Annapolis Royal: Gardens, Theatre and Historic Houses

Annapolis Royal combines well-kept gardens with a range of very different historic places. You can tailor your stay to your travel group’s interests: gardens, theatre history and architecture each offer a different focus. When choosing a vacation rental, this question can help clarify what you would like to focus on during your stay, without reducing the town to a single theme.

Gardens and Historical Perspectives

The Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens cover 17 acres of carefully maintained grounds. Their size makes the gardens a destination in their own right, alongside the town’s historic houses and museums. If you enjoy combining time outdoors with cultural visits, you can see the grounds as a different part of your itinerary from the rooms at the O’Dell House Museum or the architecture of the Sinclair Inn.

Fort Anne National Historic Site is Canada’s first federally administered national historic site. Annapolis Royal’s Historic District encompasses a dense collection of buildings dating from the 18th to the early 20th century. Together, these examples show two different scales: a single national historic site and an entire ensemble of buildings whose history spans several centuries.

Buildings with Different Stories

The O’Dell House Museum is located on the Annapolis Royal waterfront in a building dating from around 1869 that served as an inn and tavern. Visitors can explore the parlour, dining room, kitchen and small inn office. The museum therefore opens up both the formal rooms and the kitchen and office to visitors.

King’s Theatre is located at 207–209 St. George Street and served as a theatre for most of its existence. It adds a different building and use history to the museum rooms. In the centre of Annapolis Royal stands the Sinclair Inn, a two-and-a-half-storey Georgian-style building with Classical influences. It combines two pre-existing buildings from the early 18th century. As a museum, the Sinclair Inn presents the town’s architectural and social history. Together, these buildings show how differently the historical perspective in Annapolis Royal can be framed: around theatre, former inn rooms or the building history of a museum.

Trails in the Wider Annapolis County Destination

In the wider destination of Annapolis County, the Harvest Moon Trailway offers a regional option for hiking and cycling. It is about 115 km long, officially opened in 2017, and connects communities in the Annapolis Valley between Annapolis Royal in Annapolis County and Grand Pré in Kings County. Much of the route consists of multi-use trails for hiking and cycling. The historic route was known as the Dominion Atlantic Railway (CP). Its length and different uses give this regional trail a different scale from the individual historic sites in town.

Also in the wider destination of Annapolis County is the Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail network. The Bohaker Trail is a 2.2 km loop with a walking time of about one hour; the Charlies Trail is 1.9 km long. The two are connected in one direction by the 2.7 km Shore Road Trail. At Bohaker Cove, the Bohaker Trail features a 43-foot waterfall. From a viewing platform, you can see basalt lava cliffs. This means you can also consider a regional hiking option with specific distances and landscape features alongside historic visits in town.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Bridgetown, West Springhill, Granville Ferry, Deep Brook.

To the wider travel overview: Annapolis County.