Chester, Nova Scotia
Less than an hour drive from Halifax, you can spend a day,a week or a lifetime in beautiful Chester Municipality. This vibrant community has something for everyone and the local,specialized shops that stock unique products made locally, are considered one of the area’s “best kept secrets.” The village of Chester was founded in 1759 by New Englanders. After more than 200 years it has become a place of pleasant cafes and restaurants, gracious homes, tree lined streets and a timeless air of gentility. Mansions and more humbler homes , spilling up
and down hillsides and out on “the peninsula.”
Chester looks out over the 360 islands of magnificent Mahone Bay, past the hump of Quaker Island to Big and Little Tancook and East Ironbound and beyond. It’s clear to see that this is a sailor’s paradise. There are plenty of places to run before the wind but also hundreds of sheltered coves and bays for idling and exploring. The community is well known for its annual summer sailing regatta, Chester Race Week, where keelboats from all over the eastern coast of North America compete during the second week of August.
Area Schools:
Chester District School
Chester Area Middle School
Forest Heights
Community School
Gold River-Western Shore School
Lunenburg Academy
South Shore Waldorf School & Kindergarden
Shatford Memorial Elementary School
Bayview Community School
Big Tancook Elementary School
Besides sailing, the village is home to the Chester Playhouse, one of the best-known community theatres on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. During the last weekend of July the ‘Chester Garden Show’ and the ‘House and Garden Tour’ are the main attraction. Tancook ferry dock and the yacht club are located on the front harbour, where there is always good food and good cheer. The Back Harbour is the site of the Lido, a salt water swimming pool, surrounded by some of the town’s most elegant homes.Visitors and residents to the area are also attracted by the stunning 18 hole golf course, with its own splendid views of the surrounding countryside, with its miles of unspoiled woodland hills. The Chester Connector, a municipal operated section of the previous rail line provides a wonderful trail for walkers and cyclists. It is shared with motorized vehicles.
Distance to:
Stanfield International Airport – 70mins
City of Halifax – 60mins
