Saint John,
New Brunswick
ABOUT
The history of Saint John, New Brunswick is one that extends back thousands of years, with the area being inhabited by the Maliseet and Miꞌkmaq First Nations prior to the arrival of European colonists. During the 17th century, a French settlement was established in Saint John.
In 1785 during the reign of King George III, this “Loyalist city” was incorporated by Royal Charter, making it Canada’s first incorporated city. Also referred to as “The Port City”, Saint John became a leading industrial centre in the nineteenth century, mostly due to a robust shipbuilding trade. The port is Canada’s third-largest by tonnage with a cargo base that includes dry and liquid bulk, break bulk, containers, and cruise ships.
Population is just under 64,000.
Currency is the Canadian dollar (formerly the New Brunswick dollar)
THINGS TO DO
With the history behind this City you can easily emerse yourself in the life and lives of these people. Tourism forms an important part of daily life today and one of the most important places to visit are the Reversing Rapids.
These are a series of rapids on the Saint John River located in Saint John, New Brunswick, where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy. As the tide changes you can see the whirlpool effect on the river which is very unusual.
There are all sorts things to do including historical walking tours, visit a nature park, the Brewery, the farmers’ market, shopping Mall or just a stroll along the boardwalk. Try some local produce – which we did on our second visit.
OUR FAVOURITE THINGS TO DO
The cruise were on when we visited was Sky Princess’s USA/Canada trip in 2022. This coincided with some really damaging storms in that part of the world which resulted in two ports being cancelled. It also meant, quite unusually, we visited Saint John twice.
Our first visit was not planned so we found our way around the town ourselves. This walk took us into a little park area, along more streets and into the market where we found a little bar which was serving coffee and local beer – we stopped long enough for one of each! On our way back we strolled along the boardwalk where we were able to photograph Sky Princess in all her glory.
Later we hired a local cab to take us to the Reversing Rapids which was about a 10 minute drive from the dock. Our timing was not perfect to see these in full flow but we were able to see how quickly the whirlpool formed.
Our second visit to Saint John was a very different experience – for a start they were expecting us and we had a walking tour booked!
This turned out to be a really good choice of tour with an excellent guide who brought the City to life. From the start she was full of fun information and keen that we all had chance to take in the sights, smells and tastes of her `home town’.
As you will see from the photographs we meandered through the streets to our first stop. This turned out to be cake (woohoo) and very nice it was too. The second stop was maple coffee. As we headed into the market area we found the structure quite interesting – but then the tasting – Dulce. For those in the UK this was very similar to Welsh Laverbread and is definitely not for us!
The next part of the tour was no less exciting with our next stop being at the Pomodori Pizzeria. Here we tried the Maple Pecan Bianca Pizza – a delightful topping made with bacon, onions, mozzarella cheese, goat cheese, house-made spiced pecans and maple syrup drizzle. It was a little unusual but very tasty.
To wash it down our next stop was to a local brewery, well we would call it a pub in the UK. Our hosts told us about the business and enabled us all to have a well earned drink.
But our guide wasn’t finished with us. On our way back to the ship we were taken through a local pop up market on the quayside. It was here we were given Beaver Tails – say no more!
There is no doubt that this tour was worthwhile, fun and tasty. If you get the chance its a really good choice – and don’t forget to try the Beaver Tails (Lindsey loved them).
Some other photos from our time in Saint John
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