Preliminary Newfoundland Itinerary
 

Comments Please!
We are two seniors who are more into scenery than museums. We will be driving and do not mind the occasion long day in the car to get us somewhere special. We will likely stay in cabins because we like to cook for ourselves, but are not opposed to hotels or B & Bs. I have just mapped out general areas at this time and would be pleased to have any comments.

Drive from Ontario over three or four days.

Night 1 : Arrive on the ferry to Port aux Basques and stay overnight
Night 2: Rocky Harbour
Night 3: Rocky Harbour
Night 4: Rocky Harbour
Night 5: L'Anse aux Meadows
Night 6; L"Anse aux Meadows
Night 7: Springdale area to break up trip
Night 8; Trinity
Night 9: Trinity
Night 10 Trinity
Night 11: St. John's area
Night 12: St. John's area
Night 13: St John's area
Night 14: St. John's area
Night 15; Twillingate area
Night 16; Twillingate area
Night 17;l Twillingate area
Night 18: Twillnigate or somewhere on the way to Port aux Basques (undecided)
Night 20; Port aux Basques to catch the morning ferry the next day.

I welcome your thoughts on the division of time or anything else you would like to comment on.

I think you might make better use of your time by arriving at Port aux Basques and departing from Argentia. Take the overnight ferry leaving at 5PM and arrive in North Sydney around 9AM. That way, you wouldn't have to cross the island twice. The TCH is a good road, but it's not very interesting. It would also give you an additional day in the Avalon.

Similarly, you might want to consider the overnight ferry to Port aux Basques, so that rather than staying there, you can carry on to Gros Morne Park first thing in the morning or else explore the Port au Port Peninsula or the Corner Brook Area on the way.

If you have 4 days to spend in the Twillingate area, I would definitely plan to spend at least two nights on Fogo Island.

Thanks laverendrye. Good suggestions to think about. Although I used to live on a sailboat, I am a seasick type so we were trying to spend the least amount of time sailing in case we end up with rough crossings. I added a couple of days to account for that. I was undecided about Fogo Island and now you have prompted me to look some more.
Cheers, Jane

Another option to consider is taking the ferry (only 2 hours) from St. Barbe's (on the road from Rocky Harbour to St. Anthony) to Labrador. Red Bay is a 1.5 drive from the ferry and is Newfoundland's third (and newest) UNESCO World Heritage site. While in Labrador, I would also recommend visiting Point Amour lighthouse. Four nights in the Twillingate area feels like a lot. If you are truly interested in Fogo Island, it would make more sense to go there instead. Fogo & Change Islands again are a unique experience.

Red Bay is a very important archaeological site, but frankly unless you have a deep interest there's not enough to see there to justify the detour, unlike the site at L'Anse aux Meadows. If you come back to Newfoundland, you might want to spend a couple of days in Labrador and stay at Battle Harbour for a night or two, visiting Red Bay along the way. For now, I would stick to those places you have planned.

Yes, four days is more than you want for Twillingate, but I'm assuming you will want to spend two nights on Fogo with a stop on Change Islands. However, Twillingate has some very scenic hiking trails if you don't want to go on a boat looking for icebergs and whales as many people do when they visit. My second last time there, we saw an enormous iceberg right in Spiller's Cove/French Beach which had split spectacularly just before we arrived.

Thanks Katrinas. We looked at coming in through Quebec and Labrador, but decided that the drive was too desolate for us at the moment. My husband has been ill and we want to stay slightly closer to civilization. ( I know that is not what you were suggesting) We will have to save Labrador for another trip. I think we'll use the time for Fogo Island.

Laverendrye, I think we will go with your plan...I hadn't really given consideration to Change Islands, but it is perfectly doable. Thanks for the prompt!

Jane

We rented a great cottage in Joe Batts Arm (Fogo) which had a stunning view of the Fogo Island Inn (at a fraction of the price)

http://www.jigloft.com/

(we rented the Beach House - they have 3 rentals)

Loved Fogo but then we loved all of Newfoundland!

Thanks Elizabeth. I have read your other suggestions and your trip report and had been wondering where you stayed at Fogo Island. We like the same type of accommodation and have followed your lead in Rocky Harbour, L'Anse aux Meadows and Witless Bay.

Your reference to my trip report made me realize I didn't finish the TR - will do so this weekend.

In the meantime here is info regarding where we stayed/other info re Trinity area:

We stayed in Port Rexton - this place was great

http://www.sherwoodsuites.com/

Try to schedule your dates to coincide with the twice weekly (I think) performance in Trinity of The Pageant - an interactive performance/walk through the town tracing Newfoundland's roots.

http://www.risingtidetheatre.com/

It's charming.

Also - drive up to Elliston to see puffins (and whales in all likelihood)

Also in Trinity is the Skerwink Hiking Trail - a stunning trail.

We went on a zodiac whale watching tour which was great fun and saw dozens of breaching whales

http://www.seaofwhales.com/

I will really look forward to the rest of your report...sorry to give you homework, but the weather isn't that warm this weekend anyway!!!

All the advice you have been given is excellent. Just dropped in to say, if you go up to Elliston (and the puffins are adorable), go on to Bonavista and see the lighthouse and the Dungeons Provincial Park (gorgeous expanse of sea arches and caves).
And if you're still stopping in Springdale, friends who stayed there said this place was lovely
http://www.riverwoodinn.ca/

Thanks nfldbeothuk. I was planning on going on to the lighthouse. I'll check out the provincial park!

And past the lighthouse is an oft mentioned restaurant - it was closed when we were there. nfldbeothuk - is it as good as the reviews?

http://bonavistasocialclub.com/

I haven't been there, but it's a bit more than beyond the lighthouse; it's about 30 minutes down the highway past bonavista itself, in a tiny community called Amherst Cove. The name isn't intentionally confusing, as Bonavista is the name of the peninsula as well as a town.

Good point re location - for the OP it's a nice drive from Trinity (Or Port Rexton which is where we stayed) up to Bonavista (stopping in Elliston) and then the lighthouse and down the west side for lunch at the Social Club.

Thanks everybody....I'm really looking for ward to our trip.