Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site

Very historical and interesting.
Gives an excellent way to understand what life was like in 1700's.
Including cast members dressed in costumes of the times and well informed.

Awesome visit. This time of year you avoid the crowds. Not all buildings were open, which is expected for this time of year.

The staff were all great and very knowledgeable. We really enjoyed the visit.

Take the time to make a trip to Fortress Louisbourg. There is a large area to wander with 20% of the original settlement recreated. Staff on site are engaging and very knowledgeable about this period of habitation. Original period pieces are found throughout and make everything more authentic. Well worth a visit and plan on 4 hours.

Beautiful fort that has been rebuilt. You can still see remains of the other parts the British blew up. Easy to spend a few hours walking around.

Incite à voir, c'est la plus grande reconstitution historique.le site est très grand on peut marcher un bout de temps le personnel est courtois vraiment a voir!

Really cool to check out. We went off season so didn’t get to see a lot of the places inside. Love the roaming sheep and seeing the chickens. I enjoyed the map with brief descriptions for each building.

Great spot, unfortunately all the buildings were closed, but it was mid October so very late in the year

You may have figured by now that I love history. This is amazing. The original town was destroyed over the years by storms, but has been partially rebuilt from archaeological records and historical documents. An incredible job, nearly as good as Sturbridge Village. The narrative is also something that had flown under my radar. I knew about the fall of Quebec in 1859 and Montreal in 1860, but the fall of Fortress Luoisbourg was the gateway to the British taking of French Canada. Worth the time and the price of admission.

Beautiful place full of history! The staff dress in character, very informative and friendly.
The Rum and Whiskey sold here Re sooo smooth.

Amazing place with lots of history. Actors make the experience even better. Could easily spend the whole morning/day here!

The best! We have learned a lot of things about the history of Canada. The buildings were awesome. When you get into the barracks you will be able to see a lot of collections of things from the past. The ambiance was so nice. I would gladly recommend this place.

Excellent staff and Actors. Start this visit first thing in the morning for the best experience. You will need to stay all day if you want to see everything as there are various timed events during the day.

Great place of historic significance w/ cast doing great job explaining their characters. Easily takes the day doing the lighthouse trail along

Nous avons adoré. Il faut interagir avec les gens qui y travaillent. On y apprend plus ainsi. Sinon lisez tout tout tout. Il faut aller voir le phare, pas parce qu'il est beau mais parce que l'endroit magnifique et a un lien avec la forteresse.

Endroit sympathique, personnel aimable. Je n'ai pas apprécié que lon me salue en Hi/Bonjour alors que les employés ne sont pas majoritairement bilingues. Bien que je soit bilingues je trouve se point très décevant.

Le resto es sympathique, le menu es abordable et le service rapide (en anglais menu compris unilingue anglophone)

Site propre et bien entrenue.

Toilette propre.

On peut y acheter du rhum directement sur place, dégustation disponible en anglais biensur.

Enjoyed the day. Parks staff are wonderful. Attempted a few Miꞌkmaq dance steps. I am not a natural. Very few people around. Lots to see, do and learn.

Loved it!
Extremely authentic!
The staff in period costumes were wonderful and the view spectacular.

My mom, brother, his girlfriend and I went as a vacation. It was nice even with the fog. Getting to experience some parts of history were really cool! There were people dressed in period clothing and we got to learn about a bunch of different topics regarding the Louisburg area and its history. I liked getting to see a real lime kiln.

It more than lives up to its name, being historic AND a Fortress. The signage to get there needs help, i.e. Don't drive all the way to the Fort, turn in at the Entrance sign well before it to find the secret Visitor's Centre, where you pay and get the shuttle bus to the Fort.

There's lots to see, such as canon and musket demonstrations, and the meal at the tavern was some of the best food my wife and I had eating out.

This was the highlight of our trip.
Love all the history here.
Buy a loaf of their delicious bread that they make fresh daily.
Try the VR and don't miss the Canon firing.
So awesome

Amazing place for all ages. Took a gaggle of kids here ages 2,4,6,7 & 8 (my kids and their cousins) plus us 4 adults and had a great time. The kids enjoyed it so much they're asking when we're coming back. I knew my kids would enjoy it but I was worried their interest would drop off shortly into the excursion, not the case at all. They loved it start to finish. Extremely cool place, the amount of work that's gone into this historically accurate recreation is bananas.

Not at all what it used to be it needs more characters. There used to be peruod actors that told amazing stories and took pride in sharing the story. Still a nice place but you don't take away what you did years ago.

We really enjoyed our time there, I would advise allowing yourself 3 hours to immerse yourself. The staff were fantastic and it was well laid out.

Great to be back this year and find a lot more open. The interpreters are great. They love to stop and talk and share what life was like back then. They really make it fun to visit. There was a woman in a garden explaining what all the plants are used for, how they are preserved for winter etc. Every one has taken time to learn who their character is.
Grandson and I had a great lunch from the Cafe and enjoyed seeing the cannon fired at noon. Thanks for another fun visit.

What an amazing piece of history. Definitely need a full day to view everything. We spent 3 hours and didn't see everything.

Beautiful place! Everyone was so friendly and helpful. My own complaint is that its not very wheelchair accessible. It would have been fantastic if they had a little walkway paved, versus trying to push my mother in her wheelchair through the gravel. Other than that, great place!

The fortress of louisbourg is not the most convenient attraction on cape Brenton Island, but boy is it worth the effort! This historic landmark is not a hold over from olden times, but rather a recreation of the past in the present. When driving up to the fortress, you might be mistaken to think that the impressive buildings in front of you are relics of the past. However, this location was completely recreated over 2 decades starting in the 1960s. It's recreation supported the livelihoods of countless workers who had lost their jobs. In addition to artefacts strewn throughout the recreated buildings, the attraction uses antiques or accurate recreations along with fully costumed staff fully knowledgeable about the history about ancient Louisbourg. The staff and the atmosphere place you in an historical Era lost to time, but thanks to the efforts take this place a reality, available to all now who are willing to go out of their way to see this wonderful cite.

Tremendous reconstruction - flawless detail and obviously no expense spared to recreate the 1740s experience. Staff were super friendly, helpful and extremely knowledgeable about the history. It is a national treasure and Canada should be proud of this salute to our past. I highly recommend this park to anyone who loves history and architecture.

Best place to watch for everyone.the lifestyle of people, their friendly nature, costumes, everything is so awesome.you will feel like you're actually in 1960 or something.

Didn’t really get to go in, or go anywhere near it. We were there on Saturday, and they were closed. Tried to hike up the road since we are park pass holders, but got stopped by a security and told us were not allowed there and yet there was no sign says no trans passing or anything.

Very well maintained fortress. Extremely peaceful when lesser visitors. Great location. Reminds of old times. Gives idea how would had been the old living in a fortress close to WWII.

Fantastic place to visit, and we were glad that we made the detour to Louisbourg. If you are at all interested in history, then this place is a must. The buildings are beautifully restored, and the staff in period dress brought it to life. Bring layers, as it can be cold even on summer days.

This place really made me embrace the time period it all happend in. The cannon firing was well staged and flowed nicely. Everything was explained in a intention to teach everyone, the stuctures and landmarks were fun to explore and learn the backround of everything. I didn't feel like merchandise was shoved in my face either. Loved it!

Vraiment le site le plus intéressant que j’aie visité en 2018! Peu de gens connaissent l’histoire de cette forteresse française qui se disait être la défense de l’amérique française! Le personnel est sympathique, les visites sont en anglais et en français, nous pouvons choisir la visite qui nous convient!

We visited at the end of the season a few weeks ago. We lucked up and a cruise ship was docked so they opened many of the buildings. The weather when we arrived was brutal (sleet and high winds) but good luck shined down upon us again and it improved and temperatures rose. We spent a couple of hours here. Its very informative and they had park rangers giving tours but we did our own thing.you can pet goats and sheep and view chickens/turkeys out in the town area in the front of the property near the water too.

A great place to visit while planning a trip towards beautiful cape breton. I went with my family during 2nd week of October and we signed up for Time Travels activity in Fortress of Louisbourg that gave us a very good insight of how things were in 18th century in this fortress. We saw demonstration of musket fire; and had a hot chocolate which was served to us in a kitchen and in a manner similar to that of 18th century. My children enjoyed seeing ducks there. A must visit place if you are planning a visit to Cape Breton.

Nicely restored and the re-enactment staff are so friendly and knowledgeable. Easy to spend a whole day wandering through.

Confusing signage as you drive in. Look for a parking sign well before the actual fortress, turn there and find the Visitor Center. You'll take a bus from there.

This place is amazing!
there plenty of thing to do
at first when i check the photo and review I was thinking it was small but not at all is gigantic!

A great lesson in history for both kids and adults

-you can fired a real canon
-can assist a parade
-interacting with different soldiers
-you can go in all the different buildings and …More

what to bring with you:

-good pair of shoes
-sun screen
-water

you could probably spend the entire day there if you do all the activity

This was a great day. I just wish a few more of the buildings were open. 17 for an adult, but if u want to fire a cannon or a musket it will cost you more. Plus its mostly rocky roads so not great for strollers.

Great experience. Period actors were knowledgeable, friendly, and entertaining. Buildings were interesting and well-maintained. Plenty to experience including some livestock (turkeys, ducks, geese, sheep, goats, chickens), dancing, and music making.

It really is stepping back in time. The "residents" stay in character and have a wealth of information to share. Dining is expensive though so plan for that if you are there for the day. Beautiful place to visit.

Très intéressant, je le recommande. On ressent vraiment ce qui s'est passé sur ce site. À voir. L'animation des comédiens est d'un réalisme incroyable.

Very informative and well reconstructed, but the best part was the very personal perspective of Canadian (and Acadian) history by one of the reenactors.

A great lesson in history for both kids and adults. Lots to a and do. You could spend an entire day there and still not experience everything.

Admission does not include any extra activities inside the fortress, so be prepared to pay if you want to fire a musket or cannon, be imprisoned or even take the guided tour.

All "residents" of the fortress are in costumes appropriate to the time period and remain in character when spoken to. They go about their routines as you walk around the grounds.

A day pass is less than $20 CAD - highly recommend if you are vacationing in Cape Breton.

*** Must Visit Attraction ***

We visited Maritime Provinces in 2015 and didn’t visit here. In 2018 we visited again, and LOVED visiting here. I was wondering in my head why we didn’t come here before. Too good.

Some reviews says it takes 3-4 hours to see the whole thing. Let me give you two options:

1. If you Love museums / history and have time: First of all take the 10: 30am tour (available both in English and French). It takes an hour and costs $4 per person. After that you would know what to look at and then you go nuts. See each exhibit and it can take as much time as you would like to spend.

2. If you have little time / you like Museums but don’t die for them: Take the 10: 30am tour, and that should be it.

There are two guided tours, first one at 10: 30am and the second one at around 2pm, I think. For you to join the 10: 30am tour, you should buy the tickets at 9: 45am latest and take the bus (complimentary) to take you to Fortress site. Then its a 15 minutes walk to the Tour start point.

Parking is free on site. The restaurant and bakery only serve you food of 1745 AD colonial time, which if you don’t like (if you have taste buds like mine), then you only have an option of a cafe that serves chips and pop. It means, if you plan a 4-5 hours “I Love Museums” kinda trip, pack your lunch.

Highly recommended tourist spot, Specialised for kids.

This was very fun, the homemade Soldier bread, soup, and Haddock was amazing. Very much enjoyed the life of a soldier portion, photo attached firing his musket.

C'est correct en Septembre il manque peut être de personnel plusieurs bâtiment sont vide. Répétitif entre les bâtiments. Beaucoup de marché la navette nous débarque très loin de l'entrée. Mobilité réduite s'abstenir.

Really good place. Signage has to be better to indicate where people turn in the first instance to park their car.need better access once you get off the bus for people in wheelchairs.the gravel path you have to walk is hard to move a wheelchair over. More indication of where you can get cold drinks and food would be great. Places are there but signage needs to be better.