It may be Canada’s second-smallest province, but Nova Scotia thinks big when it comes to food and drink. With a coastline that stretches for hundreds of kilometres, a seafood industry that is as legendary as its rolling terrain, and a surprisingly good wine scene, ‘New Scotland’ has all the elements needed for an epic culinary road trip. Pack your lobster bibs – things are going to get messy. One of eastern Canada’s maritime provinces, Nova Scotia is surrounded by four major bodies of water, claims 3800 islands in its territory and has 5400 lakes. Small wonder it’s known as ‘Canada’s Ocean Playground’. With all the water comes an incredible abundance of seafood, from monstrous lobsters, silky sweet Digby scallops, to creamy oysters and plenty of mussels.

On land in the 1600s, French Acadian colonists became known as the New England Planters for the fact they transformed the province’s Minas Basin marshes into productive dykeland fields, naming them ‘Acadie’ (‘land of plenty’). Thanks to the pioneers’ early efforts, the Annapolis Valley has become one of the country’s best fruit-growing regions, producing endemic species of apples and grapes as well as native berries. While traditions haven’t been forgotten, there’s an increasingly experimental food and wine scene making the most of the local bounty.

Nova Scotians like to boast about Halifax, the province’s capital overlooking the Atlantic. It is regularly voted one of the country’s best places to live, and is home to the hilltop Citadel, a National Historic Site of Canada. It also has more pubs, per capita, than any other Canadian city.

There are more than 40 microbreweries across town, and the ultimate place to get your beer bearings is at Good Robot (2736 Robie St). It’s achingly cool: craft brews have quirky names like ‘Tom Waits for No One’, and every Monday, part of your drinking proceeds go to charity. Don’t miss the Friday and Saturday barbecue specials.

At Chain Yard Taproom (2606 Agricola St), beverages are made from Nova Scotian fruit: try the ‘Petal to the Metal’, with rose and juniper notes, or the complex ‘Hopped Up’, uniting cascade and centennial hops for a clean, citrusy finish. It’s the perfect accompaniment to Pristine Bay oysters, big, briny and tasty with a bourbon mist.

Nova Scotia also has an emerging distillery scene, with close to a dozen opening in the past five years. Among the most recent is Halifax Distilling Co (1668 Lower Water St), which launched in 2016. You can tour the facility before sitting down to a spirited flight. The dining room revolves around an antique bar (imported from London), where you can enjoy rum cocktails and bowls of mussel-studded chowder.

Stepping inside Five Fishermen (1740 Argyle Street), you wouldn’t know it is as much a magnet for seafood hounds as it is for ghost hunters. The 1817 building was once a mortuary, and employees tell stories of taps turning on by themselves and glasses flying off shelves. Thankfully, the tales about the food outweigh the ghoulish legends. It’s hard not to just order the chowder – scallops, clams, prawns, mussels and salmon in a cream sauce, cheesy scone on the side – and be done with it. A good way to sample a number of these establishments is one of the stomach-stretching Taste Halifax food tours. In addition to not having to worry about what to order, perks include an exclusive tasting of local cheese and charcuterie in the Citadel, after hours.

You could spend weeks visiting the hundreds of restaurants, wineries and distilleries on Nova Scotia’s designated Good Cheer Trail and Seafood Trail. If time is limited, you can enjoy highlights over a handful of days on a road trip around the southwestern arm of the province. First stop is the university town of Wolfville, where much of the abundant produce is featured at Annapolis Cider Company (388 Main St). This slick timber space sources apples from surrounding orchards and turns them into seasonal flavour concoctions such as rhubarb-ginger, sour cherry and an Earl Grey tea-blueberry combination.

Up the street is one of Canada’s newest cellar doors, Lightfoot & Wolfville Wines (11143 Evangeline Trail), producing biodynamic German-style wines in a dramatic modern space that makes it hard to believe this area is one of North America’s oldest grape-growing regions. Driving west, you reach the fishing hamlet of Hall’s Harbour in less than 30km. In the past, lobsters were so plentiful here that when they washed ashore, they were ground into the soil as fertiliser. They were also a staple in prisons, and if one landed on your plate it was considered ‘cruel and unusual punishment’. While they’re just as bountiful today, these delicacies have been removed from the local jail’s menu and are now cooked with flair at restaurants across the region.

Overlooking the Bay of Fundy, seasonal Lobster Pound & Restaurant (1157 West Halls Harbour Rd) knows the trick to cooking crustaceans is keeping things simple. Choose your meal from tanks (the largest lobster is 1.4kg) and have it prepared while you wait. It’s served with a bib, warm butter sauce and a fresh bread roll – sweet perfection.

At the southern tip of the province is Summerville Beach, beguiling at dusk, when viewed – wine glass in hand – from the patio of The Grill at Quarterdeck (7499 Hwy 3). Here, the chowder is packed with lobster, scallops and haddock, and the lobster roll sits beside a bundle of coleslaw. The mussels steal the show, classically prepared with white wine and garlic. Paired with a chardonnay from the Annapolis Valley’s Blomidon Estate, it’s Nova Scotia in a bowl.

A ferry ride across the spectacular LaHave River is the World Heritage-listed town of Lunenburg. Formerly one of the largest fishing ports in the world, it’s still a major hub, with boats lining the waterfront. Ironworks Distillery (2 Kempt St) pays homage to a slice of the city’s history: rum running. Light, amber and dark rums are produced in small batches, and spirits are made using local haskap and Saskatoon berries.

A few steps closer to the water is the Old Fish Factory (68 Bluenose Drive), beside the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in a warehouse painted an eye-popping shade of, well, lobster. Fittingly, the menu features lobster tacos that you’ll be thinking about long after you devour them thanks to zingy sides of chipotle-lime mayo and wild blueberry pickled onions. The chowder is also given a twist with addition of baby clams and North Atlantic cold water shrimp, while the seafood sampler has a generous serve of Solomon Gundy – aka pickled herring with onions.

On your way north out of town, stop briefly in Blue Rocks, an old fishing village that time forgot. A near permanently bruised sky hangs over ramshackle huts on folded sedimentary rocks in contrasting bands of blue, grey, brown, black and green, exposed along the tide line in fascinating shapes. You’re now well and truly on the Lighthouse Route, a scenic stretch of roadway along the province’s southern coast. It leads into the sleepy town of Mahone Bay, known for its annual scarecrow festival as well as Mateus Bistro (533 Main St). Owner and chef Matt Krizan involves his young family when foraging for seasonal produce – together, they hunt for wild mushrooms, blueberries and cranberries around their home; in the winter they tap maple, birch and spruce. The produce stars in a salad made with kale, cranberries, feta, candied pecans and maple vinaigrette, but Krizan has also won awards for his chowder (he says it’s to do with the fresh herbs).

Peggy’s Cove is home to one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. At the entrance to Lobster Lane you’ll find food truck U-Cook Lobster, where you select your crustacean, toss it in a numbered bait bag, and a dozen minutes later crack it open at barrels painted like navigation buoys. Next door is Nova Scotian Lobster Rolls, where a generous serve of lobster fills a brioche bun, with coleslaw, pickles and chips on the side.