Ontario:
If you are looking for mostly highway style driving to get to your destination, then the 17/417 through Ontario is a good choice. The 17 is two-lane though, so keep your eyes open for left turning vehicles and oncoming traffic passing at inappropriate times. The 417 is divided but really busy from about 07:30am to 09:30am and 3:30 pm to about 6pm. Drop a line to me on here if you decide to overnight in Ottawa and maybe we could arrange a meet-up. I mad the trip to Cape Breton and around the trail on my Wee this summer. Here are my trip suggestions.
Quebec:
Taking the Hwy 40 to the Hwy 30 will allow you to bypass Montreal itself if you want to skip past, but expect some traffic at the toll booth and at the 30/20 interchange. Hwy 185 has some beautiful scenery.
New Brunswick:
The highway 2 runs the province border to border. It's boring, but it's the fastest way across. If you are looking for roadside attractions along the way, I suggest the walking trail to the falls at Grand Falls and/or the covered bridge at Hartland.
Nova Scotia:
The 104 is the major route, although you may want to take the old Rte 4 through Wentworth and Folly lake. It's a bit longer, but more interesting than the toll highway that bypasses it.
Once you get to Cape Breton, I HIGHLY recommend going up the East Side of the Island on Rte 4 rather than the Trans Canada on the West Side of the Island. It is more scenic in my opinion and the road itself is more interesting interms of turns and elevation changes. You can go across the 125 and 105 to get to the the Seal Island Bridge and up Kelly's Mountain before getting on the trail at either the Red Barn or the Englishtown Ferry. There are a number of elevated look outs over the Bras D'or and the Atlantic if you take that route.
There was still a fair amount (25 kms or so) of the Cabot Trail under re-construction this year when I went around, but hopefully it will be finished and re-surfaced by next year. I'm lucky because I'm originally from there and have done most of this stuff over the years. If I had to do it as a tourist I would break the trip around the trail over two days so I could stop to do more stuff. Places to stop along the trail:
In Clockwise order:
The Red Barn (you'll know it when you see it)
The Evangeline in Cheticamp
The Skyline Trail (seriously, don't miss this. It'll cost you an hour or two of walking, but it's well worth it)
The Rusty Anchor in Pleasant Bay
Mary Ann Falls in Ingonish (swimming hole right under the falls)
The Coastal Restaurant also in Ingonish (this is where you get your T-shirts or other swag for riding the trail)
The Giant MacAskill Museum in Englishtown
Side adventures:
Take White Point Rd and New Haven Rd into Neil's Harbour
This is on the Ceilidh Trail, but not too far off the Cabot Trail to the southwest: Glennora Distillery in Glennora (Single Malt Whiskey made in Canada!).
I can't tell you much about Newfoundland, because I've only been to St John's, but you could spend more time in Cape Breton! LOL
Enjoy my homeland!
