3 min read

After a trip to Prince Edward Island a couple summers ago, seeing more of Canada rose among my travel priorities. The people are friendly, the exchange rate is favorable, and there’s a lot to explore. The only deterrent, for me, is the long drive.

Considering our proximity, geographically and culturally, it should be easier to get to some of our northern neighbor’s nearby destinations from southern Maine. Although our countries’ relationship might be strained, for travelers, it’s nothing a “Lake Ontario” hat can’t fix. After all, many Mainers now have an open invitation to become Canadian citizens.

At first glance, the prospect of the Scotia Prince bringing back its ferry service to Portland appeared to offer a potential option. Driving three hours to Bar Harbor to get on the CAT ferry for even longer has never tempted me, but the idea of traveling 10 minutes to go spend the night in a casino and wake up in Nova Scotia? Pretty appealing.

Reading more about what the Scotia Prince is considering, however, tamped my enthusiasm.

The nearly $1,000 one-way price tag (for two people, a car and a cabin) feels like a lot for a trip that, at 11 hours long, is no quicker than it would be by car at a fraction of the cost, regardless of dreaded gas prices. Being able to pass the time sleeping or playing blackjack doesn’t seem like enough of a selling point.

And while some describe the town of Yarmouth, where the ferry would land in Nova Scotia, as a hidden gem, the province’s most popular attractions are at least another couple hours away by car — in the direction of Maine — which again leads me back to sucking up the drive.

What about air travel, you ask? Flights from Portland to Halifax, with one layover, take nearly as long as the drive there and, most of the year, cost about as much as the ferry fee discussed. The same goes for Montreal and Quebec City, which are both about a five-hour drive and closer, as the crow flies, than Bridgeport, Connecticut.

If you’re hoping that direct flights to Canada are coming our way soon, you should know, at this point, that’s a pipe dream.

Toronto is the only city in the country to crack the top 15 international destinations of people flying out of the Portland International Jetport, then connecting through another domestic hub, coming in at No. 4 with just under 4,000 passengers in the past year.

The magic number for an airline to support a direct flight is 30,000 annual passengers, according to Airport Director Paul Bradbury.

Reviving rail service from Boston to Montreal, through Maine, is still being bandied about by state officials, though plans literally have had to change course since lawmakers decided last year to convert the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Rail corridor between Portland and Auburn into a multiuse trail.

The Maine-Canadian Legislative Advisory Commission in January presented a report to the Legislature’s transportation committee — with summarizes of several state-funded studies on the subject undertaken in the past 30 years — essentially recommending that the conversation continues.

In other words, don’t hold your breath.

Ditto for the possibility of an east-west highway being built, a concept first conceived when the country officially established its interstate system in the 1940s and last was seriously considered in Maine over a decade ago.

The amount of travel time that could save drivers would depend on the route, but one thing’s for sure, without it, bus companies aren’t going to start offering trips straight to Canada.

Now, you have to go down to Boston first, if not New York City, before heading north. Meaning, without a car, you really can’t get there from here.