Lunenburg is a tiny fishing village in Nova Scotia that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. It was the winner of the Communities in Bloom most beautiful small town in Canada, the Prettiest Painted Place in Canada and Port City of the Year among others. It is located around an hour from Halifax.

The town was established in 1753 and named after Duke of Braunschweig-Luneburg who became the King of England in 1727. It was the first British colonial settlement in Nova Scotia outside of Halifax and served an important part of the ocean-based commerce in Nova Scotia. In fact, that’s why it was named as a UNESCO site:

Old Town Lunenburg, founded in 1753, is an outstanding example of British colonial settlement in North America, in terms both of its conception as a model Town plan and its remarkable level of conservation. The Town’s cultural evolution based on shipbuilding and the fishing industry can be seen in the buildings and spaces that exist throughout the Town. 

Normally, I wouldn’t do a horse-drawn carriage tour, but with my niece, we decided it would be fun and easier on all of us to be driven through the town (like the princesses we are) rather than walk and eventually carry the three year old child.

So without much else, I will just add pictures. There’s not much more to say about the town. It’s beautiful. The people are so friendly. The food we had was delicious. My niece picked up the most darling little purse. My mother took hundreds and hundreds of photos. I got samples of gin and vodka and picked some up for my siblings. (AND FOR ME!)

So here we go!

A beautiful boat – one of the many my niece wanted to buy.

The absolutely stunning Lunenburg Academy

One should always taste award-winning vodka.

No matter how many sunglasses I get her, she always wants to wear mine.

Always look for the best view.

Small town. Cute little shoppers. Puppy! Beautiful building colors.

I wouldn’t mind ending up here.

I’m sad we didn’t get a chance to wander in. How funny is that it’s called Cilantro…and it’s a gorgeous cilantro green!

We parked right outside the port. Just stunning to wander around and try to contain a small child that just wanted to jump in and go swimming.

Little teeny tiny church

One of the many, many beautiful churches.

I have a reading problem, in that, I love books. I have stacks and stacks of them, unread in all corners of my apartment. With my niece around, we happen to stumble upon a children’s book, written about a cat in Lunenburg. It’s called, The Tabby from Away who Came To Stay. And the house below had a big sign to show off where the cat would travel to!

All roads led back to the boats and to our car! Small stop to pick up some souvenirs and away we went.