Fleur-de-lis Trail
The Fleur-de-lis Trail runs along Cape Breton's southern Atlantic coast — from the Canso Causeway east through Isle Madame, around St. Peter's Canal, and on to the Fortress of Louisbourg.
It's the quietest of the named trails and the most distinctly Acadian, with a string of small fishing villages — Petit-de-Grat, D'Escousse, Arichat, L'Ardoise, River Bourgeois — that have been French-speaking for nearly 300 years. The cathedral at Arichat, the operating canal at St. Peter's, and the immense reconstructed fortress at Louisbourg are the three set-pieces.
Allow most of a day if you stop properly; longer if you take the Isle Madame loop.
Communities along the route
Arichat
Historic Acadian capital of Isle Madame — bishopric, cathedral, working harbour.
L'Ardoise
Quiet Acadian fishing village on the Fleur-de-lis Trail.
Louisbourg
Fortress of Louisbourg — the largest reconstructed 18th-century fortified town in North America.
St. Peter's
Canal village linking the Bras d'Or Lake to the Atlantic — the only working canal east of the Welland.
Port Hawkesbury
Industrial port at the Canso Causeway — the first town most visitors see crossing onto the island.
Sydney
The island's largest city — port, university town, and home of the world's largest fiddle.