7 Best Sights in The Fundy Coast, New Brunswick

The halls of the Aberdeen Cultural Centre ring with music and chatter. The converted schoolhouse is now home to theater and dance companies, a framing shop, artists' ateliers, and several galleries, and concerts and artist talks are also hosted here. Galerie 12 represents leading contemporary Acadian artists. Galerie Sans Nom is an artist-run co-op supporting avant-garde artists from throughout Canada. The artist-run IMAGO Inc. is the only print-production shop in the province. Guided tours are available by appointment.

A walk through this small nature park is always pleasant, and a great way to pass the time while waiting for the ferry to Campobello Island. Just a few feet offshore in the Western Passage, the Old Sow, the second-largest whirlpool in the world, is visible, but its intensity depends on the state of the tide–it is at its most dramatic three hours before high tide. The water is always highly active, though, and porpoises can often be seen.

These beautiful falls within a park inside the Stonehammer Geopark tumble over ancient rocks and near a fossil of a rare tetrapod trackway. The park provides visitors with tantalizing views of the falls from the boardwalk in the wooded surroundings, where there are picnic tables and hiking trails. At the right time of year, you can pick wild strawberries here.

The 34-room rustic summer cottage of the family of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is now part of a nature preserve, Roosevelt Campobello International Park, a joint project of the Canadian and U.S. governments. The miles of trails here make for pleasant strolling, many incorporating observation decks with stunning views and marine life sightings. Roosevelt's boyhood summer home was also the setting for the 1960 movie Sunrise at Campobello. Twice-daily Tea with Eleanor events include a talk about her life on the island. As an alternative to the ferry from Deer Island, Canada-based visitors can drive across the border into Maine from St. Stephen, go down Route 1, and take Route 189 to Lubec, Maine, then cross the bridge to the island.

The three main areas of this freshwater preserve—Germantown Marsh, Mary's Point, and New Horton—comprise an important habitat for species, including the American bittern, sora, and pied-billed grebe, and are also a staging point for tens of thousands of migrating shorebirds, such as American black duck, green- and blue-winged teal, and ring-necked duck. Most notable, perhaps, is the fact that 98 percent of the world population of sandpipers stop to feed on the mud shrimp in the Bay of Fundy on their way south. The mammal population includes moose, bobcats, white-tailed deer, coyotes, otters, and mink. The shoreline at Mary's Point—a Ramsar-designated conservation site—offers spectacular sightings during the peak season from July 20 through mid-August and also has an interpretation center. Shepody is a great place for hiking, and at Mary's Point you can follow the shoreline and stroll through forests for land-bird sightings, which include bald eagles and peregrine falcons. The area, now a bird sanctuary and interpretive center, is near Riverside-Albert.

Built in 1883, this beautiful house was the home of an Intercolonial Railway executive and gives more than just an idea of how a prosperous Victorian family would have lived. It also hosts exhibitions and events. After touring certain rooms of the house, you can get refreshments in the Verandah Tearoom, but check the closing time—you might need to take your afternoon tea first, before your tour.

When the world's highest tides come in on the Bay of Fundy, the surge of water pushes far upstream on the Petitcodiac River, reversing the flow with a wall of water up to a meter high and raising the overall river level. It is an incredible sight when tides are at their highest. With its terraced seating and positioning, Bore Park on Main Street is the best vantage point; viewing times are posted. In summer, there's an introductory talk about the tides. The park is part of the larger Riverfront Park, with 5 km (3 miles) of multiuse trails along the banks of the river.

Entering the water is extremely dangerous because of the deep, soft mud that lines the river.