What Animals Can You See on the Galapagos Islands? Top 10 Sightings

The Galapagos Islands are the stuff of travel legends.

First, because flights and lodging on the islands are prohibitively expensive for most travelers. Second, the islands are geared more heavily toward ecological and marine preservation—not tourist adventures. Third, they’re located almost 1,000 miles from the coast of Ecuador, making flight times around two hours.

That being said, the trip isn’t impossible to swing.

With some focused saving and thoughtful trip-planning, you can put together the trip of a lifetime. Best of all, similar to countries like Costa Rica and Bhutan, the Galapagos has many protections in place to shield the negative effects of tourism from native wildlife and marine life.

Sure, global warming is a serious issue for marine life on the Galapagos Islands, but it’s worth pointing out that the Ecuadorian government has done a commendable job to protect the islands and actively foster their long-term well-being.

As an added bonus, the dozens of hospitality and tour groups on the island have also made concerted efforts to minimize their footprint while also funding and founding organizations that work to preserve the ecological balance on the islands.

But I do have a suggestion—after all, the Galapagos Islands are a global treasure. If you’re going to go with a cruise, I highly recommend opting for a smaller-impact experience, like on one of Ecoventura’s Origin, Theory, or Evolve vessels.

Ecoventura uses unique technology on its vessels that minimize its carbon emissions by 30% and nitrogen oxide emissions by 90%. They’re focused on high-quality, low-volume tourism—as it should be in places like Galapagos.

After all, if you’re heading all the way to the Galapagos Archipelago, you’re going to want to see some of its most famous sea, land, and air creatures. And the only way you can do that is with an experienced and ethical guide. Again, you’ll pay more for a more luxurious experience on a smaller vessel, but it almost guarantees that you’ll be able to get your eyes on the most iconic creatures of the Galapagos Islands.

Now onto the big question—

What animals can you see on the Galapagos Islands in terms of land, sea, and air creatures? Let’s explore.

What animals can you see on the Galapagos Islands?

Marine Iguana

This iconic lizard has ultra-sharp claws and a flat body that lets it swim in the sea. (It also looks strikingly like a mini-Godzilla.) You’re most likely to see them hanging out on the volcanic rocks along the coast. Just watch out—they sneeze to expel salt from their nostrils.

Blue-footed Booby

This marine bird can be seen diving headfirst into the ocean on hunting expeditions, usually with a few friends in tow. You’ll know it’s the blue-footed booby thanks to those iconic, bright blue feet, which males will lift high in the air as part of their courtship dance.

Galapagos Tortoise

Galapagos Islands, Giant Tortoise (Getty)

World famous for being more or less immortal, these land tortoises often live over 100 years—and can weigh close to 1,000 pounds. Each island on the archipelago is home to a slightly different subspecies, which evolved to handle that island’s unique conditions. There are multiple breeding centers you can visit across the islands.

Galapagos Penguin

There are penguins on the Galapagos Archipelago—so, what animals can’t you see in the Galapagos Islands? That might be the better question. This little penguin is the only species to be found north of the equator, often gliding through the water swiftly. That means one thing: you need to be pretty eagle-eyed to catch a glimpse of these pint-sized penguins.

Flightless Cormorant

This large, flightless bird is only found on select Galapagos Islands—and it’s a heavy-hitter for those interested in Charles Darwin and all his (r)evolutionary ideas. (Get it? Anyone?) The cormorant has powerful legs that it uses to hunt along the coast, usually for fish and octopi. You’ll immediately recognize it due to its cartoonishly small wings and devilishly bright blue eyes.

Galapagos Sea Lion

Known for being some of the chilliest sea lions in the world, these mammals are known for being highly sociable and curious about visitors. It’s not uncommon for them to join snorkelers as they drift in the waves. If you’re lucky, you might get the chance to swim alongside a playful little pup.

Galapagos Hawk

Meet the archipelago’s most dangerous predator: the Galapagos Hawk. It’s also one of the most threatened species on the islands, having been nearly wiped out in recent decades. Conservation efforts are underway, but their populations are still low, meaning sightings aren’t guaranteed.

Darwin’s Finches

Female finch in a tree near Puerto Ayora in the Galapagos Islands in Eduador (Getty)

Similar to Galapagos Tortoises, Darwin’s Finches cover a range of subspecies that are uniquely adapted to life on the island. The most visible way that you’ll see these morphological changes is the finches’ beaks, which evolved into distinct shapes based on the birds’ diet. In total, there are 18 known subspecies of these finches.

Lava Lizard

You’re guaranteed to spot lava lizards all throughout the Galapagos Islands. These small lizards are known for their bright red, orange, and yellow throat coloring. They like to hang out on rocks, soaking up the rays with a little sunbath.

Land Iguana

I started the list with one of the coolest lizards in the Galapagos—but the marine iguana isn’t the only iguana that calls the archipelago home. Meet the flashy, orange-scaled land iguana. They live in the low and dry deserts on the islands and have been recently reintroduced to the wild across several locations thanks to ongoing breeding programs.

8 ‘Secret’ Museums in Florence You Might Miss

Home to the Galleria Palatina, the Circuito Museale Boboli e Argenti, Gallerie dell’Accademia, and the famous Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence is Italy’s informal museum capital.

Even globally, Florence has a reputation for housing some of humanity’s most impactful works of art and academia, having served as a major hub during the Renaissance.

What does all that hype and prestige mean for you, my dear traveler?

You’re even more likely to miss out on Florence’s lesser-known museums, exhibits, and programs. Even if you’ve visited the city more than once, you still might be waltzing past its best-kept secrets.

Ready to take a look behind the curtain? Don’t miss these ‘secret’ museums in Florence that many tourists skip out on because they don’t have enough time or because they didn’t hear about them in the first place.

8 ‘secret’ museums in Florence

Stibbert Museum
Museo di Palazzo Davanzati
Museo del Novecento
Ferragamo Museum
Palazzo Pitti
Museo Galileo
La Specola
Studio Abba

8 museums in Florence that you might not have heard about

Stibbert Museum (Museo Stibbert)

ITALY – NOVEMBER 21: Armour display, Riding Salon, Stibbert Museum, Florence. Italy. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Ready to explore one of the most extensive and odd private art collections in the world? Stibbert Museum includes dozens of exhibits that showcase the private collections of Frederick Stibbert, amassed throughout the 19^th century. A favorite from visitors is the massive arms and armory collection, where you can get up close and personal with real-life, knightly suits of armor.

Museo di Palazzo Davanzati

This storied, centuries-old palazzo is filled with artifacts, art, furniture, and other gems from the Middle Ages. Think of it like stepping into a time capsule of what life would have been like for a wealthy, noble family from Florence’s Renaissance Era glory. If you like museums that feel atmospheric, don’t miss Palazzo Davanzati.

Museo del Novecento

Hidden in plain sight right next to the Piazza del Duomo, this museum showcases some of the lesser-known yet high-impact artworks from Florence and around Italy. There’s just one catch: they don’t date back to the Renaissance but to the 1900s instead. (Novecento = Nine hundred.) Opened in 2010, it’s also the youngest museum on this list—by a long shot.

Ferragamo Museum

(Photo by Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis via Getty Images)

Let’s keep drifting a bit from the standard Renaissance-era fare. The Ferragamo Museum is yet another under-the-radar museum in Florence because it revolves around one of the city’s lesser-known exports: fashion. (Usually, Milan takes the cake when it comes to Italian fashion.)

The museum delves deep into the life and legacy of Salvatore Feraggamo, who left Florence as a child and grew up in the US as a shop boy before becoming one of the world’s most iconic designers in the mid-20^th century. If you like fashion, don’t miss out. On the other hand, if you don’t like fashion, I’d probably skip this one.

Palazzo Pitti

(Photo by Roberto Serra – Iguana Press/Getty Images)

Palazzo Pitti is not a secret by any stretch, but it’s often the first big-name museum that gets slashed when visitors are strapped on time. In addition to rococo walls laden with art and almost endless exhibits on a range of masters, you also get a closer look at Italian royalty and how they once lived. If you like the royal exhibits, make sure your ticket includes access to the Royal apartments.

Museo Galileo

Museum Galileo, the former Institute and Museum of the History of Science. (Getty)

If you like history and astronomy, you might already know that Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa but spent time teaching and learning across the country. His daughters, for example, ended up at convents just outside the city.

At Museo Galileo, you can take a closer look at many of the instruments that Galileo and like-minded contemporaries would have used to investigate the natural world. Some date as far back as the 1200s, and give off pure steampunk vibes.

La Specola (Museo di Storia Naturale)

Visitors in skeletons hall in the La Specola exhibits of the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze. (Getty)

Speaking of investigating the natural world, you can take a closer look at the many specimens, tools, and creations that the infamous Medici Family helped fund during their reign in Florence. From anatomical models to taxidermized animals to collections of butterflies, it’s a delightful and slightly strange look into the past. (Note: La Specola is closing in September 2025 and won’t reopen until early 2027, unfortunately.)

Studio Abba

Last but not least, I’m rounding off this list of ‘secret’ museums in Florence with a contemporary art museum. Studio Abba houses some of the best modern works from around the country. Displayed inside Palazzo Roselli del Turco, it’s a fittingly classic location that makes the works even more dramatic to behold.

The less secretive museums you still might be missing

While I have you here, don’t miss out on these other highly rated but sometimes missed museums in Florence:

Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
Palazzo del Bargello
Museo di Palazzo Vecchio—and Gucci Garden, hidden inside
Palazzo Strozzi
Palazzo Medici Riccardo—and the Medici Chapels

The World Tour of Oopsies—Chapter 14: The Idol (Part II)

[The World Tour of Oopsies is an ongoing series of travel stories about my first decade of travel. During these adventures and misadventures, I had to unlearn many things I thought I knew about life. Welcome to my miseducation.]

Catch up on my world tour of Oopsies:

The Recap: A short conclusion to my first three years of travel

Part I / Back in India

An aerial view of Vidhan Soudha and High Court building, Bangalore, India (Getty)

I had two options on where to go for my sophomore year of college: Bengaluru, India, or Guangzhou, China. I chose India, still feeling deeply invested and curious about my experiences in Kolkata during my first trip to the country (see: Ch. 3 and Ch. 4).

I arrived in Bengaluru in late August with around 15 classmates, ready to learn. I was hungry to know more about culture and religion, especially yoga, tantra, and Tibetan Buddhism. I was also interested in learning Hindi, and started by memorizing the script.

From our main base in Bengaluru, where our professors and school staff operated a small learning center with a kitchen where we ate idli, vada, and sambar daily, Southern India became our oyster.

We visited regions like Puducherry, sites like Mahabalipuram, and sacred locations like Tiruvannamalai. We were educated by professors, yoga masters, and local teachers. The most memorable trip was our pilgrimage to a place called Tirupati, located east of Bengaluru in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

It would be my second run-in with a powerful idol—but I didn’t know it yet.

Part II / Tirupati

Tirupati (or Tirumala) is a city of pilgrimage and is considered as the most visited place of worship in the world. View of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple. (Photo by Soltan Frédéric/Sygma via Getty Images)

Part of attending an ‘experiential learning’ college was foregoing traditional academic principles to stretch the mind. What do I mean by that?

When our class of around fifteen students packed into a bus at around midnight, we were told that we were going to a pilgrimage in Tirupati for the god Venkateswara, an incarnation of the God Vishnu, whose role is to maintain and sustain our reality. (He also goes by Govinda, Balaji, and Srinivasa.)

That’s all.

As a bunch of young college students, we sidled in and fell asleep for what would be a six-hour-long drive straight through the night.

We woke up, we were shuffled from the bus, then fed, and then led to a massive temple complex. When I say massive, I mean that this complex can easily handle around 100,000 pilgrims at the same time. It’s one of the most-visited sites in India, with around 24 million devotees passing through each year. The average daily pilgrim number is 60,000.

Believers come to leave offerings to Venkateswara, who is primarily associated with helping us humans get through Kali Yuga. I suggest reading about Kali Yuga from Ananda, but if you want a TL;DR for a complex spiritual concept, here it is: humanity is in the last stage of a four-part cycle, and it’s the worst of all the stages by a long shot.

Part III / Waiting

Devotees gather to collect entrance tokens to visit the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirupati district of India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Hopefully, you clicked on that link and learned a little bit about Kali Yuga. I think it paints a striking portrait of what it was like to delve into highly complex and ancient Hindu beliefs. I was very interested in learning more—but waiting in the long, endless lines at Tirupati is one of the more memorable moments on my world tour.

We stood and waited for hours, packed in fairly well-organized lines that snaked up a large hill toward the temple, surrounded by thousands of others. (The image above shows what the lines were like.)

We were peppered with information as we neared the temple. But, again, the point of experiential learning is to experience lessons without so many rigorous academic expectations, especially in the realm of religion.

Sometime around twelve hours after we had boarded the bus in Bangalore, our group finally reached the main temple. Inside waited an idol of Venkateswara, but not all of my classmates had put that together. The line bottlenecked, leading into a dark, covered temple; there, attendants were shoving people forward to keep the masses moving.

Before we knew it, we were swept up into the action. Packed into a tight group, we were forced by many powerful hands to keep stepping forward, stepping forward, stepping forward. The area was fifty times the size of the inner sanctum of the Kalighat temple in Kolkata, and there were hundreds more bodies around me.

Surrounded by so many resistant worshippers who wanted to maximize their time in the inner sanctum, I almost missed the idol—

But I managed to see Sri Venkateswara’s murti, absolutely massive and adorned in vibrant flowers, looking graceful, powerful, and wise.

I must have observed the idol for one split-second before being hurled toward the exit.

Once outside, most of my classmates were baffled. I think around one-third of us even saw the idol. The rest were left wondering what we’d just done, and why they’d been dragged from their beds to experience the Tirupati darsan.

**TL;DR my world tour of travel stories: Always look for the murti.**

8 Highly Rated Hotels in Downtown Philadelphia in Center City

Whether you’re heading into Philadelphia to delve deep into American history or just to join the Bird Gang for an Eagles game, you’ll need a comfortable and well-located hotel to rest your head at night.

I tend to put more emphasis on location, as landing in the right spot hands you the keys to a more relaxed and exciting trip. You’re probably within walking distance of major attractions, along with public transportation. Great eateries and cultural hubs are also easier to find in a city center compared to the suburbs.

On top of that, a city’s downtown area is often its more identifiable when it comes to culture—even if locals don’t spend the whole day there.

If you’re looking for a place to stay in the City of Brotherly Love, head to one of these hotels in downtown Philadelphia that put you right in the middle of the action.

(Just a note: Philadelphia’s downtown area is called Center City. Apparently, ‘downtown’ is a geo-term borrowed from Manhattan that slowly became the norm for other US cities—but not in Philly. The hotels listed below are located in or near Philadelphia’s Center City, which is the ‘core’ of its downtown area.)

Best hotels in downtown Philadelphia in the city center

Quiet luxury: The Windsor Suites
Local favorite: Yowie
Historic trappings: Guild House Hotel
Newly renovated & historic: The Bellevue Hotel
Simple & lovely: Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy
Apart-hotel vibes plus a pool: ROOST Midtown
All the basics: Hampton Inn Philadelphia
Close to the convention center: Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown

Best hotels in downtown Philadelphia in the city center

The Windsor Suites

This lovely hotel has all the basics that you could want for a visit to Center City. You can choose from one-bedroom or suites, some of which come with kitchenettes. There is also a business center and a rooftop pool to enjoy. While there is a large convention space on the grounds, The Windsor Suites feel very warm and quaint, unlike many other convention-serving hotels.

Yowie Hotel

Stylized as YOWIE, this swanky little boutique hotel proves that star numbers don’t count. Though it has only two stars thanks to its amenity count (no rooftop pools or fitness centers), it’s a decidedly cool and homegrown project. The hotel is upstairs; downstairs, you can find a shop and café that’s frequented by the city’s coolest artists, indie labels, designers, and more. As an added perk, you get to stay in Center City’s ultra cool South Street area.

Guild House Hotel

YOWIE is plenty stylish when it comes to hotels in downtown Philadelphia, but Guild House Hotel delivers on both character and history. Set inside a National Historic Landmark and outfitted with effortlessly opulent décor, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped inside one of the trendiest time capsules in the world. The Founders Suite looks like something out of an Old World fantasy.

The Bellevue Hotel

Looking for a slightly quieter but equally chic atmosphere? The Bellevue Hotel offers a minimalist but historic take on luxury trappings. Its décor is more understated but just as high-class, letting you settle into life in Center City in a very Parisian way.

Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy (The Witherspoon Apartments Center City)

I always enjoy a Sonder property thanks to the spa-like feel. Similar to The Bellevue, interiors are both minimal and austere, letting you escape the hustle of Center City. As with other Sonder properties, you get long-stay perks like in-suite laundry and a full kitchen. But the real magic at The Witherspoon property is the historic grounds, which date back to 1895 and ooze with character.

ROOST Midtown

ROOST isn’t a traditional hotel; it’s a collection of privately maintained apartments set inside a residential building. Some people enjoy that kind of arrangement, while others find it cold and confusing. I’ll leave it up to you—but I think if you tend to enjoy private rentals, then ROOST Midtown is a nice in-between that puts you smack in the action of Center City.

Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City

No need to reinvent the wheel in Center City—this Hampton Inn has all the basics you’ll need for a reliably great stay. (Also, Hampton Inn has done well in sleeper surveys for its top-notch beds. Just saying.) It’s perfect for anyone who wants to be close to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, too—it’s located just across the street.

Courtyard by Marriott Philadelphia Downtown

If the Hampton Inn doesn’t scratch your itch, you’ve got another reliable chain located in Center City. This Courtyard by Marriott has a great location in the heart of downtown Philadelphia, along with a 24-hour front desk. It’s also close to the convention center, in case you’re in town for a big event.

Which US Cities Have Airport Train Service? Plus, How to Ride

The United States has a pretty egregious reputation when it comes to public transportation.

That being said, you might be surprised to learn that over a dozen US cities now offer metro, train, and light rail connections directly from downtown to/from the airport. Some estimates put that number as high as 25 US cities.

But not all airport train service systems are created equally.

I’m from Saint Louis, Missouri, which has a pretty limited MetroLink train system. The Red Line does offer service to and from downtown Saint Louis International Airport. That being said, I wouldn’t recommend the average traveler take on Saint Louis on foot. In short, while you can get to/from the airport using the MetroLink if you’re patient, it’s not the most reliable option.

Also, it dumps you in one of Saint Louis’s sketchier downtown areas.

Are you catching my drift? While more and more cities are adding and/or improving functional airport train service, not all are actually traveler-friendly. And, in some cases, like LAX’s new FlyAway ticket system, they might not be the easiest to figure out.

Do you want information on which US cities have airport train service that you’ll actually want to use? These are my recommendations based on the criteria of being able to plan a fully carless trip—starting from the airport.

US cities with airport train service that’s easy & functional—no car rentals needed

San Francisco
NYC (La Guardia & JFK)
Chicago O’Hare
Philadelphia
Atlanta
Seattle
Minneapolis
Washington DC
Boston
Miami

US cities with airport train service that’s easy & functional—no car rentals needed

San Francisco

You can use the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system to get to and from San Francisco International Airport without a hitch. BART operates daily from 5 am to midnight—so be aware that late-night arrivals will probably funnel you toward a taxi or rideshare.

To use San Francisco’s airport train service, simply board BART at your preferred stop, then navigate to its International Terminal. From there, you can deboard and take the free AirTrain system at SFO, which takes you to each terminal. At the time of writing, a one-way fare is just over $5 and will take around 30 minutes from downtown SF.

NYC (La Guardia & JFK)

You can use the Subway to reach JFK and La Guardia, though you’ll need to use bus lines to reach La Guardia rather than the airport train system. If you’re heading to JFK, board the Subway and navigate toward the A Line. Take the A Line to Howard Beach Station-JFK Airport Station. From there, de-board and take the AirTrain JFK to the main terminal.

You can also take the E, J, or Z subway lines to Jamaica Station, which also includes an AirTrain line that takes you to JFK. However, the most popular (and the fastest) way to reach JFK via metro is usually on the A line.

In terms of reaching La Guardia, I recommend using Google Maps or a similar app to figure out a bus route. In New York City, you can use the same Subway card for buses.

Chicago (O’Hare & Midway)

For how miserable my experiences at Chicago O’Hare have been over the last decade (due to construction), I’ve always gotten to the airport faster than anticipated thanks to the Chicago L train system. (The subway/metro/public train system is called the L in Chicago, short for elevated because it runs above ground) Jump onto the L anywhere in the city, then navigate to the Blue Line. The Blue Line provides 24/7 transportation to/from Chicago O’Hare.

If you’re heading to Midway Airport, take the Orange Line to the Midway Station. It deposits you right at the airport’s terminals.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia has its own Airport Line that runs straight from Center City Philadelphia. Like San Francisco’s BART, it doesn’t offer 24-hour service. The train runs from 4am to 12 am daily, so plan accordingly. Just hop on the SEPTA Regional Rail Line’s Airport Line from the Center City Station, which serves only four stations: Philadelphia International Airport’s four terminals.

Atlanta

Atlanta’s airport train service is managed by MARTA, aka the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. It’s not the most comprehensive in the country by a long shot, but it offers reliable airport transit. Simply head to a MARTA stop, then navigate to the Red or Gold Lines. Both will take you directly to Airport Station, which deposits you at Atlanta-Hartsfield International.

Seattle

Take the city’s functional Sound Transit Link light rail train straight to the airport. Simply hop on at any stop around the city, then navigate toward the SeaTac/Airport Link Station. You need to walk over a very cool skybridge to actually get to the airport, but it’s one of the fastest and most affordable airport train services out there.

Minneapolis

Want to know one of the most mind-blowing things about visiting Minneapolis-Saint Paul? It has a pretty badass public transit system—and its airport train service showcases that. Take the Metro to the airport. Simply board at any Metro station, then navigate toward the Blue Line. It includes two stops for each airport terminal. The cherry on top? It costs $2.00 during off-peak times and $2.50 during rush hour.

Washington DC (Washington Dulles International Airport)

DC has one of the coolest train transit systems, called the Metrorail. (Some of the stations are like works of art.) If you’re heading to IAD (that’s the more popular airport in the area), head to any Metrorail station and navigate to the Silver Line. It runs to the airport, though you’ll need to do a bit of walking to reach the terminals, similar to Seattle.

Boston

Heading to Logan International? You can take the local MBTA metro line to South Station and catch the Silver Line 1 Bus (or SL1 Bus), which takes you directly to the airport. Is it a direct train service? No, but it’s free, and that makes up for the hassle.

Miami & Fort Lauderdale

Last but not least, you can use Miami’s Tri-Rail system to get to the airport. The best way to use it is to head to Miami Central Station. From there, you can get an EASY card, then take the train to Metrorail Transfer, which is part of the Tri-Rail system. Then wait just two stops to reach Miami International Airport.

The Tri-Rail system also connects Miami to Fort Lauderdale and even West Palm Beach. Tri-Rail refers to the three counties that the train passes through: Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach.

Autumn Road Trip Inspiration: 8 Lighthouses in New Brunswick, Canada

Autumn is almost here, which means leaf-peeping pursuits are in full swing.

New England is the US’s most popular area for fall foliage displays, but it’s hardly the only one. From the Rockies to the Great Plains to the Pacific Northwest, most Americans across the country have a multicolored forest spectacle within reach.

But what if I told you the East Coast of Canada, just across the border with Maine, is home to some of the best autumn road trip fare?

One that involves an itinerary consisting of over fifteen gorgeous lighthouses with unbeatable coastal views?

Sure, it’s not the traditional autumn adventures that we’re used to because most lighthouses in New Brunswick aren’t surrounded by forest. But the journey between them will take you to some of the quaintest towns in the province—and you’ll have plenty of time to soak up those fall scenes in the meantime.

Ready to take a tour of the best lighthouses in New Brunswick for a DIY road trip that’s just across the border in Maine? Here’s where to go, starting from the south and moving north.

A quick note on building a road trip route: The lighthouses listed below are in order of southernmost to northernmost. I’ve included two additional lighthouses that you can visit in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The distance from Swallowtail Lighthouse in Grand Manon and Cap D’Or Lighthouse in Advocate Harbour is around 5.5 hours, making this a great weekend trip.

Lighthouses in New Brunswick—for weekend road trips, autumn escapes, & more

Swallowtail Lighthouse
Head Harbour Lighthouse
Musquash Head Lighthouse
Renforth Lighthouse
Quaco Head Lighthouse
West Point Lighthouse (PEI)
Seacow Head Lighthouse (PEI)
Cap D’Or Lighthouse (NS)

Lighthouses in New Brunswick perfect for a road trip

Swallowtail Lighthouse (Grand Manan)

This active lighthouse is dearly beloved by the local community of Grand Manan. It’s perfect for lighthouse enthusiasts because you can take official tours and even visit a gift shop. But anyone who loves a dramatic coastal view will also have a great time visiting Swallowtail thanks to its rugged natural surroundings.

Head Harbour Lighthouse (Campobello Island)

Located on a small, rocky island, Head Harbour Lighthouse is only accessible when the tide is low. Otherwise, you can enjoy this iconic lighthouse from the coast. It sits nestled amid pine trees, painted in bright white and red. Some have even claimed it’s the most photographed lighthouse in the world.

Musquash Head Lighthouse (Saint John)

The beautiful Musquash head lighthouse at dusk (Getty)

Though smaller and slightly shabbier than other lighthouses in New Brunswick, consider this visit more of an experience. You can enjoy a short walk (less than one mile) from the road, then take advantage of the coastal views. Many have reported seeing marine life and, according to one recent visitor, a bald eagle.

Renforth Lighthouse (Rothesay)

Renforth Lighthouse on the riverbank of Kennebecasis River in Rothesay (Getty)

Part lighthouse and part swimming hole, Renforth Lighthouse is a staple for the local community. During the summer months, you’ll notice people swimming in the area, but when the weather turns cold, you’ll notice ice fishing on the frozen waters. Just know that the lighthouse is teeny-tiny compared to others on this list, similar to Musquash Head Lighthouse.

Quaco Head Lighthouse (St. Martins)

Beautiful morning at Quaco Head Lighthouse on the Bay of Fundy near the village of Saint Martins, New Brunswick, Canada (Getty)

Enjoy a short little jaunt from the parking lot to this stolid, plain lighthouse—and hope the weather abides. Locals and visitors alike love the view and tranquil surroundings. That being said, if it’s foggy (which isn’t uncommon), you’ll be contending with fog horns. I imagine the first foghorn bellow is interesting, but the rest might not be.

Take a break from the lighthouses in New Brunswick with a stop in Fundy National Park

Woman looking at waterfall, Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Maritime provinces, Canada. Tranquil scene.

Located in St. Martins, not far from Quaco Head Lighthouse, is Fundy National Park, one of Canada’s most rugged and stunning parks. It’s part of the Mi’gmaq territory, giving you a glimpse into Canada’s First Nations as you explore more stunning views along the Bay of Fundy.

West Point Lighthouse (West Point, Prince Edward Island)

West Point Lighthouse, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Just across the border on Prince Edward Island is a large, black-striped lighthouse with a lovely beach that’s open to the public. Natural setting aside, West Point Lighthouse also has a museum for you to check out and a restaurant for a casual meal. If you’re really into the scenery, book a night at the on-site inn.

Seacow Head Lighthouse (Prince Edward Island)

Set atop a large cliff and surrounded by greenery, Seacow Head Lighthouse is yet another great spot to spend an afternoon on Prince Edward Island. One attractive feature is the area’s red rocks that abut the coast, which are strikingly different than the darker rocks found in New Brunswick.

Cap D’Or Lighthouse (Advocate Harbour, Nova Scotia)

Looking for a lighthouse experience? Cap D’Or Lighthouse, located in Nova Scotia, has a fantastic museum, restaurant, and inn on the grounds. The accommodations are very simple, but its menu is renowned around Canada. It’s a perfect spot to round off your visit to the lighthouses in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.