Within 60 Minutes
You’ll find bookstores, gardens, outdoor fun, antique shops and more within an hour, give or take, from the cottage. Be sure to check out our Good Eats page to pair your adventures with some of the best food stops in the Valley.
One of my all-time favourite used book stores. Owner Jennifer Crouse stocks an extraordinary range of fiction, non-fiction, children’s books and more. She’s well-organized and knowledgeable too.
Explore two barns filled to the rafters with antique home furnishings, from country to mid-century modern. Located in Granville Centre going towards Bridgetown, it also stocks vintage jewellery and wearables, locally-made consumables, lighting, recycled picture frames, and more …
Located on the Old Post Road between Digby and Annapolis Royal, overlooking the Annapolis Basin, this antique stop specializes in formal, country and period antiques, art, and dressed sculpture produced by its owner.
The Flight of Fancy is an acclaimed art gallery and craft shop in the heart of Bear River, Nova Scotia. The gallery features over two hundred artists’ works housed in a beautiful setting.
Dawn’s studio lives in a former United Church that she and her husband have lovingly refurbished and redesigned. Her art, and indeed, the artist herself, is all about colour, indigenous culture and pure joy. Her list of international design work is featured on Unicef International Cards, Vatican Christmas Cards to the corporate logo for Canadian North Airlines. In the heart of Bridgetown, along Route 1.
Bear River is a magical village at the tip of a tidal river. Tucked within green, rolling hills and open skies, it is chock full of art and history. A must adventure for anyone visiting western Nova Scotia.
Annapolis Basin Chartered Tours
Explore the region by water. Skipper Robert Wiebe provides sunset tours, fishing, scenic tours and island picnics on his 23-foot-long 238 Carolina Skiff. Ship ahoy from Water Street in Digby. Tours also to Bear River and the Annapolis Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings.
One of the best ways to understand and appreciate the history of French and French Acadian culture in the Annapolis Valley, is by touring four National Historic Sites: Port Royal, Melanson Settlement, Fort Anne and finally Grand-Pré, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and stunning memorial to the Acadians and their tragic upheaval.
Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens
The main outdoor collection of the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens on the Acadia University campus in Wolfville, is divided into nine unique habitats that are found in the Acadian Forest Region. This captivating environment is also a wonderful place for quiet walks and contemplation.
Foxhill Cheese
This family-run business produces many varieties of savoury cheese, natural yogurt, gelato, and pasteurized non-homogenized milk in glass bottles. See how they make the cheeses in the Foxhill Cheese House.