Things to do in Halifax
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Halifax
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Locals' favourite and best ranked: warm, crowds thin, harvest and oyster peak.
Festival peak and best energy, with Jazz Festival, Pride and long daylight.
June has festivals with fewer cruise crowds, August is warmest water with maximum prices and crowds.
October brings Nocturne and fall colour with rain, late May is pleasant as seasonal places open.
Shoulder months with cheaper rooms and empty museums but damp, slush or closures.
Winter is worst for a first trip, cold and dark, with March slush and February coldest.
What's on
- Halifax Music Festival Late June
Festival at Garrison Grounds, book rooms with tickets.
- TD Halifax Jazz Festival Early to mid July each year
Ticketed stages citywide plus free waterfront early evening sets, arguably the best week of the year.
- Busker Festival late July/early Aug, 6 days over Natal Day weekend
International street performers on the waterfront with Natal Day fireworks and harbour events.
- Halifax Pride July
Parade weekend downtown and on the Commons, one of Canada's older Prides.
- Nocturne: Art at Night Usually mid October
Free nighttime art takeover of downtown, the North End and Dartmouth.
- Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo late June/early July
Large indoor tattoo performance, dates vary by year.
- Halifax Oyster Festival fall, timing varies
Fall oyster festival, timing varies by year.
- Savour Food & Wine Feb/March
Food and wine event that is a reason to come in the cold.
Best things to do in Halifax
Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk
Four kilometre harbour boardwalk locals use daily, linking Pier 21, ferries, boats and waterfront restaurants.
Halifax Citadel National Historic Site
Star shaped fort on the hill with living history, rampart views and the daily Noon Gun.
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Canada's oldest maritime museum, strongest on Titanic recovery and the Halifax Explosion.
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
Immigration museum in the ocean liner shed where about a million people entered Canada.
Halifax Public Gardens
Sixteen acres of formal Victorian gardens, bandstand and duck pond two blocks from downtown bars.
Halifax Central Library
Stacked books library building with a top floor cafe and harbour views, a favourite rainy day stop.
Point Pleasant Park
Seventy five hectares of forest, shore roads and fortifications at the tip of the peninsula.
Shakespeare by the Sea
Outdoor Shakespeare in Point Pleasant Park in summer, a beloved local evening institution.
Where to stay in Halifax
Downtown Waterfront / Queen's Marque
first trip, all-round base
Within a ten minute walk of the boardwalk, dining clusters and most headline sights, no car needed.
Citadel slope / Brunswick and Sackville
value, central base
Five minutes to the water and Spring Garden, the downtown value sweet spot.
South End / Spring Garden
families and repeat visitors
Quieter and greener with the Public Gardens as your park and the Seaport at hand.
North End
food-first, local texture
Creative food and brewery streets around Gottingen, Agricola and the Hydrostone, a longer walk to the water.
Downtown Dartmouth / Alderney
budget and longer stays
Portland Street cafes and lower prices across the harbour, traded against a twelve minute ferry ride.
Think twice about
- Bayers Lake / Clayton Park / Bedford highway strip
Chain hotels in a retail park you cannot walk anywhere from. Fine for a one night road stop, wrong for a car-free break.
- Airport YHZ area
Thirty five to forty minutes from downtown. Only for late arrivals or early departures, do not base there.
- Far suburban rentals, Lower Sackville
Cheap because the cost moves into driving, parking and lost evenings away from the peninsula.
Best restaurants in Halifax
Bar Kismet
Small family owned room for seafood and handmade pasta through a French Mediterranean lens.
The Press Gang
Special occasion fine dining in historic stone, with an oyster bar and deep whisky list.
The Bicycle Thief
Italian with Nova Scotian seafood on the boardwalk, Halifax's most booked waterfront restaurant.
EDNA
French American bistro with one of the city's best brunches and serious local fish at night.
Drift
Muir's modern Atlantic Canadian restaurant, worth visiting as a non guest, strong at breakfast too.
Bar Sofia
Latin fusion small plates and cocktails in a colourful high energy Queen's Marque room.
Studio East
Asian gastropub with Japanese, Thai and pan Asian sharing plates in a neighbourhood room.
The Wooden Monkey
Farm to table room famously accommodating vegan, gluten free and family diners, plus a Dartmouth site.
Outdoor things to do in Halifax
Peggy's Point Lighthouse
Famous 1915 lighthouse on granite boulders above a tiny working fishing village on the South Shore.
Mahone Bay
South Shore town known for its three churches view, worth a short photo stop en route to Lunenburg.
Old Town Lunenburg
UNESCO old town of colourful wooden houses and shipbuilding heritage, home port of Bluenose II.
Fundy Tidal Bore Adventures
Zodiac rafting on the tidal bore of the Shubenacadie River, with mud sliding and hot showers after.
Lawrencetown Beach Provincial Park
Nova Scotia's best known surf beach, long sand and cobble with consistent cold Atlantic swell.
East Coast Surf School
Surf lessons at Lawrencetown with thick wetsuits included and local rip and rock orientation.
Martinique Beach Provincial Park
Longer, softer beach day alternative to Lawrencetown, about forty five minutes from Halifax.
McNabs Island
Island in the harbour with beaches and ruins, reached by water taxi for a pack in picnic walk.
Best hotels in Halifax
Muir, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Halifax
Flagship Queen's Marque hotel with Nova Scotian design, wellness suite, Drift restaurant and seasonal yacht.
Sutton Place Hotel Halifax
Downtown five star in the Nova Centre and Argyle district, sleeker and more business luxe than Muir.
The Prince George Hotel
Classic upscale central hotel with pool and Gio restaurant, a smart splurge in shoulder season.
Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel
Reliable large waterfront hotel with renovated rooms, indoor pool and harbour view rooms.
Cambridge Suites Hotel Halifax
All suite hotel with kitchenettes and rooftop fitness, best mid pick for longer family stays.
Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites
1928 landmark opposite the Public Gardens with character over glass, request a gardens facing room.
The Barrington Hotel
Traditional downtown hotel by the ferry and Citadel, a sensible budget mid base with a pool.
Hampton Inn by Hilton Halifax Downtown
Downtown chain hotel near the ferry and Citadel with free hot breakfast included.
Is Halifax expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CA$125 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CA$260 a person |
| Splurge | CA$450 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Maritime Museum of the Atlantic: a few days ahead
- Shakespeare by the Sea: a few days ahead
- Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry: a few days ahead
- Alexander Keith's Brewery: a few days ahead
- Georges Island National Historic Site: a few days ahead
- Fundy Tidal Bore Adventures: weeks ahead
- East Coast Surf School: a few days ahead
- McNabs Island: a few days ahead
- Reserve Bar Kismet and The Press Gang days to weeks ahead for weekends.
- Book downtown hotels early for July to September and festival or cruise days.
- Georges Island, Citadel ghost tours, Shakespeare by the Sea, Keith's peak tours, tidal bore and Glen Arbour tee times are limited or tide bound.
- Check Bluenose II's schedule before fixing a Lunenburg day, she may be in another port.
Is Halifax safe?
- Downtown, waterfront, South End and main North End commercial streets are busy and lit, with no no-go base area.
- You may see tents in downtown green spaces and panhandling on Barrington and Spring Garden, visible but not citywide.
- Avoid long quiet poorly lit fringe walks between the far North End and downtown late at night, take a bus or cab.
- Ocean safety is the real risk: Peggy's Cove rocks, Lawrencetown rips, cold harbour water and Fundy tides have hurt visitors.
Halifax travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Midday Peggy's Cove in cruise season is a lighthouse with a crowd attached, go early or late and lunch in Lunenburg.
- Several waterfront rooms charge splurge prices for mid cruise cooking, treat unknown patios as drinks with a view.
- A day trip to the Cabot Trail or Prince Edward Island from Halifax means nine plus hours of driving for a glimpse.
- Historic Properties souvenirs carry a premium, the Seaport Market and independent shops carry the same makers for less.
Getting around Halifax: public transport and more
- Walk first, the core is compact and hilly and good shoes beat a car.
- Use the ferry and buses for the peninsula and Dartmouth, with thinner service on Sundays.
- Rent a car downtown by the day for the South Shore, Fundy and golf, then return it and walk.
- Airport is about 35 km away, taxi or rideshare, Maritime Bus express or rental, with no train.
Who Halifax suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Halifax your trip
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