Saint John, New Brunswick

At first sight SAINT JOHN (never "St John", and not to be mixed up with St John's, Newfoundland) seems a confusing hotchpotch of industrial and residential zones spread over the bluffs, valleys and plateaus where the Saint John River twists and turns its way into the Bay of Fundy, 100km southeast of Fredericton. In fact, the downtown area is squeezed onto a chubby peninsula immediately east of the river mouth – a surprisingly compact centre for a city of 126,000 people with the focus firmly on the short main drag, King Street. In 1877, a fire wiped out most of the town, but as a major shipbuilding centre Saint John was sufficiently wealthy to withstand the costs of immediate reconstruction. Consequently, almost all the city's older buildings – at their most resplendent along and around Prince William Street – are late Victorian. Most of the shipyards have now gone and the place survives as a modest seaport and manufacturing town – hence the belching chimneys – with a good range of restaurants. Apart from its diverting Victorian architecture, Saint John's leading attractions are the New Brunswick Museum and the Reversing Falls Rapids; the latter is a good place to see the effects of the Fundy tides. The town's most famous son is actor Donald Sutherland; its most celebrated product, Moosehead beer.