Sydney, the Gateway to Cape Breton

Sydney is known as the ocean gateway to Cape Breton Island, which lies at the eastern end of the province of Nova Scotia. Cape Breton is famous for its breathtaking coastal scenery, vibrant Celtic music, Gaelic culture, rich Mi'kmaq heritage, fresh seafood, and historical sites.

As the primary entry point for visitors wishing to explore this island, Sydney has become Cape Breton’s largest urban centre and busiest harbour town.

Standing strategically on the waterfront, propped to be seen by incoming cruise ships and greet visitors, is its iconic giant fiddle with an equally giant bow. In fact, it is officially recognized as the “World’s Largest Fiddle.” At 60 feet tall and made of solid steel, it was built to pay tribute to the folk music and traditions of the province’s Celtic community. What a grand welcome!

And true enough, as soon as we disembarked, we were serenaded by musicians clad in kilts, playing a lively tune with their fiddles and bagpipes. Along the waterfront boardwalk and The Esplanade, Sydney’s historic waterfront street, we saw buskers, shops, and restaurants. We definitely felt the strong Gaelic spirit and we could not wait to see more.

Cape Breton was established as a haven for British loyalists who fled from the American Revolution of 1875. Since then, it had an influx of immigrants from the Scottish Highlands in the early 19th century before the French dominated this area. Their culture and traditions have lived on and are very much evident in the people's daily lives.

Sydney, Cape Breton’s historic capital, once boomed as a coal mining town and it was home to a large steel plant. Though its industrial past is still evident, it has shifted its focus to adventure tourism. After all, the island's sweeping rolling hills, majestic ocean views, craggy coasts, rugged cliffs and canyons, and miles and miles of green valleys and hiking trails do inspire active exploration.

We soon boarded a bus that took us on a one-hour city tour. Sydney is known for its wooden 18th-century buildings. This includes the Cossit House and the Jost House that are now museums offering exhibits on local history and featuring original period furniture and artifacts, as well as the St. Patrick’s Church, the oldest Roman Catholic church in Cape Breton that has a museum showcasing religious history.  

At Glace Bay, we saw the Cape Breton Miners’ Museum that pays tribute to the region’s long and rich history of coal-mining, as well as the Glace Bay Heritage Museum housed in the restored Old Town Hall. Its exhibits focus on Glace Bay Harbour during the heyday of the swordfish industry, as well as coal-mining, sports, and day-to-day life in Cape Breton. Nearby, we saw the Sydney Museum located within the old Bank of Montreal building that features various displays related to Cape Breton’s natural and social history.

It seems Sydney has plenty of museums that highlight all aspects of local life, but since we were just on a bus tour, we did not check them out.  We only got to see the façade of the buildings that house them. However, the buildings themselves are quite a sight. The Old Townhall is a heritage five-bay brick building with a hip roof and bell tower, while the old bank building is in the Gothic-revival style characterized by greenish sandstone walls, Palladian windows, thick columns, and a copper dome. They truly echo Sydney’s status back then as the industrial and commercial hub of Cape Breton.

Our city tour was indeed short and just gave us a taste of what Sydney has to offer. But such is life. Given our limited time at the port, we had some choices to make, and we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at an iconic Nova Scotia landmark – the Fortress of Louisbourg, which was a 40-minute drive from Sydney.