Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/303885
W e s t W o r l d >> s u m m e r 2 0 1 4 23 laid plans (along with your GPS) out the window. Especially on the Cabot Trail. You'll learn there are no wrong turns; the only parameter is where you want to spend each night. The Cabot Trail loops around northern Cape Breton Island, following the western and eastern coastlines, then cutting through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The big question is whether to travel clockwise or counterclockwise. Driving the route counter-clockwise (say, from Ingonish to Chéticamp) may give you a better view of the spectacular ocean vistas along the way, and you'll encounter less traffic, but it's not for those averse to steep, curvy mountain drops. Perhaps the most iconic bit of the trail is the stretch between Ingonish and Chéticamp. It rises and falls like a fiddle tune through forests and oceanside cliffs. You'll pass beaches and whale-watching spots where the whales are said to be lured by the Celtic music coming from quaint villages along the route. When you reach Cape Breton High- lands National Park on the northern part of your drive, stretch your legs on one of 26 hiking trails. It's like walking through a painting – corduroy green and spiky brown grass waving over highland mountains, the colour scheme of a 19th-century 22 W e s t W o r l d >> s u m m e r 2 0 1 4 (top left) Canadian Tourism Commission, Tourism Nova scotia, (cannons) Barrett & macKay/Getty Images (opposite) Cape Breton Island's French colonial history comes to life at the Fortress of louisbourg National Historic site; (above) newly opened Cabot links is Canada's only authentic links-style course. p20-27_Cape Breton.indd 23 14-04-15 12:31 PM