Perched on Nova Scotia’s Atlantic Coast, Cape Breton Island boasts miles of rugged coastline enveloping an interior of majestic scenery that’s home to Aboriginal, Gaelic, and Acadian cultures. Trek the scenic Cabot trail, snaking through the mist-tipped mountains of Cape Breton National Park. Learn to dance a ceilidh — a traditional Irish dance — before ending the evening in a cozy maritime pub sampling the local drink. Wildlife spotters will stay busy watching schools of humpback, fin, and minke whales as they make their way up the St. Lawrence to the ocean.

It’s worth carving out a day to explore characterful towns like Baddeck, with it’s old-world style fishing port, and Mabou, where the sounds of the Scottish fiddle are a perennial soundtrack. But most visitors spend their time here enshrouded in soul-stirring nature, with cozy evenings tucked up in a Cape Breton cottage, and nothing but coastline or forest for miles.

While Cape Breton features a stunning natural landscape, the frequent rainfall it experiences makes choosing a season to visit tricky. During the summer months, the weather is warmer and drier, a perfect time to get outdoors and explore along the coast or in the interior of the island. The autumn months are punctuated by the pop of color from fall foliage, and attracts nature lovers and photographers alike. But travelers should be sure to pack a sweater or jacket, as the weather can become quite cold. Winters on Cape Breton are bitter and harsh, and many of the tourist attractions will be closed until spring.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park

This massive national park spans nearly 1,000-square-kilometres of a wild peninsula from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Choose your own adventure, be it backcountry hiking in a boreal forest thick with moose prints or a sunset drive along sheer red cliffs. Time your journey right and end up in La Bloc Beach at dinnertime for one of its famous lobster boils.

Unama’ki

The Mi’kmaq people have lived on Cape Breton Island for over 10,000 years, and their culture continues to thrive. Pay a visit to Unama’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People, where you can learn traditional drum-making, take a dreamcatcher workshop, and go on a medicine walk with a Mi’kmaq leader.

Celtic Music Interpretive Centre

Cape Breton Island is sometimes referred to as Canada’s Musical Coast on account of its obsession with celtic music, which you’ll hear coming from parks, pubs, concert halls, and basically anywhere people gather. To learn more about the tradition, swing by the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre in Judique for a deep dive on the history and culture of the music, and attend a traditional ceilidh (Gaelic for “a gathering of people”), which includes fiddle music, dancing, and plenty to eat and drink.