gottravel

We are planning a trip to Newfoundland this July. We will be taking the overnight ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Argentia, Newfoundland, and arrive around 10:00 in the morning. My question: Would it make sense to spend one night in the Argentia/Placentia area in order to explore the environs (if there are environs worth exploring)? Or should we proceed directly to Saint John's (possibly w/ some scenic detours along the way) and base all our subsequent excursions to the Avalon Peninsula as day trips from there?

Thanks!

nfldbeothuk

There are a couple of worthwhile sights in the area. In Placentia, Castle Hill is a National Historic Site, with the remains of 18th French fortifications from Placentia's time as the French capital of Newfoundland. Not far away, Cape St. Mary's Bird Sanctuary reports that(I look up this next bit)During the summer months over 30 000 nesting pairs of black-legged kittiwakes, cormorants, gulls, thick-billed murres, common murres, razor-billed auks, northern gannets, and black guillemots breed in the rookeries of Cape St. Mary Ecological Reserve.
If you just want to see Castle Hill, you could easily do so, and drive on to St. John's that day.
Oh, and Argentia is a historic sight, but there's nothing to see--Roosevelt & Churchill met here in 1941 to issue the Atlantic Charter--but they met on warships in the bay!

gottravel

Thanks! Sounds like that there's really no point in lingering near Argentia or Placentia.
GT

LindaGrimm

There is a wonderful website for tourism in the Placentia area.
www.placentiatourism.ca

JeanKnowles

Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve is definitely worth a visit. It's about an hour away from Placentia, and going there is a remarkable experience even if you're not a birder. A twenty-minute easy hike will take you from the Visitor Centre to the Bird Rock, where thousands of northern gannets are nesting close by. It's an unforgettable sight! From there you're about three hours from St. John's through some very beautiful country. If you're interested in nature and wildlife you might like to stop at the Salmonier Nature Park on the way; it's a wildlife park built around a rehabilitation facility for injured animals.

While you're in the St. John's area there several boat tours out of the town of Bay Bulls for whale watching. I prefer the smaller boats, but that's a matter of personal taste.

You can certainly do daytrips from St. John's if you like the convenience of returning to the same room each night with no packing/unpacking, but there are also a number of wonderful places to stay in the smaller communities of the Avalon Peninsula.

cmcfong

Jean, welcome to the forum. You are a gold mine! I hope you will stick around and continue to contribute. I am planning a trip to Newfoundland this summer and right now I am just gathering information, but I will be back looking for specifics and you sound like a great resource.

JeanKnowles

Thank you -- it's been a while since I checked in, but I know the area well and love the opportunity to share it with others. I'd be glad to help out in any way I can!

cmcfong

Glad you are still with us, Jean. I am still trying to firm up my travel party and once I know who is on board, I am going to start serious planning.

I will have only a week for the trip. I want to see Gros Morne National Park and St. Johns. Were I to fly into St. Johns and then drive to Gros Morne could I realistically expect to get a good taste of Gros Morne in three days?

Thank you.

LJ

Does your Gros Morne 3 days include the drive from St. John's and back? if so, then no, you do not have time...but 3 days to explore GM is sufficient to catch the flavour.

cmcfong

Thank you. That is helpful.