Halifax
The CouchSurfing Wiki, an informal workspace which anyone can edit.
| Canada | Canada pages | Cities | Other links |
|
Calgary • Edmonton • Kitchener-Waterloo • Moncton • Montreal • Niagara Falls • Ottawa • Quebec • Saint-Jean-Port-Joli • Toronto • Vancouver • Victoria • Winnipeg |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Halifax is the capital of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Despite its small size Halifax has a fairly large CS presence due to its sizable university population. As opposed the remainder of the Maritime provinces, events are more common here, though sometimes these come as a notice in the Halifax group.
Contents |
Couchsurfing Tips
Halifax is rather uncommon in that it can often be as easy to find accomodation by posting on the board as opposed to writing messages or requests. This is due to the prevalence of people willing to host in outlying areas which are often overlooked (as Halifax also does not have the search function to search for people in outlying areas). As it is, it is quite rare to not be able to find accomodation at any time of the year, and even last minute requests are often likely to result in a place to stay.
Transportation Tips
The whole of the province of Nova Scotia is either on a peninsula or on an island, and so to get to Nova Scotia for most overland visitors means first passing through New Brunswick. There is also a ferry from Portland, Maine, which travels to Yarmouth, though it does not marry up well with passing buses onwards to the city.
The airport is one of the perpetual problems facing travelers. It is 35 km outside of the city with no realistic public transport options into the city other than taxi or shuttle bus. Many members post to the Halifax board in search of alternatives, though of course this is best done with as much lead time as possible. As for the airport itself, it is one of Air Canada's secondary hubs and it is possible to get flights to Europe, the US, and the Caribbean, so Halifax both literally and figuratively makes a perfect endpoint or starting point for a Canadian journey.
The city itself has a fairly efficient bus system (though the locals complain about - but this is true of most locals anywhere in the world). Like many cities on the Eastern Seaboard (Boston, New York) it also has a wonderful harbour ferry which is well worth the price
Sites to See
Due to its close connection to the sea and the ocean, many of Halifax's tourist locations revolve around the city's maritime character. The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is the marquee museum. It also hosts semi-regular talks and lectures during the evenings. Spring Garden Road is known for being the cultural center of the city during the day, whereas the beat heads to the downtown bars during the night.
There are many outlying points of interest. Agricola Street is the de facto heart of the Italian community and Point Pleasant Park is also worthy of a visit. A harbour tour is worthwhile but can be substituted with a budget version of walking across the MacDonald bridge and the Harbour Ferry. Further out are the beaches at Lawrencetown and Peggy's Cove.
Halifax is renowned for its nightlife, and has one of the highest concentrations of bars to population, as opposed to any city in the world.
