The Best Waterfront Resorts in Nova Scotia

Peggy’s Cove appears after a 45-minute drive across countryside from Halifax, Nova Scotia’s capital. It’s a postcard-pretty fishing village clustered around a jade-green inlet. Minutes up the road is the Oceanstone Seaside Resort with its standalone cottages; each a unique vignette of seaside-chic with white-painted floorboards, cast-iron log burners, and oil paintings hanging from the timber walls. The suites are equally elegant with plenty of weathered-effect wood, time warp furniture, and a refreshing marine palette.

Almost a century old, this rambling resort is unique on the island; barely two hours south of Halifax, and 10 minutes from the cute-as-a-button town of Liverpool (on the banks of the Mersey River, no less). It’s not a place for idling, with its indoor swimming pool, boathouse (for kayak and paddleboard rental), and a nine-hole golf course. Then again, given the eclectic mix of cozy, beachy hotel rooms, standalone cottages and larger lodges, it’s sufficiently homely to induce indolence if you’re that way inclined.

On Nova Scotia’s North Shore, overlooking the moody Annapolis Basin, this Norman chateau-style hotel delivers solid, old-school comfort in landscaped grounds. An immaculately groomed 18-hole championship golf course should keep incurable players satisfied, while an outdoor heated pool and spa are alternative options for the less sporty. Whatever you do, don’t leave without tucking into the locally sourced Digby scallops at the in-house Spokes Bistro: they’re as plump as marshmallows and quite unforgettable.

On the water’s edge overlooking the Northumberland Strait is this rustic resort of log cabins skirted by wooden decking. Rooms in the main lodge are cozy and spartanly decorated. We recommend the one-bedroom cottages – a significant upgrade for a modest cost – with thick timber walls, a kitchen, and living room. You can huddle round your own log-burning stove and laze on the antique furniture. Activities here are charmingly Victorian: think horseshoe throwing, giant checkerboards, and bicycles for hire.

Spoiler alert: this nautical-themed hotel isn’t actually on an island, but opposite one. In fact, it’s opposite a number of them, peppered about Mahone Bay on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, an hour from Halifax. It’s a sheltered spot that’s ideal for yachties looking to moor their boats – and the soft clinking of halyards against masts will lull you to sleep each night. Not that the soundtrack is necessary; beds in all rooms are marshmallow-soft slumber aids.

In a converted 19th-century chapel on the shore of Fergusons Cove, this three-suite B&B feels much further-flung than it is. A mere five-minute drive out of Halifax you’ve left behind any traces of urbanity for a world of thick woodland, gravel roads, and tucked-away clapboard cottages. Suites at the Star of the Sea are all different but unified by their period details: arched church windows, ceiling beams, and the wood-and-white elegance of the decor. Hosts Tom and Eva are experts on the local area, so be sure to tap them up for the inside track.

You can’t beat this redbrick business traveler’s classic for location. Smack in the midst of Halifax’s bustling waterfront, you’re just a couple of blocks from the city’s Old Town where the best boutique shops and restaurants are found. You’re even closer to the ferry terminal that’ll transport you across the bay to the younger, village-vibe suburb of Dartmouth. Be sure to head there for buzzy independent cafes, micro-breweries and galleries.

We challenge you to find a better name for a holiday cottage than Sneezewort’s Shanty; or Baldmoney’s Boathouse for that matter. With Victorian-style charm to match their Dickensian monikers, these eight standalone cottages form a delightful hamlet on the gently sloped shores of Saint Margaret’s Bay, a 30-minute drive from Halifax. Interiors are similarly quaint across the range, with creaky wooden floorboards, maritime art, and log-burning stoves to warm your cockles after an afternoon of bracing wind and sea spray.

You can feel yourself relaxing as you pull off the rural road onto the dirt track that winds through pine forest to Eel Lake in remote southwestern Nova Scotia. This is the kind of spot you’d only ever find on purpose; it’s so tucked away you’ll have forgotten what cities sound like by the time you settle in for the first night in your quiet, cottage-cozy room. Owners Elaine and Ray make this B&B feel as much like your home as theirs – with farm-fresh eggs at breakfast, and a kayak you can borrow to explore the lake.