I drove over the Confederation bridge a few years ago. It's long. It also ended up hurting rather than helping the tourist industry as it made it easier to be a daytripper where, before, it was enough of a hassle to get there by ferry that you usually stayed at least a night. I think the ferry still runs from NS. I recall a tourism agency in PEI that will actually find and book lodging for you if you call.
I go to Halifax about every other year, mainly for the military tattoo. I love the place. Beer is a religion there. It makes feel priestly. I'm still trying to work my way through all 62 beers on tap at Maxwell's Plum. Alexander Keiths does a nice brewery tour. There are festivals of some sort going on almost every week to boost tourism--jazz, rock, films, Scottish, Celtic etc.
Some of the little secret pleasures we found in PEI (locals wouldn't be caught dead doing the touristy stuff in Anneland) included the College of Piping in Summerside where people come from all over to learn piping, drumming and Celtic dancing and put on free shows during the day and a big show at night and the Culinary Institute of Canada in Charlottetown where you can get a gourmet meal at a bargain price. An intersting factoid I picked up while there is that the Scottish culture is still so pure in NS and PEI, that people in Scotland send their kids there to see it. Of course, as I found when I was in Ontario last week, nothing is a bargain in Canada now that the looney is no longer worth 65 cents US and there's a 14 percent sales tax.