14 Day Newfoundland and Labrador Explorer

Land at St. John’s and choose to collect your car at the airport or transfer downtown and wait until the morning of Day 3. Check-in at your hotel close to the harbour and begin exploring. Your Jonview Roadbook will have all the information you need. Wander along Water Street and through Harbourside Park. See the magnificent Anglican and Catholic cathedrals of St. John the Baptist. At night, discover traditional Maritime music on George Street.

Stay another day to make the most of Newfoundland’s capital. Enjoy the interactive exhibits of the Johnson GEO Centre on the way to Signal Hill and the historic Cabot Tower, where Marconi received the first transatlantic radio signal. Call into the lakeside artisan village of Quidi Vid or find a photo op at Cape Spear Lighthouse while you look out for whales and icebergs from the clifftop. Feeling active? Hike a section of the Newfoundland East Coast Trail between Topsail Beach and Cappahayden, or cross the peninsula to see the sea stacks and caves of Bell Island.

If you haven’t already, collect your car and begin the drive north to Trinity. Break the journey with lunch among the colourful Maritime buildings of Clarenville or North West Brook, tiny villages beside inlets of the Atlantic. Finish your day in the 19th-century fishing town of Trinity, a picturesque coastal settlement filled with galleries and museums. Be sure to grab a bite, or several, Trinity is a spearhead of Newfoundland's culinary renaissance.

Spend an extra day in Trinity to explore the peninsula of Bonavista from New Bonaventure in the south to the northern tip beyond Spillars Cove and the collapsed sea cave known as the Dungeon. Walk the rocky clifftops thought to have offered John Cabot his first glimpse of the ’New World’. Peer into the waves of the Atlantic to spot puffins and whales. Learn tales of the past at Champney’s West Heritage House or join a creative workshop at the English Harbour Arts Centre. If you feel the ocean calling, take a cruise to the abandoned outports of Kerley's Harbour, Ireland's Eye, and British Harbour.

Hit the road early for the long drive north. After around an hour you’ll enter the small but stunning Terra Nova National Park. Keep your camera ready and stop often as you pass through beautiful wilderness and the park’s migratory bird sanctuary towards the quaint fishing community of Salvage: population 108. Your halfway point is marked by the lakeside town of Gander, this will be your tour’s final overnight destination later on in the trip so you might choose to stop for lunch and scope it out. Fully refuelled, finish the journey to the Kittiwake coast.

You may have already glimpsed whales from the coast but today you’ll get a chance to see them up close. Join a two-hour cruise to search for humpbacks, fin, minke, and orca swimming among the 12,000-year-old icebergs which flow from Greenland into the Atlantic. As you return to shore, keep a lookout for seabirds circling over the waves. Back on land, spend a relaxing afternoon wandering attractions such as the Twillingate and Durrell museums or, if it's a summer Saturday, the harbourside Artisan Market.

Wind your way west along the Trans Canada Highway to Newfoundland’s western shore. Pass through the charming communities which line the Exploits River and turn north at Badger towards the coveside town of South Brook. Stop and stroll among the multicoloured hillside homes before driving on to the gates of Gros Morne National Park and your destination beyond. If time allows, enjoy a short hike in the park to find its famous red chairs. Once in Rocky Harbour, take a trip to the Gros Morne Wildlife Museum or the Glass Station on Main Street. Your night’s entertainment is right outside your door, singalongs and live music happen every night from June to September at the Ocean View Hotel.

Follow the ‘finger’ peninsula north to Saint Barbe and enjoy a two-hour ferry crossing over the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Canadian mainland. Drive the short distance from Blanc Sablon to  L'Anse Au Clair and check-in at your hotel. Call into The Gateway visitors centre to plan tomorrow’s Labrador adventures and perhaps walk the short Jersey Trail from downtown along the coast. Rest for the night ready to explore again tomorrow.

Today is for exploring the windswept Labrador Coast. If you can meet the ferry crossing at the right time, a trip to Battle Island invites you to an era before cars, phones, and even electricity. Easier to visit is Red Bay, a former whaling town and UNESCO World Heritage Site where you are immersed in the traditions of 16th-century Basque settlers. Enjoy a second night at the most northern point of your tour. If you’re lucky, you might even see the northern lights.

Board your return ferry to Newfoundland and make the short drive to St. Anthony on the northeast coast. Explore the heritage properties of this tiny town and learn the story of Dr Wilfred Thomason Grenfell who dedicated his life to helping the isolated communities of this rugged region. See the Grenfell House Museum and the Grenfell Handicrafts Store as you wander the quiet streets. Tonight, sample locally caught seafood at a charming restaurant.

Complete your time in St. Anthony with an afternoon at Fishing Point Municipal Park. Update your Insta with a photo at the century-old Fox Point Light Station and walk one of four coastal trails as you keep watch for icebergs floating past. Grab some food at the Lightkeeper’s Seafood Restaurant before making your way back toward town. You might stop to see the remains of the decommissioned St. Anthony Air Station on your way.

Begin your southward journey by retracing the route towards Rocky Harbour. Take the opportunity to stop at any of the coastal villages you didn’t see on the way up. Your home tonight is Cow Head at the northern edge of Gros Morne National Park. A 30-minute walk from your hotel is Shallow Bay Beach. Enjoy a little time on the light sand beside the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Cross Newfoundland once more to your final stop in Gander, a riverside town with a proud aviation history from the first days of flight to WWII, all showcased at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum. Discover how Gander International Airport inspired the Broadway musical Come From Away when it sheltered 7,000 redirected passengers in the wake of 9/11. Enjoy a final Canadian dinner in a local restaurant and toast your Newfoundland and Labrador adventures.

After breakfast, make your way to the airport at Gander or St. John’s and drop your car. Return home, or perhaps spend a few nights in Toronto before hopping over the Atlantic. Our Travel Specialist will help you arrange the details.