Getty Images/iStockphoto

Western Newfoundland

Western Newfoundland presents many visitors with their first view of the Rock, thanks to the ferry landing at Port aux Basques. It's big, cliffy, even a bit forbidding with all those wood houses clinging to the jagged shoreline against the roaring wind. From Port aux Basques, poky fishing villages cast lines to the east, while Newfoundland's second-largest town, Corner Brook, raises its wintry head (via its ski mountain) to the northeast.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Western Newfoundland.

  • Lighthouse

    Rose Blanche Lighthouse

    Built in 1873, this is the last remaining granite lighthouse on the Atlantic seaboard. It's a slate-grey, rugged beauty, overlooking a stormy coast that matches the lighthouse for sheer stark aesthetics.

  • Monument

    Captain James Cook Monument

    While this cliff-top monument is admirable – a tribute to James Cook for his work in surveying the region in the mid-1760s – it's the panoramic view over the Bay of Islands that is the real payoff. Cook's names for many of the islands, ports and waterways you'll see, such as the Humber Arm and Hawke's Bay, remain today.

  • Park

    Barachois Pond Provincial Park

    This popular park, sitting just south of Rte 480 on Hwy 1, is one of the few in the province to offer a backcountry experience. From the campground, the Erin Mountain Trail (4.5km) winds through the forest and up to the 340m peak, where there are backcountry campsites and excellent views. Allow two hours for the climb.

  • Viewpoint

    Boutte du Cap

    The southwestern tip of the peninsula is one of those Newfoundland places where the wind blows and the ocean rumbles and you generally feel as if you're about to fall off the face of the Earth. The loneliness is underlined by a memorial to the Acadians – French Canadians who were expelled from the region after the British conquest of Canada – and their exile.

  • Landmark

    The Gravels

    The spit of land that connects Port au Port to the mainland looks as if it could be snipped away with a pair of dull scissors. In fact, this isthmus is great for bird-watching, and a parking lot allows access to about 3.5km of lovely walking trails.

  • Beach

    Grand Bay West Beach

    Located a short distance west of town, the long shore is backed by grassy dunes, which are breeding grounds for the endangered piping plover. The Grand Bay West Trail leaves from here and flirts with the coast for 10km.

  • Lighthouse

    Cape Ray Lighthouse

    After the original 1871 lighthouse was struck by lightning and burned in 1885, it was replaced by the current version. The compound has artifacts from the nearby Dorset Paleo-Eskimo archaeological site, plus pictures of the site and keepers, and community memorabilia. The grounds of the lighthouse complex are open to the public, but the structure itself is closed.

  • Museum

    Railway Heritage Centre

    The center has two things going on. One is a museum stuffed with shipwreck artifacts. Its showpiece is the astrolabe, a striking brass navigational instrument made in Portugal in 1628. The device is in remarkable condition and is one of only about three dozen that exist in the world. Restored railway cars are the center's other drawcard.