BudgetTravel

Gayle Forman: See below.

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New York, N.Y.: I'd love to visit Nova Scotia but am a non-driving New Yorker—can one feasibly see the sites and get to the beautfiul spots without a car?

Gayle Forman: As anathema as a car is to a New Yorker, I'd have to say, yes. Unless you have a motorcycle. Or a bicycle and are in Tour-De-France worthy shape. The distances between places on the Cape are significant, and while there is municipal bus service, if you plan to explore the Cape by bus, I fear you'd wind up spending most of your time exploring the busses. I suppose you could hitch around, though we didn't try it. If you're really determined to see the area, you could do it without wheels, of course. And there are certainly plenty of organized tours that leave out of Sydney, but all in all, if driving was not an option, I'd probably look for somewhere else to go. There are enough places in the world that you can easily visit without depending on a car. And a caveat about car rentals—they're expensive. We paid almost as much in taxes and fees as we did for the car, totaling nearly $600 for five days! I'd say that gas was really expensive, except it's really expensive here now, too.

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Washington, D.C.: The dollar is at about parity with Canadian currency. Any advice on how to save on currency fees for either getting local cash or for purchasing hotels with U.S. credit cards? Many thanks.

Gayle Forman: During our visit, the USD's value was just about even with the Canadian buck for the first time in 30 years, and it definitely stung. As I mentioned in the article, some homeowners seem to be lowering their rental prices to lure folks from the USA back up north, so feel free to bargain. As for fees, I generally use my ATM to withdraw money in the local currency and I don't get charged by my bank. Similarly, at least where the house rentals are concerned, I was able to pay in $USD, part on a credit card, part in cash. So set the price in USD and ask if you can pay with greenbacks.

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Atlanta, Ga.: I don't like seafood. Is that the only real option in Nova Scotia restaurants? And what's the standard for tipping in restaurants? Is it automatically included in the bill? 10% of the bill?

Gayle Forman: There are plenty of other options in Cape Breton, both in the restaurants and at the markets, from poutine, that uniquely Québécois dish of french fries slathered in a cheese gravy (you either love it or hate it) to steak. In fact, we bought a steak from the local market and grilled it up at our house and it was one of the best we'd ever had. Meanwhile, the lobster at restaurants was more expensive than what we pay down in New York (baffling given the zillions of lobster traps you see everywhere). As for tipping, Canada is not like Europe where service charges cover tips. It works like in the US. I tip the usual 15-20 percent.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Gayle, Loved your story, you really brought the place alive and made me want to get up and go there. Was there anything about Nova Scotia that surprised you, was different from your previous trips there or from what you expected?