Cape Breton Island

Historic Site

The fortunes of the province that became Nova Scotia are inextricably bound up with this mighty fortress, built by the French but battled over countless times before finally being burned to the ground in 1760. The current site recreates the fortress as it was in 1744, right down to the people – costumed soldiers, cooks, orderlies, musicians, gardeners and artisans create a real sense of time travel, and bring the place to life with stories and free guided tours.

Museum

Telecommunications pioneer and inventor Alexander Graham Bell fell in love with Bras d'Or during a family holiday – apparently the hilly scenery reminded him of his Scottish homeland. In the late 1880s he built a lavish summer estate, Beinn Bhreagh (Gaelic for beautiful mountain), on a peninsula across the bay from Baddeck. This fascinating museum at the edge of town houses full-scale replicas of Bell's groundbreaking Silver Dart aircraft, along with electrical devices, telegraphs, telephones, kites and medical inventions.

National Park

One of Atlantic Canada's most famous and spectacular national parks, Cape Breton Highlands occupies 20% of the Cape Breton Island landmass. It's accessible by the famous Cabot Trail, a third of which runs along the edge of the park. With dramatic highland scenery, it's a superb place for hiking; the park's most famous route is the 8.2km round-trip Skyline Trail. Park permits can be purchased at the entrance gates in Chéticamp or Ingonish Beach.

Distillery

The first distillery in North America (and the only one in Canada) to make single-malt whisky, this renowned producer claims to take its secrets straight from the old country. Guided tours explore the process and include an all-important tasting.

Museum

Coal mining played a central role in the development of this part of Nova Scotia, so you shouldn't pass up the chance to venture into a disused mine in the company of a former miner. It's fascinating, a little spooky, and not for the claustrophobic. The museum has interesting exhibits on this aspect of Cape Breton's past. It's at Glace Bay, 22km east of Sydney.

Museum

This excellent museum explains how rug hooking went from home-based activity to international business. Artifacts illustrate early life and artisanship in Chéticamp. Almost everything – from bottles to rugs – was collected by one eccentric local resident, Marguerite Gallant. Among the amazing array of hooked rugs, look out for portraits of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the Queen, and Christ attended by angels.

Museum

This well-run center is one of the region's best places to experience Celtic music. The main exhibit room explores the origins and styles of the local musical culture, and there are often fiddling sessions and step-dancing workshops during summer, as well as 1½-hour walking tours with one of the center's instrument-playing guides. The restaurant hosts regular lunchtime ceilidhs (parties with music and dancing).

Cultural Center

This First Nations reserve has an interesting visitor center where you can learn about Mi'kmaw culture, and workshops (from $25) where you can try your hand at making a traditional tribal basket, drum or dream catcher. There's also a good restaurant, Kiju's, where you can sample Mi'kmaw dishes, and a shop selling indigenous crafts and petroglyph engravings.

State Park

Stop in this wonderful provincial park, 10km north of the Cabot Trail en route to Bay St Lawrence, to enjoy Aspy Bay and its spectacular beach. The area is supposedly the site of the historic 1497 landing of John Cabot, the first European to set foot in North America; a cairn marks the spot, although some historians still dispute the claim that Cabot actually landed here.