Background
Lunenburg is the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. UNESCO says that since its founding in 1753 it has kept its original layout and overall appearance, based on a rectangular grid drawn up in the home country, and that its people have safeguarded the town's identity by preserving its wooden houses, some of them from the 18th century.
The town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia, on a site where the Mi'kmaq summered and Acadians had farmed since the 1620s; it was named for the Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, who had become George II. Its economy rested on the offshore fishery, and most of its finest buildings date from the prosperous late 1800s. Wikivoyage says the Bluenose II, the replica of the schooner on the Canadian dime, spends much of the season in the harbour where she was built, with two-hour cruises when in port.
- 1620sAcadians settle beside the Mi'kmaq at Mirliguèche
- 1753Lunenburg is laid out on its grid
- Late 1800sThe fishing boom builds the town's finest houses
- 1894–95Lunenburg Academy is built
- 1995Inscribed as World Heritage
Find Your Way Around
The main parts of the site, in the order most visitors see them
- 1The Old Town GridThe 1753 plan and its wooden houses, climbing the hill from the harbour.
- 2Fisheries Museum of the AtlanticThe schooner Theresa E. Connor, the trawler Cape Sable, an aquarium and a working boat shop.
- 3Bluenose IIThe racing schooner's replica, cruising morning and afternoon when she is home.
- 4Lunenburg AcademyThe 1894 school on Kaulbach Street, a provincial heritage property.
- 5Blue RocksSea kayaking from the harbours and the rocky village beyond.
Know Before You Go
From Wikivoyage and the GoGo guides
Grid and Harbour
Not yet in a GoGo guide
- 10:00Old Town Walk90 minThe painted houses on the 1753 grid.
- 11:30Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic90 minSchooners and the fishery.
- 14:00Bluenose II Cruise2 hrsTwo hours under sail, when she is in port.
- 16:30Kayak from Blue Rocks2 hrsThe rocky shore east of town.
Best Time to Visit
Best months: Jun–Sep. Freezing days in Dec–Mar.
Typical highs
Climate: NASA POWER
Pair It With
Other World Heritage sites nearby, by distance
