Looking for things to do in Halifax, Nova Scotia? Our Tourist Scavenger Hunt will take you from the public gardens to Halifax Harbor and its museums, by way of the Citadel!
You will have to solve challenges at every stop along the way to discover your next destination. At each step, you will learn a little history as well as interesting facts about what surrounds you.
2 versions will soon be available! #1 “Gardens” starts at the Halifax Public Gardens; #2 “Port” starts at the Port of Halifax. We are now working on #2.
Both follow the same circuit, ending near their start location, but have different challenges from each other.
- Theodore Tugboat
- Queen’s Landing
- Halifax Public Gardens
- Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel
- Burke Gaffney Observatory
- Point Pleasant Park
- Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
- Halifax Citadel (exterior perimeter only)
- City Center Atlantic
- Saint Mary’s Cathedral Basilica
- HMCS Sackville
- Discovery Center
- And much more!
Nous visited Halifax twice in the past and tested this scavenger hunt during the summer of 2018.
Specifications
- Starting point: Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites, 1515 South St Park, Halifax, NS B3J 2L2
- Distance: 4.7 km / 2.92 mi
- Duration: 2-3h – depending on your walking speed and solving time puzzles.
- Method: Walking is ideal
- Required:
- A well-charged smartphone with internet access.
- Suggested:
- Bottle of water
- A local road map or tourist map
- Courage to ask questions of the locals!
Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia. The city is dominated by its Citadel on the hill, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. There are 2 major universities here: Dalhousie University and Saint Mary’s University.
Halifax is on the ancestral lands of the Mi’kmaq, one of Canada’s first nations. They were there, mainly for fishing, well before the arrival of Europeans.
The first colony settled in the peninsula near the current port. The city of Halifax, founded in 1749, is named in honor of the 2nd Earl of Halifax. This led to the transfer of the colony’s capital here from Annapolis Royal.
The founding of the city started Father Le Loutre’s war because this colony broke the pact agreed with the Mi’kmaq in 1726. 13 ships of settlers and one sloop of war arrived simultaneously to establish and defend the colony.
Fortifications (the Citadel, among others) were erected to defend the new colony from the Mi’kmaq, Acadians, and French. Other forts were established in Sackville, Dartmouth, and Lawrencetown.
Disaster struck the city in 1917, during the Great War, as two ships, including one carrying munitions, collided very close to the port. The explosion devastated the Richmond district, killing 2,000 people and injuring 9,000 others.
