The home of the acclaimed Acadia University, Wolfville and the surrounding countryside radiate a truly gracious charm. Here the green and fertile Annapolis Valley meets the shore of the Minas Basin, and keen visitors can follow country roads past lush farmlands, sun-warmed orchards and gentle tidal flats.

Much of the valley’s rich farmland was created by dikes built by the Acadians in the 1600s. After the Great Expulsion of 1755, the British offered the land to struggling New England villagers on the condition that the entire village would relocate. These hardworking settlers, known as Planters, proved so successful that the towns of the Annapolis Valley flourished.

Wolfville is a pretty town of tree-lined streets and inviting shops and restaurants. Nearby, the town’s Visitor Information Center marks the start of a 5-km (3-mile) trail along the Acadian dikes to the graceful church at the Grand Pré National Historic Site . When the British marched into the Acadian village of Grand Pré in August 1755, it marked the beginning of the Great Uprooting, Le Grand Dérangement , which eventually forced thousands of Acadians from Nova Scotia. In 1921 a stone church modeled after French country churches was built on the site of the old village of Grand Pré as a memorial to this tragedy. The French Cross marks the spot where the Acadians boarded the ships. Visitors can also stroll around the garden grounds, where a statue of Evangeline, the heroine of Longfellow’s epic poem about the Acadians, stands waiting for her lover, Gabriel. The site’s information center features exhibits on the Acadians and their history. After the Great Uprooting, many families hid locally, while some returned in later years.