The Blue Diamond Collection

Blue Diamond Tours has developed a series of one day small group travel tours which begin and end in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

These six small group travel tours are designed to complement, augment, or enhance a tour whose subject/focus may not be exclusively Nova Scotia.

The small group travel tour itineraries can be modified to fit any operator's requirements for time, content and price points.

Blue Diamond Collections cover most of mainland Nova Scotia in an efficient and interesting way, while allowing pax to stay in the same hotel/motel for a number of consecutive nights and most importantly also more fully experience that jewel of Eastern Canada, Halifax.

Nova Scotia has so much to offer visitors, in climate, culture, cuisine, history and scenery. It's home to Longfellow's fictional heroine Evangeline, and her true, cherished homeland Acadia which includes the Bay of Fundy, where the change of tide can be as great as 55 feet, the highest in the world.

The Blue Diamond Collection are:

• Ancient Coastlines
• Evangeline's Acadia
• Goldcoast
• Northumberland
• Peggy's Shores
• Warden of the North - Halifax

Ancient Coastlines

Your trip will include the following riding the incoming Fundy tidal bore in a "zodiac" it's a wild ride and the exact time depends totally on the incoming tide

Then we visit a world famous fossil and gemstone museum, while there learning the history and geology of this unique area of Nova Scotia, discover why Fundy's tides are the highest in the world.

A guided walk along the fundy shores, we may find semi-precious gemstones or an equally interesting fossils (a major find could fully pay for the entire trip!) - the tide will determine the time of this activity

Lunch with the locals - learn about their history and struggle to survive in this area of Nova Scotia - we're handy "maple-sugar" country so it is likely one or more maple products will be on the menu

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Evangeline's Acadia

We first journey to Grand Pre (Great Meadow) site of the Acadians Expulsion from Nova Scotia in 1755 and fully discover the extent of their "trials and tribulations" and of course discover more of the story of Longfellow's Evangeline

A"tasting/sampling visit" to a local winery and learn about this relatively new and important industry in this Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia (yes, it is/was the original Acadia)

Lunch is "Lobster in the Rough" served "amid lobster traps, fishing boats and whirling seagulls" this will be a meal to remember - the distinctive locale will "force you" to use many rolls of film

A guided trek (about six hours in over-all time) to a most unique spot to view the immense expanse and power of Fundy's tides while enjoying the distinctive flora and fauna of the Fundy region as you move along this nature trail and preserve - can be included in this daytrip or we might visit the former residence of Nova Scotia's "Luther Burbank" and learn about his many contributions to Nova Scotia's agriculture in particular and agriculture in general. There will be time for a quick stop at one of the area's famous "look-offs" prior to our return to Halifax in time for your evening meal!

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The Gold Coast

Breakfast near a famous locale of Halifax harbour; learn of its connection to the U.S. Civil War and the C.S.S. Tallahassee; there'll be time for a stroll along the ocean-side boardwalk.

We'll visit the Fisherman's Museum; just how does one raise 12 daughters on one "tiny” household; plus learn how difficult it was it for the goldcoasters to earn their daily bread.

We'll have lunch with the "locals" meet and mingle and find out first-hand about life on the GoldCoast.

Then we explore a typical 19th century Nova Scotia coastal town - a preserved village of the GoldCoast - see how they lived and loved in the days gone bye

Dinner will be taken at one of Nova Scotia's finest hostelries - there'll be time for a stroll along one of several nature walks that start/finish at this resort; or some may prefer to go canoeing or kayaking prior to dinner - dinner choices - straight from the menu

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Northumberland Highland Seaside

Visit to a museum to learn about Nova Scotia's 'pre-Confederation" industrial past "dockside" learning of our Highland heritage, and how, these displaced highlanders arrived from Scotland

A jaunt along the Northumberland coastline - the warmest salt water north of Virginia - vistas of PEI in the distance - using scenic back roads and byways to visit a 19th century (still operating) water-powered grist mill

We visit a 20th century vineyard and winery and we'll learn how they fit with the way of life in this area

We'll be back in Halifax by 6:00 pm in time for dinner and other activities

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Peggy's Shores

We'll head out for breakfast and exploring time at Peggy's Cove a world famous scenic and geological wonder of the world. Tour along St. Margaret's Bay and have time to visit the Swiss Air Flight 111 Memorial and Internment site and maybe have time for a stroll along a great sand beach across the roadway from this International Park.

Lunch on your own in Chester, NS, a 19th century resort village (similar in conception to Bar Harbor, Maine) with quaint shops, dining rooms and fine old/new mansions throughout this delightful community.

We stop for a time in Mahone Bay, renowned for it's Three Churches - a wonderful, quaint south shore seaside village also known for its handicraft shops scattered along its main street.

No visit would be complete without a stop in Lunenburg; "the fishing capital of the world” and a United Nations world heritage town/site featuring a distinctive architecture, shops, restaurants, Inns, etc. and is home to Nova Scotia's Fisherman's Museum that we should visit. Lunenburg may well be that ideal place for that lobster dinner your have been craving

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Warden of the North - Halifax

We'll tour the historical core of this famous city including a guided tour of the Citadel. Tthe 4th fortress built on this site, a “star-shaped fortress” started in 1826 - it is a national historic site and the true heart and raison de of this ancient port city.

We'll visit York Redoubt at the harbour's mouth - part of the defenses of the port since the city's founding in 1749.

You'll have time to stroll the beautiful Public Gardens - the finest example of formal Victorian Gardens in North America dating from 1843 but somewhat cruelly ravaged by nature (Hurricane Juan in 2003) - we'll also visit the Titanic Cemetery - the one containing the greatest number of graves - Fairview Lawn

We'll visit two architecturally important "sub-divisions" in "old Halifax" and see first-hand why they are so unique and important. The area around the "Richmond" area in north-end Halifax and the site of Halifax's defining moment, the December 1917 Explosion that gave us the title "Shattered City" - this explosion was the greatest man-made explosion prior to the Atomic Bomb in 1945.

 We'll visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic where you'll learn more about Halifax and the Titanic and 1917 Explosion - see many artifacts of these and other times plus "our" connection to the sea and seafaring over the centuries

We can also visit Fisherman's Cove and the Eastern Passage area of Halifax harbour - an area closely tied to the U.S. Civil War and the C.S.S. Tallahassee

We'll be back at your hotel or restaurant in time for dinner.

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