Mabou
Mabou is the music village of Cape Breton — a tiny crossroads on the Ceilidh Trail with an outsized influence on the island's traditional Scottish-Gaelic music. The Rankin Family grew up here, and the Red Shoe Pub (owned by the Rankin sisters) hosts live fiddle and step-dance most nights of the season.
The surrounding Mabou Highlands offer some of the best coastal hiking on the island — the Cape Mabou trail system is unmaintained but spectacular. Glenora Distillery, North America's first single-malt whisky distillery, sits in a hollow just south of town.