Guided Tours Offered in the Annapolis Valley

Why pay for guided tours? My question would be more like why miss out on this fantastic opportunity?

There is so much to experience and learn in this historic valley. By taking a historic walking tour you can really get a feel for life back when.

Chances are the professional guides will be dressed appropriately for the tour you are on. They will tell you stories and folklore you will not read or hear about anywhere else.

Guided tours can give you hands on opportunity also. Opportunities like learning new songs or dances; or learning a new craft or a local recipe to try. You do not just learn; you experience what you are learning.

So take a look at all the different types of guided tours offered in and around the Annapolis Valley area. Plan which ones you would like to participate in before you get here. This will leave you more time while you are here to add in another one or two.

Walking / Hiking Guided Tours

So do you have your comfortable walking shoes on?

You have decided to take one of the walking guided tours today offered in the Annapolis Valley. Good choice, you are going to love it.

Check out which ones are offered, where they are located and what time they start. You may want to check the weather outside today, and then depending on where the tours are located, dress appropriately.

Most of the walking tours in the Annapolis Valley are approximately 1 - 2 hours long. The walk goes along at a slow pace, stopping often as the guides tell stories about the area. The tours will end either back at the starting point or close to it.

Questions are welcome; the tour guides are very knowledgeable and will do their best to answer all of them for you. Bring your camera and your quest for fun.

Ghost or Graveyard Guided Tours

We all like to be scared sometimes, it gets the adreline going! But don't worry, even though we are known to have lots of ghost in the area, our Ghost and Graveyard Tours are not that scarey. Creepy sometimes, but not too scarey, most are family oriented.

With some of the oldest graveyards in Canada and some of the oldest history these unique tours have become very popular. They are an exciting way to learn about some of the interesting stories, legends and folklore about our area.

The tour guides for these tours are all very knowledgable with the area, they have taken a personal interest in the history and folklore stories. Their dedication is obvious as they dress up and take on the role of a graveskeeper or ancient story-teller. They are all well trained at telling their stories and getting the audience involved.

Make sure to take in at least one of these great ghostly tours while in the area. I bet you will want to go to more of them!

• Candlelight Graveyard Tours - Annapolis Royal
• Wolfville Ghost Walks - Wolfville
• Annie Kempton Graveyard Tour - Bear River

Annapolis Royal Historical Association Guided Tours

The Annapolis Royal Historical Association provide three different walking guided tours. Their walking tours are very informative and entertaining while covering the culture and history of this area. In 2005 their three main walking tours won first place as the "Hometown Pride Event of the Year" from Nova Scotia Tourism's Festivals and Events Council.

Their walking tours are guided by two of the best; Alan Melanson and his beautiful wife Durline. On Valentine's Day, 1997 they were selected by the Chronicle Herald as one of the provinces three "Most Romantic Couples". Alan is a tenth generation Acadian whose ancestors founded the nearby Melanson Settlement. They both have a love of history and 30 years experience as tour guides.

• Acadia Heritage Tours - Annapolis Royal
• National Historic District Tours - Annapolis Royal
• Candlelight Graveyard Tours - Annapolis Royal

Other Guided Tours

There are other guided tours in the Annapolis Valley. Each one offers a different experience and most of them have ways for you to be involved. Here is a list of some of these tours:

• The Digby Admiral Walk - Digby, Nova Scotia
• Down Under Tours - Annapolis Tidal Power Plant

Self Guided Tours

Many of our towns and communities have put together self-guided walking tours. These self-guided tours are great in that you may do them at your convenience. Just pick up a booklet usually from the visitor Information Center or at some of the museums and historic sites. These booklets will have your walking route mapped out and will let you know where to stop and read about what you are looking at. They are full of interesting information on the history of the buildings and important events that happened in the area.

In the last several years many of these towns and communities have also erected interpretive signs along these routes for your added information. Bridgetown goes so far as paints a line down the sidewalks and roads of where their Cyprus Walks goes.

The walks are usually no more than a couple of kilometers long and can be done at any time. Some of the ones I know about are:

• Stroll Through the Centuries - You may find this brochure at the Visitor Information Center or at any of the historic sites or museums in the town of Annapolis Royal.
• Bridgetown Historic Cyprus Walk - You may pick up a picturesque guidebook at the Bridgetown Town Hall or at the Bridgetown Visitor Information Centre.
• Historical Walking Tour of Middleton - Pick up your guided tours booklet at the Middleton Tourist Information Centre.
• Walking Tour of Paradise

Tour Guides

Want a really fun & unique experience? Try one of the special tours set up by our great local tour guides.

These people know the area, they have lived here, some for all of their life. They have a passion for the area and like me they want to show it off.

They have all taken their favorite places and come up with different tours and packages for your enjoyment. You will find they have done their homework, they know these areas and will teach you all about it plus answer all your questions. They want you to get involved in discovering new things yourself, they will just point you in the right direction. Plus they will share with you many of the stories and folklore from the area.

For a really great experience try these great adventures out:

• Fundy Adventures - Your host Calvin & Wanda VanTassel live in Gulliver's Cove where they have a combined experience of 40 years of working there. The have organized several different tours where they enthusiastically share their love, knowledge and experience with you. They take you right to the source to hear passionate and personal stories. The tours include such adventures as clam digging, hiking to spectacular views, picking dulse, lobstering and exploring the beaches. 
• GAELTours - Located in Digby Gael Tours offers two different tours - Plankton, Periwinkles and Predators & Stones, Steeples, Ships and Seafood. They have also joined together with Petite Passage Whale Watch to offer a full day tour package. Your tour guide is a life-long resident of the area and has 30 years as a biology, chemistry and environmental studies educator at the Digby Regional High School.
• Kathleen's Shuttle & Tours - For another very good interactive guided tour you may want to give Kathleen a call at Kathleen's Shuttle & Tours. Kathleen works from Digby and offers several very interesting tours including whale watching, Jerome & Digby Neck, Acadian Shore, Working Studio's, Birds & Wildlife tours just to name a few. If you tell her what your interest are she will even devise a special tour to fit them. You do not just drive around with Kathleen, you stop, get out and get active to. This is a good way to learn about and experience the beautiful Annapolis Valley. 
• Stone Bear Tracks & Trails - Frank Meuse Jr. started travelling the back country at the age of eleven or twelve. In 1987 he was elected Chief of the Bear River First Nation and served for 14 years. He then set out to help young people with modern day pressures which led him to create Stone Bear Tracks & Trails. They now offer one and two day packages. Let this master guide and avid outdoorsman escort you to places where his people, the Mi'kmaq, have travelled for centuries.
  
• Go North Tours - Your host Laila North has worked in the liquor & wine industry, the tourist industry and the guiding industry. She started her tour company in 2009 to give you an extraordinary look at the Nova Scotia wine country. She offers a variety of different tours to show several different aspects of the wine industry here in the Annapolis Valley. You can even design your own tour or choose from a one, two or three day package. Tour wineries, stroll though vineyards, sample superb wines and enjoy the fantastic scenery of the Annapolis Valley. 
• Into The Wilderness Expeditions - This tour company offers several tours including their "Bay of Fundy Tides and Annapolis Valley Tour". This 8-hour tour is conducted in smaller groups giving the opportunity to explore places the bigger tour buses cannot go. Tours may include hiking, canoeing, sailing or cruising, bird watching, fossil hunting, Valley wine, whale watching and nature tours.

Whale Watching Guided Tours

One of the most popular guided tours in the region these days is the whale watching tours. In 1999 the fish stocks were in trouble so new stricter regulations were heavily enforced to try to save them. It was harder to make a living fishing so several of the fishermen looked for other ways to support their families.

The tourist industry was building in the province and not wanting to leave the water the retired fishermen looked at using their boats for guided tours. They offered fishing trips, bird watching and whale watching. This caught on big, especially the bird and whale watching. These fishermen knew where the whales and birds were; they had seen them for years during their daily fishing trips. For a few years it seemed everyone was offering these whale watching tours, but as with any industry over the years only the best survive. Check out this page for a list of the guided whale watching tours being offered.

Well there you have a good list of guided tours you can take in and around the Annapolis Valley. As I find others I will list them and as I try some of them out again I will give you a review on them, so check back often. In the mean time make sure you check out all the other great things there is to do in the Annapolis Valley during your vacation. There is sure to be enough to keep you as busy as you want to be.

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