Marconi Trail
The Marconi Trail runs the eastern edge of Cape Breton along Highway 255 from Sydney through Glace Bay and the former coal towns to the Marconi National Historic Site at Table Head — the spot where Guglielmo Marconi sent the first official transatlantic wireless message in 1902.
The route is shaped by 150 years of coal mining: the Cape Breton Miners' Museum in Glace Bay, the Cossit House in Sydney, and the streetscapes of Sydney Mines and New Waterford all reflect that industrial heritage. It connects naturally to the Fleur-de-lis Trail at Louisbourg.
Communities along the route
Glace Bay
Coal-mining town on the Atlantic — Cape Breton Miners' Museum and the Marconi National Historic Site.
North Sydney
Marine Atlantic ferry terminal to Newfoundland — many visitors' first or last sight of Cape Breton.
Sydney
The island's largest city — port, university town, and home of the world's largest fiddle.
Sydney Mines
Coal-mining heritage town across the harbour from North Sydney, on the Marconi Trail.
Louisbourg
Fortress of Louisbourg — the largest reconstructed 18th-century fortified town in North America.