a small group of no more than 7 guests means a more comfortable ride than a big coach, an easier pace at the village and more time to ask questions. If you are wondering how to get to Peggy's Cove from Halifax without a car, this kind of tour is the simplest answer: there is no regular public bus, and the pickup from your hotel or the port saves time.

Halifax and the historic Titanic graves

Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia and one of the busiest cruise ports in Canada, with a long waterfront boardwalk, the star-shaped Citadel on its hill and the Pier 21 immigration museum. The express tour starts and ends in the downtown core or at the port, so it fits easily between other plans or before your ship sails.

In 1912 ships from Halifax recovered many of the victims of the Titanic sinking, and 150 of them were buried in three city cemeteries; the largest group rests at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, in neat rows of grey granite markers. The longer driving-tour option on this page adds a stop at these historic graves and other city sights to your visit to Peggy's Cove, giving a fuller picture of the city in about four hours.