A weekend in Lunenburg and Mahone Bay, on Nova Scotia's South Shore

Lunenburg's painted wooden houses climb the hill above a harbour where the Bluenose was built, and 15 minutes down the road, Mahone Bay's three churches stand side by side at the head of the bay. The two South Shore towns are a little over an hour from Halifax, close enough together for one weekend, and in late November they both switch on Christmas on the same night, with Lunenburg's boats lit up along the waterfront.

Lunenburg's old town

Lunenburg's old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: a grid of streets laid out by the British in 1753, lined with wooden houses painted red, yellow, blue and green, climbing steeply up the hill from the harbour. Walk it from the waterfront up to the bandstand and back down along Montague Street, where most of the restaurants are, and give the red buildings of the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic on the wharf an hour: it tells the story of the Grand Banks fishing fleet that built the town.

The schooner on the dime

Lunenburg built the Bluenose. The schooner was launched from the Smith and Rhuland yard in March 1921, designed to fish the Grand Banks and to win back the International Fishermen's Trophy from the Gloucester schooners, which it did in its first season. It went undefeated in the trophy races through the 1920s and 1930s, and it has been on the back of the Canadian dime since 1937. The original sank off Haiti in 1946; Bluenose II, a replica built in 1963, is based on the Lunenburg waterfront when it isn't away sailing. The Fisheries Museum tells the whole story, from the Grand Banks fleet to the races.

Mahone Bay's three churches

The photo everyone takes in Mahone Bay is of its three churches side by side at the head of the bay: St. James Anglican, St. John's Lutheran and Trinity United. Take it in daylight on Saturday morning, on your way back over from Lunenburg, from the road along the water where all three line up with their reflections. Mahone Bay's Christmas season carries on until December 24, with a second big night on Saturday, December 5: a holiday market around town from 5 to 9 p.m. and a tree lighting with carollers and strolling Father Christmases at 6:30 p.m. Outside the holidays, the town is a string of craft shops, cafés and galleries along the water, and the bay is a good one for an afternoon in a kayak in summer.

Christmas on the South Shore

If you can choose your weekend, come for the lightings. In 2026 they're both on Friday, November 27: Mahone Bay's Season of Father Christmas starts with the community tree lighting at 6:30 p.m. in Bandstand Park, with carols, cocoa and a visit from Father Christmas. The season runs until December 24, and admission is free.

Lunenburg's harbour stays lit until 9, so see the tree first and drive over for the boats. From 6 to 9 p.m., the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic on Lunenburg's waterfront runs the Lighting of the Vessels, lighting up the harbour and the boats tied up along it. It's free, with live music, food vendors, a hot chocolate and s'mores station, Mr. and Mrs. Claus, and the Grinch for the kids. The fire department brings a truck to fill with food and clothing donations, so bring something to drop in. Then look back up the hill, where the whole old town glows above the water with the boats lit below it.

The next day, Lunenburg's Christmas by the Sea Market fills King Street from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, November 28, with the town's tree lighting at the bandstand at 6 p.m. Spend the afternoon working your way along the stalls, then walk down to the harbour before it gets dark, when the red buildings of the Fisheries Museum along the wharf are at their best for photos. Head back up to the bandstand for six, when the town's own tree goes on, and finish with dinner in one of the restaurants on Montague Street, which runs along the waterfront one block below King.

Getting there from Halifax

Lunenburg is a little over an hour from Halifax on Highway 103, with Mahone Bay just before it. A car is the easy way to do both towns in a weekend, especially at night after the lightings, when there's no other way between them. If you have a free morning on the way out or back, Peggy's Cove is a 30-minute detour off the highway for the lighthouse on the granite, and in late November you may have the rocks almost to yourself; stay well back from the wet black rock near the water, where the waves are strongest.

Sleeping in Lunenburg

Lunenburg has the most rooms of the two towns, many in historic sea captains' houses turned into inns and B&Bs, and most are a short walk from the waterfront, so you can leave the car parked for the whole of lighting night. Ask for a room with a harbour view, since the boats stay lit after the event ends. Summer weekends and the lighting weekend in late November are the busiest; the rest of the fall and winter, the inns are quiet and cheaper.

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