Day Trips

About the Cabot Trail

The Cabot Trail is a modern two-lane highway along 296 kilometers of magnificent Cape Breton Island. Named for the explorer John Cabot, who may have sighted the tip of the island in 1497, the trail threads lush glens, passes white gypsum bluffs. and skirts headlands pounded by beautiful white surf. Seldom far from the sea, always breathtaking, it is one of Canada’s most exciting highways.

Whether traveling in the summer or in the beauty of autumn highland colour, the Cabot Trail will offer you the most spectacular sights that Cape Breton has to offer.

Start to finish the Trail is a three hour drive, with stops longer. While most visitors plan to see the Trail full circle in a single day you may get a greater appreciation of the Trail by travelling to Ingonish in the morning, for lunch, and returning through Cheticamp for the sunset view. This approach allows time for a hands on experience of the Highlands: a mountain hike or a whale watching tour.