Lunenburg is the most colourful working fishing town you are likely to ride into. The old centre, laid out on a grid in 1753 by British authorities settling Protestants from Germany, Switzerland and the French-speaking Montbéliard region, climbs a steep hill above the harbour, and every wooden house seems to have been painted a different bright colour. UNESCO recognised it as a World Heritage Site in 1995 as the best surviving planned British colonial settlement in North America. Many houses have a small projecting dormer above the front door, known locally as the Lunenburg bump.
The town's fortunes were tied to the sea. Schooners left for the Grand Banks every spring, and the most famous of them, the Bluenose, was built here in 1921 and went on to win the International Fishermen's Trophy so often that she ended up on the Canadian dime. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic on the waterfront tells the story well, and a replica, Bluenose II, still sails from the harbour in the summer. Boats, ropes, lobster traps and the smell of salt and tar are never far away.
The ride in along the Lighthouse Route has a calm, coastal feel. Low hills, bays full of small islands and long stretches of spruce and farmland, with the odd lighthouse popping up near the water. Corners are gentle and the speed is easy. Traffic builds in July and August, when tour buses fill the waterfront, so arrive early or late. Fog rolls in off the Atlantic regularly, giving the place a sombre beauty, and in the evenings the light on the painted houses is something special. Blue Rocks, a tiny fishing village a few minutes away, is a fine detour.
Lunenburg has about two thousand residents but plenty of visitors, so you will find restaurants serving fresh seafood, cafés, inns and parking close to the water. Bridgewater, around sixteen kilometres away, is the nearest larger town and the place for a full range of services. Take your time here: wander the lanes, look at the old ship chandlers' buildings, and let the harbour tell its own story.