Dieppe
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Dieppe

Dieppe

Dieppe is a majority-Acadian New Brunswick city adjoining Moncton on the Petitcodiac river.

Dieppe is a predominantly francophone city of around 28,000 people directly adjoining Moncton on the east side of the Petitcodiac river, part of the Greater Moncton urban area in southeastern New Brunswick. It is the most populous majority-Acadian community in the province, and the signs, schools and church-belled skyline all reflect that — though practically, it forms a single continuous city with anglophone Moncton and most visitors will not notice crossing from one to the other.

There is no grand tourist draw, but Dieppe has the regional airport (Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International), the huge outlet shopping at Champlain Place, and — every summer — one of eastern Canada's most spectacular events: the Atlantic Balloon Fiesta, when dozens of hot-air balloons drift over the city at dawn and dusk on the first weekend of September.

Guide

Getting There

Dieppe is the entry point to the Greater Moncton area by air, with the Roméo LeBlanc International Airport serving Air Canada, WestJet, and Porter routes to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Halifax. The airport is compact and easy to navigate. A taxi or rideshare to central Moncton takes about ten minutes; there is no rail link.

By car, Dieppe sits on the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1), making it straightforward to reach from Fredericton (about two hours west) or Amherst, Nova Scotia (about an hour east). Via Rail no longer serves the Moncton corridor with regular passenger trains.

Guide

Things to Do

Dieppe sits directly east of Moncton, separated mainly by a city limit sign. It functions as the Acadian francophone counterpart to its English-speaking neighbour — the signs are in French first, the voices in the shops are more likely to be French, and the identity is consciously distinct. Visitors tend to arrive at the airport here, shop at Champlain Place, and then wonder if there is more. There is a little more.

The Atlantic Balloon Fiesta in September is the town's genuine claim to a tourist calendar, drawing hot-air balloons from across North America to a field just outside the city centre.