Saint John is famous for being the friendliest city you’ll ever visit. Here is your chance to get a taste of Canada’s oldest incorporated city, its rich history combined with today’s challenges, and future paths that offer great opportunities. Take a walking tour led by a passionate Saint John guide, who can lead you through the city’s central core while explaining Saint John’s rich past and current challenges.

You will discover and experience a city whose unique character has evolved with time, with its many periods of residential and commercial architecture. If different experiences excite you, a wonderful original City Market will entice your visual senses, and if you want to purchase local produce or an eclectic lunch, the opportunity awaits. There are wooded, green spaces and a secluded original cemetery that can provide a peaceful setting in a typical busy city core. You’ll even visit an authentic 19th century country general store at the foot of King Street.

Wear your most comfortable shoes for this Saint John walking tour that brings you to the historical highlights of this coastal treasure.

Explore one of the world’s most dramatic and dynamic coastlines, Atlantic Canada’s Bay of Fundy. Home to the highest tides in the world, the Bay of Fundy is a 170-mile-long ocean bay that stretches between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on Canada’s east coast. Each day 100 billion tons of seawater flows in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle – more than the flow of all the world’s freshwater rivers put together!

This tour will take you to St. Martins, one of the quaintest fishing villages in New Brunswick. Over the past decade, St. Martins has become known as one of New Brunswick’s most beautiful seaside vacation resort communities. The village is a magnet for artists and photographers wishing to capture the unspoiled beauty of the area. A small community of artisans produces pottery, jewelry, paintings and sculptures. And there are a growing number of unique shops and galleries. Learn about this small community’s wooden ship-building industry and see some of the highest tides in the world ebb and flow during your visit. At St. Martins you will have the opportunity to visit the twinned covered bridges, lighthouses, and even walk on the ocean floor – at low tide of course. Don’t forget to visit the wave-carved sea caves in the sandstone cliff if the tide is low enough to allow access while you’re there. It is a photographer’s delight! There will also be an opportunity to purchase a mug of world-famous seafood chowder.

Back in St. John, you’ll have an added bonus of also visiting the world-famous Reversing Falls, where the huge tides from the Bay of Fundy force the mighty Saint John River to flow in reverse, twice every day. The final stop on this tour will be the Old City Market. First opened in 1876, the Old City Market is the oldest continuing farmer’s market in all of Canada. The roof of the City Market resembles the inverted keel of a ship, with hand-hewn timbers and dove-tailed joints that have stood fast for more than a century. From the market you will return to your ship pier.

Grab your camera and get ready to explore Saint John and Saint Martin. Saint John, also known as the Greatest Little City in the East, is a vibrant waterfront town and you’ll soon understand why as you immerse yourself in its Victorian charms, Irish roots and friendly people. You will also visit Saint Martin, the village was founded as Quaco in 1783 by soldiers from the disbanded loyalist King’s Orange Rangers. Life here is governed by the rhythm of the world’s highest tides.

Stroll through picturesque tree-lined neighborhoods and make your way down to the historical architecture in the Trinity Royal Heritage Conservation Area. At the City Market you will meander through aisles of stalls with vendors peddling everything from fruit and cheese to gourmet coffees, teas and local apparel. Enjoy the immaculate gardens, monuments and bandstand at the public Kings Square, then head to the Loyalist Burial Grounds with its semi-circular arch-topped wrought iron gates. Once here, look at the worn engravings on the original tombstones of the first residents who arrived in America for “a way of life free of persecution and hostilities.” While in town head to the Saint John River to watch the Reversing Falls Rapids, a series of rapids and whirlpools that occur as the river collides with the Bay of Fundy.

Down in the quaint fishing village of Saint Martin you will find the world’s best seafood chowder and the world-famous Bay of Fundy. This special bay has the world’s highest tides thanks to its unique delta shape. At the extreme, the difference between the low and high tides can measure up to 19 meters! Arrive at the bay when the Atlantic Ocean has rescinded and walk up to 40 feet across the ocean floor and see dark, hidden caves, breathtaking rock cliffs, dramatic mud flats and much more. While here, learn about the 12 species of whales as well as dolphins, fish, seals and other marine life that call these marvelous waters home.