3 Best Sights in Trinity, Eastern Newfoundland

At this provincial historic site you can slip back in time more than a century to the era when mercantile families ruled tiny communities. Next door the counting house has been restored to the 1820s and the retail store to the 1900s. An interpretation center traces the history of Trinity, once a hub of commerce.

The community of New Bonaventure is about 15 km (10 miles) south on Route 239 from Trinity. It has been the backdrop for two movies, The Shipping News and The Grand Seduction, and for an internationally televised miniseries based on Bernice Morgan's novel Random Passage. At the end of the road, walk a short way, and you'll reach the breathtaking cove now known as Random Passage where the set of the miniseries was constructed and eventually donated to the community as an early 19th-century outpost. You can roam the church, schoolroom, houses, and a fishing stage and flakes (where fish is dried), or sit near the vegetable garden and enjoy the quiet beauty of the cove's meadows and pastures. There are guided one-hour site tours, which include "Joe's Place," the bar featured in The Grand Seduction. The website is updated seasonally with frequent programming and events. The Old Schoolhouse tearoom (open from 9:30 to 4:30) serves house-made fish cakes, pea soup, and light lunches.

About 9,000 people a year come to hike this historic footpath, a cliff walk with panoramic vistas of Trinity and the ocean. On the trail you'll see sandy beaches, sea stacks (giant protruding rocks that have slowly eroded over time), seabirds, and, in season, whales, icebergs, and bald eagles. The 5.3-km (3¼-mile) loop trail, which begins in Port Rexton, is not for the faint of heart. It takes about two hours and can be steep in places. There are benches along the way.