Sydney is a city of 30,960 people (2021). It is the main port on Cape Breton Island, in Nova Scotia.

Understand

The world's largest fiddle

This former industrial city's main industries today are in customer support call centres and tourism. Cape Breton University is a major employer and has brought students from around the world to the area. Tourism in Sydney has boomed as a result of significant government investment in cruise ship facilities and a waterfront revitalization plan through which a boardwalk and marinas were constructed, as was the world's largest fiddle.

History

Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British. Sydney served as the Cape Breton Island colony's capital, until 1820, when the colony merged with Nova Scotia and the capital moved to Halifax.

United Heritage Church

A rapid population expansion occurred just after the turn of the 20th century, when Sydney was home to one of North America's main steel mills. During both the First and Second World Wars, it was a major staging area for England-bound convoys. The post-war period, there was a major decline in the number of people employed at the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (DOSCO) steel mill. The Nova Scotia and Canadian governments had to nationalize it in 1967 to save the region's biggest employer, forming the new crown corporation called the Sydney Steel Corporation (SYSCO). The city's population has steadily decreased since the early 1970s as Sydney suffered an economic decline as local coal and steel industries underwent significant changes. The closure of the SYSCO and the Cape Breton Development Corporation's coal mines in 2000-2001 have resulted in attempts by the municipal, provincial and federal governments to diversify the area economy.

Climate

Sydney experiences a cool summer, and windy, wet and stormy winter. February is the year's coldest month on average, and August is the year's warmest month on average.

While occasional thunderstorms and other rains can occur in summer, June through August are Sydney's driest months on average. Sydney's average annual precipitation cycle reflects these realities; the year's driest month, on average, is July; its wettest month, on average, is December. Average annual precipitation in Sydney is over 1500mm, virtually the highest found anywhere in Canada outside coastal British Columbia. Snowfall is heavy, averaging nearly 300 cm per winter season. However, winter-season storms are variable, and can bring changing precipitation types, commonly from ice/snow to rain and possibly back to ice/snow. A winter storm can bring accumulating snow, followed by heavy rain, then a brief return to snow or ice, resulting in no or minimal additional snow accumulation. Overall, Sydney's climate is moderately cold and strikingly variable, wet, stormy and windy from fall to early spring (October to March), and more stable and drier in summer (June to August).

Get in

By plane

Airport

• 1 J.A. Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport (YQY  ^IATA). (updated Apr 2022)

Destinations

Direct flights to Sydney within Canada include from Montreal (2 hours) and from Toronto (2.25 hours).

Airlines

Canadian airlines operating to Sydney:

• Air Canada, ☏ +1-514-393-3333, toll-free: +1-888-247-2262. Canada's largest airline with hubs in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. It operates across Canada and services international destinations. (updated Apr 2022)
• Sunwing Airlines, toll-free: +1-877-786-9464. Low cost Canadian airline that operates some flights within Canada throughout the year and specializes in seasonal flights to warmer, southern international vacation destinations in the winter. (updated Apr 2022) Operates to Sydney during the summer.
• WestJet, toll-free: +1-877-952-0100. Canada's second largest airline services with hubs in Calgary and Toronto. It operates across Canada and services international destinations. (updated Apr 2022)

By car

Driving to Sydney can be done by crossing the Canso Causeway which links the island to the Nova Scotia mainland at Auld's Cove (on the mainland) and Port Hawkesbury (on Cape Breton). From there you have two options: the slightly longer but straighter Highways 105 and 125 or the shorter but twistier Route 4.

By bus

• Maritime Bus, toll-free: +1-800-575-1807, info@maritimebus.com. Operates an inter-regional bus service between destinations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. . (updated Apr 2022)
  • Its route between Halifax and Sydney includes stops in Dartmouth, Halifax Airport, Truro, New Glasgow, Antigonish, Port Hawkesbury, and North Sydney. Travel time to Sydney from Halifax is 6.5 hours, from Truro is 4.75 hours, from Antigonish is 3.25 hours, and from North Sydney is 50 minutes.
  • Travel to Sydney from the following destinations involving same day transfers is as follows:
    • From Moncton (7.5 hours) with a transfer in Truro.
    • From Charlottetown (8.5 hours) with transfers in Amherst and in Truro.
    • From Bathurst (10.75 hours), Campbellton (12 hours). Edmundston (14 hours), Fredericton (10.25 hours), Miramichi (9.75 hours), and Saint John (10.5 hours) with transfers in Moncton and Truro.

By boat

Ferry service is available from Newfoundland in North Sydney.

Get around

Most sights within the downtown are within walking distance, however most major tourist sights are well outside of the city and require a car or pre-arranged tour bus.

• 1 Tourist Information Centre, 77 Kings Rd, ☏ +1 902-563-4636. 9AM-6PM. 
• Transit Cape Breton, ☏ +1 902-539-8124, epw@cbrm.ns.ca. 13 routes through the island including from North Sydney. Adult fares range from $1.25 to $5.00. Fares for seniors 55 & up and children 5-12 range from $1.00 to $4.75. (updated May 2019)

See

Although Sydney is the centre of Cape Breton, it lacks major tourist sites itself. Some things to see are:

• 1 World's Largest Fiddle, 74 Esplanade. A beautiful 60 foot tall fiddle made of steel located on the waterfront. (updated Jul 2024)
• Two private homes dating to the earliest settlement of the city, Jost House and Cossitt House, remain in the downtown area of Sydney.
• 2 Wentworth Park. 5-minute walk south from the downtown core, is worth a visit. It has walking trails around multiple tiny lakes. (updated Jul 2024)
• 3 Merchant Marine Memorial Statue, 246 Esplanade. A roadside attraction. (updated Mar 2018)
• 4 Old Sydney Society, 175 Charlotte St, ☏ +1 902-539-1572. Museum. (updated Mar 2018)
• 5 St Patrick's Museum, 87 Esplanade, ☏ +1 902-562-8237. (updated Mar 2018)

Do

• 1 Casino Nova Scotia - Sydney's Neighbourhood Casino, 525 George St, ☏ +1 902-563-7777. Includes a restaurant on-site. (updated Mar 2018)

Buy

The Sydney marine terminal and Charlotte Street have an abundance of arts and crafts stores selling traditional Cape Breton souvenirs.

Eat

Sydney has many well established restaurants, most with menus full of classic seafood favourites.

• Celtic Junction Bar and Grille (inside the Sydney casino). This restaurant features a large menu consisting of a good mixture of diner classics and newer 'fusion-fare'. Because it is located inside the casino, it is off limits to those under 19. 
• 1 Kiju's Restaurant, 50 Maillard St, Membertou B1S 3W3, ☏ +1 902-562-6220, fax: +1 902-564-4921. Su-Th 11AM-9PM, F-Sa 11AM-10PM. Fresh ideas and local ingredients, pub style classics, kid’s meals and finer fare. In Membertou Trade and Convention Centre, near the Hampton Inn Sydney. (updated Apr 2017)
• Flavor restaurants, four locations, including Flavor on the Water located at the Big Fiddle. Various menu options.

Drink

• 1 Breton Brewing Co., 364 Keltic Drive, ☏ +1 902-270-4677. A local craft brewery that sells pints in the tasting room. (updated Mar 2018)

Sleep

Sydney is home to a handful of places to rest your head ranging from small motels to larger hotels.

• 1 Beacon Motel, 294 Keltic Drive, toll-free: +1-866-562-8282. Cheaper motel located 10 minutes outside of the downtown core. No website; call to make reservations. 
• 2 Cambridge Suites, 380 Esplanade, ☏ +1 902 562-6500, toll-free: +1-800-565-9466, fax: +1 902 564-6011. Although the nicest hotel in the city, it lacks a swimming pool so it might not be very family friendly, which might be a selling point for busy business travellers. $149-199. 
• 3 Hearthstone Inn Sydney, 560 Kings Road, ☏ +1 902-539-8101, toll-free: +1 800-422-8025, reservations@hearthstonesydney.com. Hotel with free high-speed Internet, restaurant and lounge, heated pool, exercise room, executive suite, courtyard and free parking. 
• 4 Holiday Inn Sydney - Waterfront, 300 Esplanade, ☏ +1 902 562-7500. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM. This hotel features large conference facilities and ballrooms, a large swimming pool, waterslide, gym and sauna. 
• 5 Travelodge Sydney, 480 Kings Road, fax: +1 902-707-4603. This hotel also has a pool, sauna, hot tub, and gym. 

For travellers seeking something with a little more character try one of the many bed and breakfasts in the area a selection of which can be found here

Go next

• The Fortress of Louisbourg, about an hour's drive away, is a reconstruction of the 18th-century fortified French town whose presence plagued the British colonies of New England.
• Stop at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site of Canada in Baddeck.
• And no visit to Cape Breton is complete without a trip around the famous Cabot Trail, which regularly places high on lists of 'Best Drives in the World'

Routes through Sydney

END ← North Sydney ←	N  S	→ END
Antigonish ← Port Hawkesbury ← jct ←	W  E	→ Glace Bay → END
END ←	N  S	→ Louisbourg → END