The Best Things to Do in New Brunswick (for 2024)

Words by Dalene Heck / Photography by Dalene & Pete Heck

New Brunswick is doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It’s a wonder that it is not one of the first provinces that comes to mind when people talk about touring eastern Canada. It offers adventure, history, culture, incredible scenery, hospitality, culinary delights, and much, much more. And hey, guess what? That’s exactly the kind of place that attracts us.

New Brunswick is like the underdog, the shy girl at the party, the indie rock band that only the cool kids are into. That alone wooed us in the door and why we keep coming back. And now that we live in Nova Scotia, it’s even easier for us to hop over and explore this Atlantic gem!

We’ve experienced so much in our number of visits to this Atlantic province. We’ve visited countless charming coastal towns that are steeped in history and loved house boating and flyfishing on some of the most popular New Brunswick rivers. We cherished the many moments immersing ourselves in Acadian culture and learning about the history along the Acadian shores. We’ve watched whales leap from the water and felt the ocean spray as they did so. We’ve hiked, tasted fantastic food and drink, kayaked, and so, so much more.

It’s a special place for us, and below we’ve highlighted some of the best things to do in New Brunswick.

The Best Places to See and Things to Do in New Brunswick

Grand Manan

We have much more to say about our week spent on this, one of the 19 islands that belong to New Brunswick. Although Grand Manan is the biggest, it is still relatively tiny overall, but that didn’t stop us from filling our week with an incredible array of activities.

From watching seals play in the calm early morning waters to tackling bush-whacking hikes, we loved our time there immensely. It reminded us a bit of Moloka’i, Hawaii, to be honest – a gorgeous little slice of paradise that we are so surprised isn’t overrun by people wanting a piece of it.

Bouctouche

A single photo online had drawn us to this area, compelling us to see it for ourselves. What we found there made us wish we had allotted an entire day.

Imagine growing up as a child, staring at an empty island in your town, and then as an adult bringing that island to life with books filled with characters based on your Acadian heritage. That is exactly what Antonine Maillet did, and her vision now fills Le Pays de la Sagouine.

Led around by a tour guide and introduced to others on the island who were in full character, we were thoroughly entertained and educated. This attraction also offers an array of festivals and musical performances every night during the summer that we wish we had allotted time for.

Nearby is also a long curvy boardwalk raised over windswept dunes at the Irving Eco-Centre. With soft sand on one side and wavy emerald grass on the other, it’s worth every step of the stroll.

Ballet By the Ocean

In the summer months, not far from Bouctouche and right near the water, the Atlantic Ballet performs in the midst of a nature reserve. Balley By the Ocean was borne out of the early, heavily restricted COVID days. This dance troupe became the only one in North America (and maybe the world) to be able to entertain during the pandemic.

Now, the performance is accompanied by a three-course meal prepared by Chef Jordan Holden of Atelier Tony (in Moncton) using the highest-quality local ingredients. Guests were able to bring their own wine, and a local winery was on location, giving away samples. This experience in such a stunning setting is unique and exceptionally special.

Akadi Lumina

Another attraction near Bouctouche, Akadi Lumina opened in the summer of 2024 to great acclaim. It’s one thing to learn about the Acadian people and their stories of resilience and perseverance, but it’s another thing to actually feel it. Via Akadi Lumina, the Acadian story is told via light, poetry, video projection, and original music. It’s not a place to learn facts but instead, a place to understand emotions.

Akadi Lumina is a 1.5 km forest walk taken at night. The path is illuminated the whole way, with stops punctuated by a variety of displays. We felt anguish at being separated, joy at gathering together again, and deeply felt how Acadian stories have echoed through the generations. At times, the experience was a bit disorienting but always vibrant and inspiring.

It is now a permanent New Brunswick attraction, open when the weather is warm.

Saint John

We arrived under a thick blanket of fog and left with the same – it is no wonder that the fog horn was invented in this city. But no matter, the city offers so much in and outside of these pea soup hours.

When in the fog: We embraced the concept of “fog”tography and enjoyed capturing the moody atmosphere. We stayed indoors for incredible meals at the Saint John Ale House and East Coast Bistro. A little fog and rain also weren’t going to stop us from enjoying our favourite activity – kayaking – where we were led through still waters to view fossils on nearby banks.

When out of the fog: We took in performances at the Buskers on the Bay festival and watched water actually flow backwards on the Saint John River.

Hopewell Rocks

The tides rage onto the coast of New Brunswick as quickly as they disperse. With every passing minute of the day, the coastal landscape transforms.

There is no other land on the planet, other than neighbouring provinces, that exists next to the likes of the Bay of Fundy. The bay narrows and rises, forcing a lot of water into not a lot of space, which can cause extreme rises up to 53 feet twice in a day.

The forceful sea has created a series of oddly shaped rocks on the southeast shore of New Brunswick, known famously as the Hopewell Rocks. By low tide, we were able to walk among them, and we arrived at first crack of dawn to catch the sun rays breaking across their awkward edges. And in the hours just before the highest tide we boarded kayaks to paddle among them. The water bounced us thoroughly but not so much that we couldn’t enjoy the spectacle we were in.

St. Martins Sea Caves

These are many spots whose character has been shaped by the Bay of Fundy, and these two are worth at least a full day of exploring. St Martins, already a picturesque little town on its own, offers sea caves that are inaccessible at high tide but can be walked around in during low. The water is crystal-clear, and the cliffs are a deep red, making this a must-stop to watch as the area changes with the passing hours.

Fundy Trail Parkway

Nearby begins the 19km Fundy Trail Parkway which can be tackled in any number of ways – vehicle, bike, or your own two feet. The drive is spectacular, but the real fun is strapping on a pair of hiking shoes and taking a walk. There is a series of trails that took us up and down the coast to waterfalls and overviews.

At the end is the stunning Long Beach, which was only made accessible to visitors in 2016. We had some sketchy weather that pushed us around at some points, but this drive was easily still a top highlight for us.

Going to the area and looking for a place to stay? Check out these quirky Fundy National Park accommodations!

Kouchibouguac National Park

Please don’t ever ask me to pronounce it, but please take me there again. More dunes, more beaches, more hiking. We spent most of our time wandering Kelly’s Beach, which is accessed by another curvy boardwalk, and with the tide out, we poked around extensively on the ocean floor.

Houseboating in New Brunswick

Never would New Brunswick cross our minds as a houseboat destination. Growing up in the West, renting a houseboat was done on the Okanagan in British Columbia. Boy, oh boy, were we wrong. This was some of the best house boating we’ve ever done. We traded turns as captian as we toured up and down Mactaquac Lake, a section of the Saint John River.

It’s a perfect watery vacation/adventure because it’s as simple as rolling up with the groceries you need for a few days. They provided towels and the like (linens were rented), and it was all very comfortable. Their crew gave us thorough but easy instructions on how to handle the boat, and then we set off for our adventure on the water. (Here is a more detailed post about our houseboat in New Brunswick adventure.)

Our Thoughts About our First Trip to New Brunswick

When we set our sights on our home turf for the summer of 2015, the East Coast was our first desire. We had previously spent some limited time in the region – mostly via trips with our old jobs – but didn’t really know much about this chunk of Canada that sits over 4,000 km away from where we grew up.

It’s technically part of this big land mass we call home, but it’s almost completely unfamiliar. It is not that we are travellers who care about ticking places off a list, but Atlantic Canada does include the last two provinces we have yet to visit. New Brunswick was one of them. And with two weeks to explore, we thought we could do it all. We did the best we could to embrace all aspects of our ninth province: we tasted many of its craft brews (second most per capita in Canada), bounced around on several kayaks (including in the highest tides in the world), watched water flow backwards (for reals), and even saw the world’s largest lobster.

The rest, as they say, was up to New Brunswick. And beyond all the tasty and quirky goodness it showed us, the province had plenty of what we admire most: drop-dead gorgeous scenery.

Here’s a glimpse of what it showed us and why we fell in love with this province.

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This post was produced by us, and brought to you by Tourism New Brunswick.