Private Cruise Excursion In Sydney Cape Breton

Gary was a very good guide. He is very knowledgeable. I enjoyed it very much.

Gary was very knowledgeable and kept us entertained with his insights, knowledge and humour.

Gary was our guide for the day . He was incredibly knowledgeable , interesting and shared wonderful stories of growing up in Cape Breton. It was a perfect glorious day. I would highly recommend the tour and ask specifically for Gary!!

Gary was our guide for the day. We had a wonderful tour and fun conversations about his growing up in the area. He totally gave us a great itinerary for the day. We can highly recommend Gary and his comfortable Infinity. You’ll have a wonderful experience.

Bo did a great job taking us along routes that had amazing color. Bo was very knowledgable and had lots to share about the local area and local people. Bo took us to some amazing locations.

It was a good tour and nice scenery. The only reason I marked it down slightly was the van was a 15 passenger cab for just two of us and the door was broken so we couldn’t get out without guide opening it. Also, we had to ask the guide to slow down. It was okay, but I wouldn’t book this same company again.

Beau was the best tour guide we have ever had the privilege of touring with. His knowledge of Cape Breton was astounding (his family has lived there for over 300 years, and he worked 34 years as a Game Warden). His explanations, descriptions, and local "tales" made the day. He asked us what we wanted to do...and we put our faith in him. Absolutely the right decision. Please convey to Beau our thanks and gratitude for his exemplary service.

Alex met us at the port and turned us over to Gary our driver who is a Cape Breton native so knows the area well. We had an enjoyable drive through this beautiful countryside, and great conversation along the way. Gary was funny and entertaining, and also a good driver and very accomodating with our requests. Gary also took us to a great chocolate place for sweets. This was a fun day for two ladies in Cape Breton and we recommend!

Our group of 12 had a great time on our Cabot Trail excursion while we were in town for a cruise. It's a lot of time driving in the van, but the scenery is very pretty and our guide told us lots of interesting information. I booked ahead and Rick was wonderful with communication and helping us plan a great day. I plan to return on a land vacation to do some hiking and check out the puffins. Highly recommend this tour company!

We had Tom as our guide. He was excellent. Took us to a great place to pick up food and then we had a picnic on Ingonish Beach. Great trip. Plus, Tom has an amazing moose call that really works.

We had an amazing experience with Bannockburn tours! The scenery along the way was absolutely breathtaking, and every stop was worth visiting. Our guide Bob, was incredibly knowledgeable and shared so many interesting stories and insights about the local history, culture, and unique features of Cape Breton. He was also very friendly, easy to talk to, and made everyone feel welcome. We had many enjoyable conversations throughout the trip.

Our guide, Tom was very knowledgeable and professional. His wonderful local knowledge made our excursion very pleasurable and informative. I would highly recommend this tour.

This is the way to get to see the beautiful scenery the Cabot Trail has to offer !!! Guide Gary was fun and great at planning the logistics for the trip. We were on a cruise and he picked us up from the port on time. I definitely recommend this tour !

Would rate this experience 10 stars. Bo was a brilliant tour guide, who made the day a highlight of our cruise. We had a perfect mix of spectacular scenic drive and spectacular scenic stops. Even travelling with our 2 year old granddaughter was a pleasure in the spacious van provided. We had to (ha ha) promise not to the reveal the secret locations Bo shared with us. Highly recommended!

We booked this tour during a cruise stop. Our tour guy was Beau. That was very professional and is eager to focus the tour on your interest. The guys in our tour we were interested in farming. Beau was able to show them farming activities in the Cape Breton area. By taking a private excursion, the Guide is able to focus on your interest. It was so much better than anything the cruise ship could’ve offered. I recommend this tour hands-down.

We had a great tour!! We were booked on the Cabot Trail tour but it was just our group so we could do what we wanted. The whole cruise we had private tours and always asked the guide if what we were booked for is where they would take their family visiting the first time. He explained that it was a 2 hour drive to get to Cabot trail and then back so only a couple hours to explore so it was more of a driving tour but is still a fabulous thing to see. We opted against that and instead he took us on a fabulous alternative!! We went to several places like Baddeck and saw the Christmas Island Post office and even got a stamp from the post office as a souvenir. We also went to the cutest town (can’t remember the name but it was Scottish feeling and had the best Lobster Roll one of the top we had on the trip and we had them almost every day at our cruise stops). We thoroughly enjoyed our excursion and Bob was a wealth of knowledge our group of 6 was very happy with our choice and would recommend this tour.

If the leaves are not in color not much to do or see! Lots of car time for just about nothing thing in return.

It’s a long way to inginisha. Too much driving and not enough walking. Bob was very knowledgeable on the area in general

Our favorite way to see a new place is through the experience of touring with someone from that place. Experiencing a new culture is enriched with the stories and personality of our guide. It really makes all of the difference between a nice visit and an unforgettable adventure. We have been fortunate to visit many places and neither of us can remember a better day spent than the one we had today on Cape Breton touring with Gary Dean. Each village and photo stop was brought alive by the stories of Gary’s life spent in this beautiful island, and the history of his family and friends that he so generously shared with us. The scenery was stunning, the food was delicious and all of it was made that much more special by being able to get a sense of life on the island over the past several decades. We really hope to be able to return here soon to see more of the island and will absolutely use Bannockburn Tours. We strongly recommend them and especially Gary Dean for anyone looking to go beyond a simple tour and get a glimpse into the life of real Bretoners. We came as tourists and left with a friend that we hope to see again.

Tom McDonald was our outstanding tour guide. He provided great information on every place we visited and made sure we were back to the cruise port on time. Entire private tour was extensive lasting 6hours. Vehicle was in excellent condition and Tom is a great driver. Highly recommend! Ask Tom about the Elton John connection.

Tom, our tour guide, was an excellent host. He knew all the perfect places to stop and showed us how incredibly beautiful and awe inspiring Sydney really is. This tour was the absolute highlight of our trip!

The guide and driver were wonderful, with personal stories intermixed with history and pride in Cape Brenton! Got lucky with the fall colors and the did a great job adjusting the schedule and going farther while watching the time so that we were back with plenty of time to get back to the cruise ship

We enjoyed the flexibility of this private tour. We were able to make a stop that interested us. We were able to eat lunch at our own pace and we loved the Cabot Trail experience. Kevin was a great local tour guide, very knowledgeable. If you have points of interest you really want to see, I would research in advance and then discuss the route with your guide at the beginning of the tour. That being said, the pre-planned tour was fine for us as well.

The views were amazing and we loved having a private tour for our group. Wished we had more time to do some hiking but there’s only so much you can do with limited time. I prefer more active excursions however if we did more we wouldn’t have seen so much. This is a place I’d like to return for several days of exploration. Our Guide was waiting for us when we got off the ship and returned us on time. No stress! He was informative and friendly, and made sure we saw the best highlights possible. It was a beautiful day and I recommend this company. PS - I booked this trip with a little trepidation due to the previous reviews stating that it wasn’t a reliable company. I did have a hard time reaching the company to confirm but once I contacted Viator to help me confirm they got it done within a few hours. They had several guides waiting for other ship passengers and I didn’t hear of any trouble. So whatever happened in the past to the previous reviewer is not the norm.

I can’t say enough wonderful things about this tour and our guide, Kevin. We were met directly at our cruise ship and while the masses were herded into crowded buses and tight minivans, our group of 5 were comfortably seated in a Cadillac Escalade. Basically we were able to design a tour any way we wanted as the tour was private but we had great guidance on the best sites to visit, and before the larger tours arrived. We made many stops at some beautiful overlook views and Kevin took many photos of our group. He was so knowledgeable about Cape Breton and provided an excellent narration of the area and history and culture. You can tell that Kevin is very passionate about Cape Breton. He would give us options on where to eat based on budget and tastes. He was very mindful about ensuring we were back to our ship in time. We were lucky enough to see a very beautiful bald eagle pretty close up as we departed off a small ferry. We were on the lookout for moose but were not able to see any this time. At our request we stopped at a gondola ride to get an awesome view of the water and mountains. The leaves were just starting to change but not quite yet. We stopped for a nice lunch of local soup and sandwiches which was perfect as we did not want a sit down meal, although he was more than happy to bring us to one if we wanted. It really was a very memorable experience and was perfect for our group of 5. Thanks Kevin for a really luxurious personal excursion.

Adrian was great and very informative. We made several stops. Make sure you stop at lock a chick for some fried chicken !

We were met at our ship by a Viator representative and our guide, Tom. Tom was a delightful, earthy guy who was born and raised in the area. He showed us wonderful highlights but his knowledge of history, and explanations, such as rivers with obvious First Nation names, he simply stated, “The word doesn’t mean anything.” Also, it would have been nice for him to give us a choice up front, to dine at a lunch stop or have a longer excursion into Cape Breton…. The tour started at 8 am and went to about 3pm and did not include lunch. We may have expected a lunch stop that we would pay for but we purchased snacks at other stops and then spent an hour at the Keltic Lodge at the Highlands for a lunch break, but no one was hungry enough to order lunch…. In retrospect we would have preferred a more extensive drive.

We had an excellent driver/guide Lifelong resident of Cape Breton and professional driver He took us to some beautiful beaches and overlooks He also personalized the tour to our interests He suggested we take the Atlantic Gondola up Smokey Mountain - that was a highlight for us as was the stop at a local glass artisan shop He spent a full seven hours taking us from Sydney to past Ingonish The road is quite winding and a bit treacherous I’m glad I didn’t attempt the drive myself I would have seen much less than we saw with a local I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Sydney for the day

Visited as a privately booked small group cruise excursion. Better price and content than what the cruise line offered onboard. Very friendly and professional driver who picked us up by the pier, drove safely and brought us back to the ship on time with no hassle, given the limited hours our ship stayed at port. If you want to see the world famous Cabot Trail during your visit to Sydney (NS), not all cruise lines offer this option. I would recommend it personally but the whole experience will very much depend on the time of the season. If you are lucky enough to come at the right time, when the red leaves are in full bloom, this place can offer some of the best coast line autumn foliage spectacles anywhere in the world.

We had a lovely and entertaining tour of Canada's nature, with good recommendations for lobster dinner. However, the tour was booked in German and only in English