Hello - looking for advice for our June 10-25 trip to NL starting in YYT. After much review, thinking of 2 nights in St John’s, 4 nights in Bonavista, 3 nights in Twillingate, 4 nights in Gros Morne, and then 2 nights to get back to YYT. We have a rental car unlimited miles. Might there be wisdom in rearranging some for Terra Nova? What else might we be missing? It’s not our travel style to book everything in advance, but have read lots about perhaps accommodations needing to be secured? It’s not the high season quite yet, so maybe we can have some flexibility? Gracias. Enrique

Newfoundland



We are seniors so we did not do hardcore hiking . We spent 3 weeks in Newfoundland August 2018 it is beautiful place with the East and West coast being so different.

A lot of one way roads meaning down the same road to get to a place, not many looping roads. So drive 2 hours down a road spend a few hours checking out the place and drive 2 hours back the same road you came back down. That got old after a while, BUT the views were amazing the entire time, folks very friendly so yea worth a visit.

COD you can only have so much cod it is the first 4 items on every menu which is great, but you can not have cod everyday well we did not. What cod we had was amazing.... but got old real fast. St. John’s had no problem finding OK food but venture out of St. John’s and it goes down hill fast. The food on the west coast say Port aux Basques, Deer Lake, Lobster Cove was not good. Bonavista (not on the west coast) has some nice places to dine.

Beware of moose while driving they are definitely around as well as bears. Once you get out of an area the next place not much around so if you are low on gas fill up! The weather was in the 60’s in August and it rained very often so bring layers and rain gear. Once you get out of St. John’s it get very rural very fast, lots of trees and more trees....lol

They LOVE coffee especially Tim Horton’s no matter what time of day we passed a Tim Horton’s they had a line both inside and the drive through!!!....lol Also the locals accent is sometimes hard to figure out particularly the older folks, I just kinda smiled and said yes.....Then again they probably had a hard time understanding my Jersey accent. Many locals we spoke to worked in the oil fields in Alberta and came back a few months at a time. The cod industry really never came back so many folks do what they have to get by.

ATV’s are everywhere in the rural area ie most of the island kinda like the 3 car in the family. Interesting we saw a group of about 25 stopped in a beautiful lookout, I asked a guy what they were doing...25 all in a group. They said they were traveling the island as a group and staying in B&B at night for 10 days ALL on ATV, wow long time riding an ATV....lol Apparently this is a common thing with locals as tour guide the entire time. The guy said when exploring the options you could have camped out instead of B&B.

Have fun it is a beautiful place.

Stuff we Liked


​​​​Bonavista Dungeon Provincial Park

The town and fishing village

The puffins in Elliston and the root cellars

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse ( some puffins here but more in Elliston)

The Matthew Museum

1. Bell Island near St. John’s

(need to take a ferry to the island)

Iron ore mine tour ( go below into the mine very interesting)

1. Gross Morne National Park

Tablelands Trail where the earth mantle is exposed

West Brook Boat Tour would NOT recommend, they replaced the walkway through the forest with a 30’ wide gravel road 1 mile plus long to the lake. Boring boat tour of cliffs which you will see many along your travel through NB.

Green Point beautiful beach.

1. Rose Blanch

Pretty town with a granite lighthouse

1. Arches Provincial Park
2. Blow me Down Provincial Park
3. Trinity Village historic village, beautiful church and craft shops
4. St John’s

Signal Hill

Cape Spear Lighthouse

Petty Harbor ( great fish and chips at Chafe’s Landing when 2 times that good)

Pippy Park & Memorial University Botanical Garden

Downtown area including

Waterfront

Railway Coastal Museum

Anglican Cathedral

The Rooms (history museum)

Fort Amherst (Lighthouse and Fort)

Johnson Geo Center (great Titanic Exhibit)

1. Castle Hill National Historic Site ( near ferry to St John’s )
2. Salmonier Nature Park

The poster above gave some good advice. I'm going to put some of it in geographic order.
In St. John's, don't miss the Rooms (museum/archives/art gallery with spectacular harbour view and a v. good cafe),Signal Hill, and walking around DT. If there are Titanic fans, include the GeoCentre.
On the way to Bonavista, be sure to stop in Trinity. It has an excellent collection of historic sites: a forge, coopers, several houses, & a church, and a visitor centre. If the local theatre is back in action, it is usually worth a visit. Bonavista is very scenic-- the lighthouse, the Dungeons (they're sea caves), the sea stacks in Spillar's Cove-- as well as historic (Ryan Premises for the history of the NL fishery, Mockbeggar for NL politics). As mentioned, there are some good restaurants also. And you'll be there for high season in puffins!! On the way back from Bonavista, take Rte 235; the road is poor but the scenery is terrific.
You can take Rte 330 (through Gander--have you heard of the Come From Away musical?) to Twillingate, and return via 340 for less backtracking. You'll never miss anything on the Trans Canada--it really is mostly trees! There may still be icebergs around in June, if so a boat tour would be good. The Prime Berth exhibit in Twillingate is good, as is their local dinner theatre.
Gros Morne is beautiful. If you stay on the North side (Rocky Harbour / Norris Point), be sure to drive around to the South side, as the Tablelands are not to be missed, even if you aren't hikers. If you are, Gros Morne (as well as Twillingate & the Bonavista Peninsula) have some excellent trails. With 4 nights in GMNP, if you're not hikers, I'd make the long drive to L'Anse aux Meadows-- 3+ hours each way, but a genuine Viking site in North America is not something you'll see elsewhere. There was a dinner theatre in Cow Head (in GMNP) that did local-themed productions. Don't know if it "recovered" from Covid.

Now, other points: Blomidon, and Rose Blanche, are on the southwest part of the island, and since you have limited time, I wouldn't try to include them. I wouldn't add time for Terra Nova-- and I'm a NLer who has lived 30 minutes from Terra Nova NP for the past 30 years! It's lovely, but not that different from what you're already including. Bell Island is nice, but it would take most of one of your two days in St. John's. Salmonier Nature Park & Castle Hill (in Placentia) are each about 30 minutes off the highway between St. John's and Bonavista. Salmonier will give you a chance to see caribou and a few other native animals. Castle Hill dates from the French and English wars in the 17c.

Yes , book ahead. Remember that while NL is big geographically, it has a small population, so the accommodations can be limited. The provincial tourism site (www.newfoundlandlabrador.com) is quite useful.

I don't know your interests, so not sure what else might appeal. Enjoy your trip!