1

Good advice in #1 above, although you're not going to do much in a week. I'd add: hiking in Gros Morne (unless you've been someplace like Norway, north coastal BC, Labrador or Alaska, in which case you might find things a bit tame), and camping wherever you go if devoted to saving money. With more time you could catch a mail boat up the Labrador coast. With more time you could spend more time in the far northern outports, or on the Avalon Peninsula, or in any of a number of places. With more time all your wildest fantasies might be fulfilled.

I'd suggest choosing either Gros Morne and L'Anse aux Meadows or St. John's and the Avalon--not both. You've only got six days at best.

Hope that helps.

Mark

2

I did a similar length trip last summer. It's incredible - definitely worth doing!

I arrived by ferry into Port aux Basques, but you could do similar by flying in and out of Deer Lake which is very close to Gros Morne NP, where there are many different hikes. I liked Green Gardens as a hike, but there's lots of good ones in varying lengths. It's worth doing the boat trip at Western Brook Pond.

There's lots of good B&Bs around - one of the loveliest was Tickle Inn which is pretty out of the way, but in a stunning location, and the food and atmosphere is great. It's at Cape Onion, about 45 mins drive from St Anthony. At that time of year you'd be likely to see icebergs.

I didn't get to St Johns so can't comment, but you could do far worse than a few days at Gros Morne, then drive up to St Anthony and spend a few days round L'anse aux Meadows (stay at Tickle Inn or any of the cute little fishing villages). The boat tour to see the icebergs and potentially whales is a must.

Port au Choix is worth a look on the way between Gros Morne and St Anthony. Try and avoid driving at night - moose are everywhere.

3

Thanks guys.
We will be flying in and out of st. Johns, so that will be our start and finish loop.

4

I did a similar trip a few years ago. In and out of St. John's and I spent most of my trip in Gros Morne with a trip up to L'anse aux Meadows. The only side detour I took from the TransCanada was to Twillingate. Gros Morne Mountain is a must do hike. Green Gardens was also nice as mentioned. The Western Brook Pond boat was not running when I was there but you should do that. Also as mentioned Port au Choix is a nice stop to break up the trip on the way to St. Anthony.

I would be interested to know your rental car experience. I had problems getting a car with unlimited miles and it has been mentioned by others on here also. A trip across the island and back, up to St. Anthony plus excursions to outports will obliterate the free miles very fast. Also renting at the airport as usual involved a heavy location surcharge (15% if I remember correctly), although it is convenient and you do not have to pay to get to another pickup location. The car is something I would look into right away because supply is limited during the summer.

5

Wow, I would have never thought that, thanks for the heads up! Usually the rental is the easiest...unlimited miles, etc etc, but I guess miles are racked up pretty quick on this island lol.

6

flight network at the moment has a car for 7 days, unlimited miles, all taxes in...for $320

7

well time seems to be pretty limited and while the best place for hiking, and boat tours would be on the west coast in gros morne national park. from st. johns to gros monre eats up about a full day of driving.

if you decide to drive across island to gros morne you definitly have to take in Western brook pond. i used to work there and i would definitly make a reservation if you plan on doing it and be aware that they do not operate in bad weather. the boat tour its self is about 2 hours and theres a half hour to 45 minute hike in. as for hikes there are plenty in the park to choose from gros morne mountian is probably the best known, but is also one of the most difficult and you should definitely set aside a full day to do it. green gardens is also another difficult hike but rewarding because of the sea formations along the coast. there are also plenty of short hikes such as the tablelands, the table lands are very interesting as they are one of the only places on earth where you can walk on the earths mantel (the layer of rock below the earths crust). berry hill is a very short hike but offers a great panoramic views from the top. back to boat tours there are 2 others in the park bonne bay boat tour often features on board music and offers great views of both sides of bonne bay. the other is seal island cove boat tour. as for accommodation in the park you are best to look in norris point, or rocky harbour. they are both centrally located in the park and offer a good base. rocky harbour had a great little resturant when i lived there called "jackies" i dont know if it is still open but if it is i definitely reccomend going there for a bite to eat. you can definilty stay busy in this area for a week.

now if you choose to stay closer to st. johns then there is lots to do in the city itself. theres lots of history and you can check out the "castle" on single hill and "cape spear" which is canada most easterly point this is a great place to spend an after noon and i loved going there when i was younger.

if you are looking to do hiking in this area you will have to drive out of st. john a little. (possiably a few hours for the hikes ive got in mind) . grates cove is within a few hours and offers some nice hiking, along with some history and you typical "newfoundland fishing community". this area is also believe to be the final resting place of John Cabot. a little further from st. john is "Terra Nova National Park" i have not been to this area much but ive heard great things about it hikes and the park in general.

on the east coast i've done a lot of geocaching, and i've found that a lot of the geocaches in this area take you to nice little "hidden gems". geocaching may be something that you could use to plan you trip in that area. if you are unfamiliar with geocaching you can learn more about it on www.geocaching.com.

hope this helps and i hope you guys enjoy your trip. im sure you will newfoundland a beautiful place:)

8

Hello!

Last July my husband and I and two other couples rented a van and spent 11 nights exploring Newfoundland and mostly camping. Awesome.

Definitely rent your vehicle in advance as they run out of rentals quickly during tourist season. We rented from National and they just gave us unlimited kilometers because we told them how much we planned to travel. They were very nice.

We flew to St John's from Ontario and rented our van from there.
On our first travel day we drove 3 hrs to Terra Nova National Park. It was a nice park with some decent hiking. Nothing compared to Gros Morne, but a nice stop. On our way to Dildo Run Park we stopped at a Beothuk memorial center which is interesting if you don't know the history of the First Nation group that had its last member die in 1829, but the site itself did not have very much to see except a few artifacts.

The next night we stayed in Dildo Run Provincial park. It took about 2.5 hours to get there from Terra Nova. This park was beautiful with campsites right on the ocean. It was also right next to the city of Twilingate that has awesome iceberg boat tours that bring you right up to spectacular icebergs. I recommend this boat ride for sure! Sometimes people see whales too. We also ate the most amazing local snow crab at the Harbourview Restaurant. It was the best I will ever taste.

The next day was a long 5 hour drive to Gros Morne National Park. We spent 2 nights camping here. We did not spend enough time here! It was absolutely stunning. We hiked the tablelands which took about 4 hours and was very steep, but very beautiful. The next day was one of my favourite parts of the trip. We hiked up and down Gros Morne Mountain. It took us about 6 hours (we went fast) and had incredible scenery.

Next we started our way back down the hwy to Notre Dame Provincial Park (4 hr drive). It was a regular campground. We met a fun family who invited us to play washers and drink Lamb's rum.

Our next day we drove out to Frenchman's Cove Provincial Park (5 hr drive). It was in a cute little village right on the beautiful ocean. Very windy. We stayed here to prepare for our adventure the next day on a ferry that leads to the islands of St Pierre et Michelon, about a 1.5 hr ferry ride (we saw whales!) and is actually in France! This place has a history of rum running from during the prohibition and was so neat to go to. The food was amazing. We ate at L' atelier gourmand. Nightlife there was awesome. We didn't think it would be great on a Monday night, but apparently there was a huge music festival that week. We ate breakfast at the hotel Robert where Al Capone ate once. If you can get here it was a really fun experience.

The next night we stayed in a sketchy inn near Come By Chance (3-4 hr drive?). I wouldn't recommend it.

Because some of us like golfing, we stayed at the Wilds at Salmonier golf resort, about 45 minutes from St John's. If you really need to golf while you're in Newfoundland this place was nice and affordable, but not somewhere I would recommend otherwise.

Finally, at the end of our trip we stayed in St John's for the opening night of the George Street Festival. Great Big Sea opened. Such and amazing experience! If you can switch your dates to make it, then do it!

I know you only have 6-8 days, but hopefully this was helpful depending on what you like.
To summarize my favourites:

1) Gros Morne National Park: hike Gros Morne, Tablelands
2) George Street Festival in St John's- with Great Big Sea playing if possible! http://www.georgestreetlive.ca/events/george-street-festival/
3) Dildo Run/Twillingate- Iceberg cruise and snow crab http://www.twillingate.com/ , http://www.nlcamping.ca/en/park.cgi?p=104
4)St Pierre et Miquelon http://www.st-pierre-et-miquelon.com/english/index.php

Have a great time! Hope this was helpful! Try cod tongues and quidi vidi beer. Stay clear of moose and Lamb's rum.

9

Hi,
In St John's I would check out signal Hill - do the 45 minute hike from the battery neighbourhood up to the top, check out the fort, then come down the road; I would also check out quidi vidi village and walk the neighborhoods around downtown. North of St Johns I would do a day trp up to flat rock, torbay, pouch cove. About three and a half hour drive west from s johns is Trinity-very nice restored town and it and many of the surrounding towns have accommodations. In that area I would hike the skerwink trail, g up to bonavista for a day, and there's a boat tour to some abandoned communities that is very good (Ireland's eye and kearleys harbour).

10

August often gets a few weeks of good weather so hopefully it is sunny and warm for your sake! However, nobody comes to NL for our weather - so pack a rain jacket and keep an open mind if you get stuck in rain & fog ;)

Since you are arriving and leaving from St. John's, and only have a week, I would suggest using the time to explore the Avalon area. Many people suggest doing Newfoundland in two trips to avoid wasting too much time driving across an admittedly boring highway. You can spend a good 2 or 3 days exploring St. John's. Things to check out include Signal Hill, Cape Spear, The Rooms (museum, art gallery & archives), The Johnson Geocentre, The Fluvarium, guided walks such as the Haunted Hike, an afternoon browsing the shops downtown, dinner theatres like Spirit of Newfoundland, a night or two at the pubs on George Street..etc etc.

I would take another day or two to travel the Irish Loop. It takes about 5 hours to drive around and return to St. John's...however it would be best to take your time, and stay at a B&B or two to really enjoy it. Attractions on the Irish Loop are the whale & seabird tours, East Coast Trail, Colony of Avalon archeological dig, Lighthouse Picnics, Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve (a UNESCO world heritage site - some of the oldest fossils in the world), and Salmonair Nature Park (among others!)

Any recommended harbour restaurants?

If budget is not an issue, Atlantica is situated on the harbour in Portugal Cove (just outside St. John's) & has won various awards and has a reputation as the best restaurant in Newfoundland. I have not been there myself, but my boyfriend has and says it's hands down the best place he has dined in our province. Raymond's is a new restaurant on the St. John's waterfront that uses all local ingredients and was started up by the same people as Atlantica, and is apparently just as fantastic. Other personal favorites of mine include Basho, India Gate & Blue on Water (all downtown). For good ol fish & chips you can try just about anywhere, but The Captain's Table in Mobile (Irish Loop) is a great little place.

Any must do hikes?

Any of the East Coast Trail hikes are great coastal walks, and can vary in length from 2 hours to 12. This stretches along the entire eastern edge of the Avalon peninsula. The spout hike from Shoal Bay to Bay Bulls passes by a sea driven geyser, but this is a fairly strenuous full day hike so it depends on your time/fitness level. A shorter one that is worth doing is the Lamanche trail, which goes through an old fishing village that was destroyed by a storm. There is a newly constructed suspension bridge as well as the left over foundations of the village.

Any tours worth paying that cant be done ourselves?..ie...boat tours.

Bay Bulls on the Irish Loop is the place to go for whale & seabird tours. There are various operators such as O'Brien's, Gatherall's, and Mullowneys, which will take you out to the seabird ecological reserve in Witless Bay. The reserve is home to the largest Atlantic Puffin colony in North America and you will see literally millions of birds. More adventurous types will enjoy Ecotours in Witless Bay, where you travel out by a fast zodiac boat. This is a personal favorite of mine - when the whales are around you are so much closer to them.

Any B&B's highly recommended?

When staying in St. John's I enjoy the small boutique hotels downtown best, such as Blue on Water and The Franklin Hotel. The Leaside Manor is a gorgeous B&B for a romantic night. On the Irish Loop I recommend the Bread and Cheese Inn in Bay Bulls, and Elaine's B&B in Witless Bay.

Well this is way longer than I expected! I'm from Witless Bay, Newfoundland and spent a few summers working at an information centre so I'm happy to offer suggestions. Send me a message if you want any more advice! :)

11

If you are coming to Newfoundland at the beginning of August.. you HAVE to try sea kayaking! Chances are you will see whales, and it is so much fun.
There are tour operators all across the province, so you shouldn't have a problem finding a tour. If you're not nervous, there are some operators that even offer snorkelling with whales tour that is also extremely unique and fun. There is also hiking everywhere so you will not have a problem finding some great trails.

Hope you enjoy your trip!