Badge of Awesome Communities invites you to share your favourite things to see and do in cool destinations around the world. We caught up with Rachael Sheppard from Local Tasting Tours — one of our featured attractions from Nova Scotia — to learn about what they have to offer.

What makes Local Tasting Tours Awesome?

Rachael: Our passion at Local Tasting Tours is bringing visitors and locals alike to our Most Authentic Halifax Experience. Halifax has an incredibly vibrant and exciting culinary culture and “Haligonians” are by nature innovators, trail blazers and entrepreneurs. Our streets boast an old world European feel, and some of our buildings date all the way back to 1749, with over 250 years of history, there are a lot of stories to tell.

Over the years we have discovered that Food is the strongest tie to all aspects of history and current culture. An afternoon spent strolling our beautiful streets and tasting delicious treats (from the fancy to the diamonds in the rough) provides an in depth (and tasty!) perspective about how our Port Town came to be.

While making stops at our most beloved restaurants, shops and businesses, we will meet the families and individuals who make up our modern community so you can get a feel for what life in Halifax is really like on a day to day basis (it’s awesome).  We discuss the history and compare it in real time to the modern climate, in a casual easy conversational format. We suggest you tour with us as early as possible in your visit; so you have some time to come back and further explore on your own. Guests often pick up tips from locals relating to their own special interests on these routes so a little extra time to explore is a definite way to enhance your trip!  Most of our routes are between two and Three hours and generally include up to 7 stops, with tastings at each stop. Tastings are chef’s choice and are continually changing as the city evolves.

Going all the way back to the 1700’s, when the British were looking for the perfect spot for their settlement; Chebucto: The Mi’kmaq word for the Area, was seen as both ideal and impossible. The large deep harbour was ideally situated to sustain and shelter, while the two islands at the mouth offered observation and communication points for defence. The rocky land however sloped sharply upwards from the water and offered these early settlers a largely inhospitable place to perch and eventually construct the grand plans that had been drawn up. This hilly terrain was eventually selected,  and since then generations of Haligonians have been making our way uphill from the waterfront as best we can. We all suggest comfortable shoes, good hydration, and pausing midpoint to take in the scenery should you find yourself a little out of breath!

2018 promises to be a great year, our full season runs from May until October 31 with A Saturday Afternoon tour year round. Tours start at $50.00 per ticket, prices include our provincial sales taxes.

Bookings/more info can be made online or in person by calling 902-818-9055.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon!