Baddeck, Nova Scotia

The amenable resort and yachting town of BADDECK, some 90km east of the Canso causeway along Hwy 105, enjoys an attractive lakeside setting on St Patrick's Channel, an inlet of the tentacular Bras d'Or Lake. It is also home to the fascinating Alexander Graham Bell Museum and National Historic Site (daily: May & late Oct 9am–5pm; June 9am–6pm; July to mid-Oct 8.30am-6pm; $7.15, Web: www.pc.gc.ca ), which overlooks the waterfront from a tiny park and whose excellent exhibits do full justice to the fertility of the great man's mind. The museum is a mine of general biographical information about Bell (1847–1922) and gives detailed explanations of all his inventions – both successful and unsuccessful.

Amongst several downtown B&Bs, one good bet is the Tree Seat (Tel:902/295-1996, Web: www.baddeck.com/treeseat ; Price: $61-80; May– Oct), in a pleasant old timber building next door to the Bell Museum at 555 Chebucto St; there are four guest rooms here, two en suite, and the home-cooked breakfasts are first rate. A second handy option is Heidi's B&B (Tel:902/295-1301; Price: $41-60; June to late Oct), in a large timber house at 64 Old Margaree Rd; this has six rooms, three en-suite. In addition, several smart resort-hotels line up along Shore Road, west of the town centre. These include the SilverDart Lodge (Tel:902/295-2340 or 1-888/662-7484, Web: www.maritimeinns.com ; Price: $81-100; mid-May to mid-Oct), whose spacious chalets spread over a hillside in view of the lake; and Auberge Gisele's Inn (Tel:902/295-2849 or 1-800/304-0466, Web: www.giseles.com ; Price: $126-175; May to late Oct), where the commodious bedrooms are decked out in brisk, modern style. Pick of the bunch, however, is the AInverary Resort (Tel:902/295-3500 or 1-800/565-5660, Web: www.inveraryresort.com ; May– Nov), an extensive and immaculately maintained complex that spreads down from Shore Road to the bay. The Inverary offers rooms in the main lodge (Price: $101-125) and in several different types of cottage (from Price: $126-175). The nearest campsite is the Bras d'OrLakes (Tel:902/295-2329; mid-June to Sept), about 6km west on Hwy 105.

Most visitors eat where they sleep. The best café in town is the High Wheeler, on Chebucto St (May– Oct daily 6am–10pm), which serves up a reasonable range of wholefood snacks and cakes, whilst the Bell Buoy, further down Chebucto Street, at no.536, is OK for steaks and seafood (May– Oct daily).