Planning a summer trip through Quebec over to Labrador and Newfoundland anyone do such an excursion before?
- Thread starter Michael.Chadwick
- Start date
Lovely photos. Looks very tolerable, to say the least! I'm curious, what portion of the time spent there was sunny like that, versus overcast?
land’SCAPE
Advanced Member
I'm sorry, I was having a bit of trouble attaching my Newfoundland itinerary. I'll get back to this soon & try again. In my notes, I mention that we very lucky with the weather, having pretty much 3 weeks of those beautiful blue skies. Obviously, the weather makes a ton of difference to any vacation & particularly when you're spending so much time outdoors and hiking etc.
what you need to do is select somethign, then 'share', and 'copy link' or 'share by link' ... and THAT link is what you paste into any communications. Like this (some random recipes I'd collected from the New York Times) Recipes - Google Drive
Oooh, tricksy! I'll try to remember that, because it's bound to come up again. Thanks!
HABBERDABBER
Senior Member
Another couple or 2 and us are planning a trip, without the Escape, to fly to Quebec City, visit there for 3 days or so, and then plane or train it to Halifax and rent a car/van and tour about Nova Scotia. Way too much time & driving for my eyes and bones to do it from Wisconsin these days with our rig. Planning this for early October.
Anybody got any suggestions, recommendations or advice regarding this scheme, along the lines of what to see, where to go, and what caught your fancy?
Thanks in advance.
Anybody got any suggestions, recommendations or advice regarding this scheme, along the lines of what to see, where to go, and what caught your fancy?
Thanks in advance.
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Ron in BC
Senior Member
The fly and drive routine has worked well for us in the past. Still does. We used to do CruiseAmerica deliveries even though we had our own RV. Allowed us to see places that wouldn't have taken a large time commitment that we didn't have or want to do.
Ron
Ron
Bcescapist
Advanced Member
Spent August 2024 in Newfoundland. 4 weeks but could have done 5. Highlights were Gros Morne (green point is best campground) and west side but we loved it all. Stayed in provincial parks and the municipal park in St Johns. Be prepared for the slow pace, lack of fresh produce and iffy weather. If you have warm waterproof clothes you'll be fine. Agree take the ferry over to port aux basques and back from Argentina. Book ferry early (we booked in February) if you want a dog cabin. Ferry cost me $1500 CAD with dog cabin with our truck and 21. We didn't go to Labrador. I wouldn't want to do that drive myself.
Garry George
Advanced Member
Well I'm from Newfoundland and return there most years - visit my Mom in Corner Brook. Bay of Islands is my stompin grounds. Frenchman's Cove to Lark Harbour is my favourite spot in the world - check out Blow Me Down PP and Little Port. The head of Cow Head is a hidden treasure. The Look Out Trail and Green Garden's in Gros Morne are taxing trails but worth it, if you are able. Best advice - book the ferry soon; the best dates go fast. Fun fact - when a Newfoundlander of my generation speaks of 'Out West' we mean Port aux Port. There you go; lots of things to Google.
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Ron in BC
Senior Member
Good one. Out here we don't have any "out West" and when we say "back East" we usually mean Toronto.Ron
land’SCAPE
Advanced Member
Long one, but perhaps helpful to some.... this is a note I sent to our friends outlining our 3 wk trip over to NFLD for 3 weeks: July 2 – 21, 2023.
Misc.
FYI while you’re in the Sydney NS area: just before we went over to NFLD we stayed at N. Sydney/Cabot trail KOA. We chose it for its’ location. We left the trailer there and did the Cabot Trail, without the trailer with a few nights hotel stays. Just south of here is the Alexander G. Bell Nat’l Museum in Baddeck NS. Worth the run down.
....on to NFLD:
It’s about 850kms (!) one-way, around NFLD (that’s before leaving the main road! (we didn’t realize this at first) I didn’t want to do that drive twice, so, I booked to sail over to Argentia (St. John’s side) first and then the sail back, from Port-aux-Basques. I wanted to get the longer ferry out of the way first (you can do this trip in reverse of course). We booked the ferry with Marine Atlantic in early April. We didn’t realize that there were berths on these ferries when we called and this turned out to be too late for us to get one. So, book as early as is possible for your trip. The happy ending for us was that we had put our name on a wait-list and they called us with a berth a couple of nights before we were to set sail. It’s a 16 hr. overnight sail to Argentia and since I get seasick (my wife, not so much), I was extremely pleased! You board the boat at 5:30pm in N. Sydney, so after we were settled in, we went upstairs, had a few strategic beers watching as we left the harbour and then went to bed. Slept like a baby – drove off the next morning - perfect!
As a reference, our ticket, round trip was $1,418 PLUS the berths for $326. Round trip grand total was: $1,744
July 2 Sail to NFLD:
Argentia: Sunset RV Park (rt off the ferry at Argentia)
Location: I picked this location as I expected to need a bit of recovery time after the sea voyage, which turned out not to be the case. It’s just a gravel parking lot essentially. In the end, it was a good choice as we had some great visits in the area.
recommendations:
Really enjoyed the Castle Hill National Historic Site* in Placentia, 10 mins from the RV Park.
Also, a ‘must-see’ recommendation from us for the Cape Saint Mary’s Ecological Reserve, about an hour south of this RV Park. This is a very interesting place to see the Gannet’s. Worth the drive in our opinion.
St. John’s: Pippy’s RV Park
Location: This RV park was recommended to us. The location is definitely very convenient, however the park was ordinary at best. (I found the washrooms were always under about 1/2in. of water, as if they liked to hose them down).
recommendations:
Signal Hill: downtown, was really interesting; worthwhile going through (where Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic signal from Ireland).
Cape Spear Lighthouse Nat’l Historic Site: was also very interesting and well worth the 20 min. drive. Trivia: it’s the eastern-most point in North America. Saw whales right below us, here.
Quidi Vidi Brewery: picturesque pub setting to have one of their locally famous Iceberg Beers. (they harvest 25k yr. old Iceberg ice to make their beer. Honestly, it was expensive and tasted no different. We didn’t have another, as they were like, $9.00 a bottle).
Christian’s Pub on George St.: we had an awesome night getting “Screeched In” as honourary Newfoundlander’s here. Ate the flambe’d bologna, drank the Newfoundland Screech and.... yup, kissed the Cod! Got a certificate!
Happy Adventure: Harold Duffett Shriners RV Park
Location: This RV park was actually quite nice.
recommendations:
This area was recommended to us by a friend in Hamilton, who holiday’d here as a child. Truthfully, there’s not much here other than the cute harbour village of Savage. (pr. Sow vage). He recommended seeing the beach at Happy Adventure as well, but it was a bust. We made the most of it, hiking mostly, but would not recommend.
Everyone mentions Trinity on the Bonavista peninsula (which is one peninsula to the south of Happy Adventure, closer to St. John’s). Trinity is apparently beautiful & we suspect a far better choice. Also, at the end of the Bonavista peninsula is Elliston, which is apparently the best place in NFLD to see the Puffins. (crazy, funny birds!). We did see them south of St. John’s at Witless Bay luckily, but they were a little bit further off-shore. We regret not having gone out to this area.
Twillingate: Peyton’s Woods RV Park
Location: Peyton’s Wood’s was quite a nice wooded park. No issues here. There are some free Boondocking campsites at Sleepy Cove which I would’ve have preferred had I known.
As an aside, we stopped in and at the little aviation museum in Gander, on the way up to Twillingate. (I’m a sucker for all Aviation museum’s). Tip: While at the Museum, I asked around and was advised by the locals, to go past Gander and take the 340 up through Loon Bay, as the road was much better than taking the road straight north, from Gander.
recommendations:
Twillingate was fantastic. We really loved it and hiked a ton. Long Point Lighthouse and its’ vista is a must. Seemed like icebergs at every Cove. There’s a terrific hike leaving Sleepy Cove too, that goes up some wooden stairs to the south of the parking lot (to the left facing the water and then out along that ridge. We hiked for about 2 hours here – mind you we had terrific weather!
We also really enjoyed the Sandy Cove Trail, going out towards Burnt Island on the east side, the other side, of Twillingate.
While we didn’t eat there, we heard several folks recommending Annie’s Harbour Restaurant, right in town. We did the Twillingate Dinner Theatre one evening and it was super fun. Great food/lobster/crab/fried cod etc. The wait staff who serve you, then perform the entertainment; play the instruments and perform skits on stage. My whole evening with entertainment, Lobster dinner, tea/coffee/dessert, was $52.00. Alcohol extra. Wonderful, fun evening and tremendous value too, so tip well!
Misc.: Some folks take the ferry over to Fogo Island from nearby, we didn’t. It’s infamous for being one of the four corner’s of the world, according to the Flat Earth Society. Apparently, it’s very expensive over there, as it entertains the rich and famous regularly.
Deer Lake: Deer Lake RV Park & Campgrounds:
Location: This was just a convenience overnight stop, enroute to St. Anthony. Nice convenient & clean RV spot along the lake.
L’Anse aux Meadows (just north of St. Anthony): Viking RV Park:
Location: Viking RV Park is a nice little park. Nothing fancy but its’ key feature is it’s location. It’s the closest RV Park to the National Park. The owner makes fresh bread every other day and we enjoyed that. The office doubles as a tiny restaurant and sells a few staples. (the other RV Park is Triple Falls RV Park, down towards St. Anthony’s. It’s not great apparently (locals said) and it’s also not the best place to have to go back and forth to each night. St. Anthony’s is a slightly bigger community and has gas and some restaurants such as Subway and Tim Horton’s etc. (however, when I asked someone in the pharmacy, where I could get a haircut, the two ladies looked at each other and finally said, “perhaps Cornerbrook” – which happens to be 31/2 hrs to the south! Funny, guess where I ended up getting a haircut!.
Recommendations:
L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site isn’t to be missed. (it’s where the Viking’s/Leif Erickson landed roughly 1,000 yrs ago). Really enjoyed several hikes around the area, the museum and the homestead’s with their folks in period costumes.
Two other terrific hikes:
It is very close to the RV park. Drive north from Viking RV through Little Quirpon, then on to Quirpon. (ask at the office if you’re unsure). Park your car at the end of the road (two little parking spots on the left) and take the hike heading to the east. Wonderful hike and we were rewarded at the last bend with two enourmous iceberg’s just sitting in between us and Quirpon Island, which will then be off to your left (to the north at that point).
The other, perhaps favourite hike of all, was “Daredevil Trail”. For this one, you go back down to, and through, St. Anthony, carrying on to the Fishing Point Lighthouse. It’s a really lovely spot and we spent a whole day there. Lots of parking. At Daredevil Hill, you hike in 1/2 km then climb up a 550’ staircase to the ridge above. We walked & explored along the cliff face for about 2 hours and then sat in a strong, warm wind and saw more iceberg’s. Then 2 humpback whales came along far below, hanging around seeming to be feeding. It was super & we only saw two other folks the whole time. When you get back down, explore around the lighthouse itself and perhaps have lunch at the Lightkeeper’s Cafe. We shared a clubhouse and had a beer and it was excellent. Nice spot with friendly staff. Fishing Point Lighthouse is well worth the drive in our opinion.
Gros Morne: Gros Morne RV Campground, Rocky Harbour
Location: Nice RV Park and we found that this was a great location overall for us, for our stay in Gros Morne – I’d stay here again.
recommendations:
We did the famous “Western Brook Pond” Gros Morne ‘hike-in’/ferry down the Pond: (almost all Lakes in NFLD are called Ponds). Western Brook Pond is towards the north end of the Gros Morne Nat’l Park. So, when we were on our travel day coming down from L’Anse aux Meadows with the trailer, heading towards Rocky Harbour, we stopped at the parking lot for this boat tour. Since it was a lovely day & they had space on their next sailing, off we went. We had a great time on this trip, however, I don’t think I’d do it if it was not very nice weather. It’s a 2km walk in and we enjoyed it so much, we actually came back out later during our stay and did it again, to see if we could spot a hugh moose that had apparently been hanging around....no luck though.
The little town of Rocky Harbour is really nice. We had Fish n Chips there and also bought some fresh scallops at Harbour Seafoods to make back at the trailer – delicious.
The Gros Morne Nat’l Park Visitor’s Centre in Rocky Harbour is definitely worth a stop. The guides there are very helpful. The guided tours by the Park staff are excellent and free. We did the “Tablelands”, which is about an hour’s drive around the inlet towards Woody Point. The geological-focused tour there was extremely interesting – it’s where the mantle of the earth has been pushed up above the earth’s surface. We had a nice lunch at The Old Loft in Woody Point – very good.
Another guided tour we did which, again, was excellent was the Green Point Geological Site, just north of Rocky Harbour. The guide explained the geology of the area and of Newfoundland in general. You just meet the guides in the parking lot at the prescribed time (usually like 10:00am for eg.) and then they guide you around the attraction and for a couple of hours.
The Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse was a nice short walk too; it’s on the way out to the Green Point site.
Finally, Grand Codroy RV Park Doyles, NL
Location: This was the nicest RV park we stayed in during our entire trip (like from Victoria). Lovely folks too. We were given this tip by a fellow we had met at the Escape Rally in Osoyoos who had stayed here (George perhaps – anyway, thanks). It’s a nice ‘last night’ before catching the ferry, because our ferry left at 11:45pm (yes pm) the next day (as I think they all do from Port-aux-Basque, but still check your sailing time). It is only a 1/2 hr. drive from the ferry dock and in fact you end up with quite a wait on the last day.
recommendations: If I were to do it again, I might either stay an extra night here and/or explore around the area and possibly around Saint Andrew’s, on our way down to the ferry as, again, we were in the line-up for a looong time. There is a really nice Visitor’s Centre just on the north outskirts of town in Port-aux-Basques; worth a stop. They mentioned that there are also some very interesting places to visit & see just east of P-aux-B as well.
July 21st back to Sydney. (& on the very day of the 2023 epic rain storm in Halifax. Crazy).
We spent almost 3 weeks in NFLD and it went by quickly. Our only regret is that we should’ve booked longer over there but the ferries are so booked up in advance that you can’t easily change your dates. We had a wonderful time, the people, the seafood, everything, however we did luck out with great weather & know that it made a huge difference to our experience....as it always does on vacations.
Good luck!
Richard.
Misc.
FYI while you’re in the Sydney NS area: just before we went over to NFLD we stayed at N. Sydney/Cabot trail KOA. We chose it for its’ location. We left the trailer there and did the Cabot Trail, without the trailer with a few nights hotel stays. Just south of here is the Alexander G. Bell Nat’l Museum in Baddeck NS. Worth the run down.
....on to NFLD:
It’s about 850kms (!) one-way, around NFLD (that’s before leaving the main road! (we didn’t realize this at first) I didn’t want to do that drive twice, so, I booked to sail over to Argentia (St. John’s side) first and then the sail back, from Port-aux-Basques. I wanted to get the longer ferry out of the way first (you can do this trip in reverse of course). We booked the ferry with Marine Atlantic in early April. We didn’t realize that there were berths on these ferries when we called and this turned out to be too late for us to get one.
So, book as early as is possible for your trip. The happy ending for us was that we had put our name on a wait-list and they called us with a berth a couple of nights before we were to set sail. It’s a 16 hr. overnight sail to Argentia and since I get seasick (my wife, not so much), I was extremely pleased! You board the boat at 5:30pm in N. Sydney, so after we were settled in, we went upstairs, had a few strategic beers watching as we left the harbour and then went to bed. Slept like a baby – drove off the next morning - perfect! As a reference, our ticket, round trip was $1,418 PLUS the berths for $326. Round trip grand total was: $1,744
July 2 Sail to NFLD:
Argentia: Sunset RV Park (rt off the ferry at Argentia)
Location: I picked this location as I expected to need a bit of recovery time after the sea voyage, which turned out not to be the case. It’s just a gravel parking lot essentially. In the end, it was a good choice as we had some great visits in the area.
recommendations:
Really enjoyed the Castle Hill National Historic Site* in Placentia, 10 mins from the RV Park.
Also, a ‘must-see’ recommendation from us for the Cape Saint Mary’s Ecological Reserve, about an hour south of this RV Park. This is a very interesting place to see the Gannet’s. Worth the drive in our opinion.
St. John’s: Pippy’s RV Park
Location: This RV park was recommended to us. The location is definitely very convenient, however the park was ordinary at best. (I found the washrooms were always under about 1/2in. of water, as if they liked to hose them down).
recommendations:
Signal Hill: downtown, was really interesting; worthwhile going through (where Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic signal from Ireland).
Cape Spear Lighthouse Nat’l Historic Site: was also very interesting and well worth the 20 min. drive. Trivia: it’s the eastern-most point in North America. Saw whales right below us, here.
Quidi Vidi Brewery: picturesque pub setting to have one of their locally famous Iceberg Beers. (they harvest 25k yr. old Iceberg ice to make their beer. Honestly, it was expensive and tasted no different. We didn’t have another, as they were like, $9.00 a bottle).
Christian’s Pub on George St.: we had an awesome night getting “Screeched In” as honourary Newfoundlander’s here. Ate the flambe’d bologna, drank the Newfoundland Screech and.... yup, kissed the Cod! Got a certificate!
Happy Adventure: Harold Duffett Shriners RV Park
Location: This RV park was actually quite nice.
recommendations:
This area was recommended to us by a friend in Hamilton, who holiday’d here as a child. Truthfully, there’s not much here other than the cute harbour village of Savage. (pr. Sow vage). He recommended seeing the beach at Happy Adventure as well, but it was a bust. We made the most of it, hiking mostly, but would not recommend.
Everyone mentions Trinity on the Bonavista peninsula (which is one peninsula to the south of Happy Adventure, closer to St. John’s). Trinity is apparently beautiful & we suspect a far better choice. Also, at the end of the Bonavista peninsula is Elliston, which is apparently the best place in NFLD to see the Puffins. (crazy, funny birds!). We did see them south of St. John’s at Witless Bay luckily, but they were a little bit further off-shore. We regret not having gone out to this area.
Twillingate: Peyton’s Woods RV Park
Location: Peyton’s Wood’s was quite a nice wooded park. No issues here. There are some free Boondocking campsites at Sleepy Cove which I would’ve have preferred had I known.
As an aside, we stopped in and at the little aviation museum in Gander, on the way up to Twillingate. (I’m a sucker for all Aviation museum’s). Tip: While at the Museum, I asked around and was advised by the locals, to go past Gander and take the 340 up through Loon Bay, as the road was much better than taking the road straight north, from Gander.
recommendations:
Twillingate was fantastic. We really loved it and hiked a ton. Long Point Lighthouse and its’ vista is a must. Seemed like icebergs at every Cove. There’s a terrific hike leaving Sleepy Cove too, that goes up some wooden stairs to the south of the parking lot (to the left facing the water and then out along that ridge. We hiked for about 2 hours here – mind you we had terrific weather!
We also really enjoyed the Sandy Cove Trail, going out towards Burnt Island on the east side, the other side, of Twillingate.
While we didn’t eat there, we heard several folks recommending Annie’s Harbour Restaurant, right in town. We did the Twillingate Dinner Theatre one evening and it was super fun. Great food/lobster/crab/fried cod etc. The wait staff who serve you, then perform the entertainment; play the instruments and perform skits on stage. My whole evening with entertainment, Lobster dinner, tea/coffee/dessert, was $52.00. Alcohol extra. Wonderful, fun evening and tremendous value too, so tip well!
Misc.: Some folks take the ferry over to Fogo Island from nearby, we didn’t. It’s infamous for being one of the four corner’s of the world, according to the Flat Earth Society. Apparently, it’s very expensive over there, as it entertains the rich and famous regularly.
Deer Lake: Deer Lake RV Park & Campgrounds:
Location: This was just a convenience overnight stop, enroute to St. Anthony. Nice convenient & clean RV spot along the lake.
L’Anse aux Meadows (just north of St. Anthony): Viking RV Park:
Location: Viking RV Park is a nice little park. Nothing fancy but its’ key feature is it’s location. It’s the closest RV Park to the National Park. The owner makes fresh bread every other day and we enjoyed that. The office doubles as a tiny restaurant and sells a few staples. (the other RV Park is Triple Falls RV Park, down towards St. Anthony’s. It’s not great apparently (locals said) and it’s also not the best place to have to go back and forth to each night. St. Anthony’s is a slightly bigger community and has gas and some restaurants such as Subway and Tim Horton’s etc. (however, when I asked someone in the pharmacy, where I could get a haircut, the two ladies looked at each other and finally said, “perhaps Cornerbrook” – which happens to be 31/2 hrs to the south! Funny, guess where I ended up getting a haircut!.
Recommendations:
L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site isn’t to be missed. (it’s where the Viking’s/Leif Erickson landed roughly 1,000 yrs ago). Really enjoyed several hikes around the area, the museum and the homestead’s with their folks in period costumes.
Two other terrific hikes:
It is very close to the RV park. Drive north from Viking RV through Little Quirpon, then on to Quirpon. (ask at the office if you’re unsure). Park your car at the end of the road (two little parking spots on the left) and take the hike heading to the east. Wonderful hike and we were rewarded at the last bend with two enourmous iceberg’s just sitting in between us and Quirpon Island, which will then be off to your left (to the north at that point).
The other, perhaps favourite hike of all, was “Daredevil Trail”. For this one, you go back down to, and through, St. Anthony, carrying on to the Fishing Point Lighthouse. It’s a really lovely spot and we spent a whole day there. Lots of parking. At Daredevil Hill, you hike in 1/2 km then climb up a 550’ staircase to the ridge above. We walked & explored along the cliff face for about 2 hours and then sat in a strong, warm wind and saw more iceberg’s. Then 2 humpback whales came along far below, hanging around seeming to be feeding. It was super & we only saw two other folks the whole time. When you get back down, explore around the lighthouse itself and perhaps have lunch at the Lightkeeper’s Cafe. We shared a clubhouse and had a beer and it was excellent. Nice spot with friendly staff. Fishing Point Lighthouse is well worth the drive in our opinion.
Gros Morne: Gros Morne RV Campground, Rocky Harbour
Location: Nice RV Park and we found that this was a great location overall for us, for our stay in Gros Morne – I’d stay here again.
recommendations:
We did the famous “Western Brook Pond” Gros Morne ‘hike-in’/ferry down the Pond: (almost all Lakes in NFLD are called Ponds). Western Brook Pond is towards the north end of the Gros Morne Nat’l Park. So, when we were on our travel day coming down from L’Anse aux Meadows with the trailer, heading towards Rocky Harbour, we stopped at the parking lot for this boat tour. Since it was a lovely day & they had space on their next sailing, off we went. We had a great time on this trip, however, I don’t think I’d do it if it was not very nice weather. It’s a 2km walk in and we enjoyed it so much, we actually came back out later during our stay and did it again, to see if we could spot a hugh moose that had apparently been hanging around....no luck though.
The little town of Rocky Harbour is really nice. We had Fish n Chips there and also bought some fresh scallops at Harbour Seafoods to make back at the trailer – delicious.
The Gros Morne Nat’l Park Visitor’s Centre in Rocky Harbour is definitely worth a stop. The guides there are very helpful. The guided tours by the Park staff are excellent and free. We did the “Tablelands”, which is about an hour’s drive around the inlet towards Woody Point. The geological-focused tour there was extremely interesting – it’s where the mantle of the earth has been pushed up above the earth’s surface. We had a nice lunch at The Old Loft in Woody Point – very good.
Another guided tour we did which, again, was excellent was the Green Point Geological Site, just north of Rocky Harbour. The guide explained the geology of the area and of Newfoundland in general. You just meet the guides in the parking lot at the prescribed time (usually like 10:00am for eg.) and then they guide you around the attraction and for a couple of hours.
The Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse was a nice short walk too; it’s on the way out to the Green Point site.
Finally, Grand Codroy RV Park Doyles, NL
Location: This was the nicest RV park we stayed in during our entire trip (like from Victoria). Lovely folks too. We were given this tip by a fellow we had met at the Escape Rally in Osoyoos who had stayed here (George perhaps – anyway, thanks). It’s a nice ‘last night’ before catching the ferry, because our ferry left at 11:45pm (yes pm) the next day (as I think they all do from Port-aux-Basque, but still check your sailing time). It is only a 1/2 hr. drive from the ferry dock and in fact you end up with quite a wait on the last day.
recommendations: If I were to do it again, I might either stay an extra night here and/or explore around the area and possibly around Saint Andrew’s, on our way down to the ferry as, again, we were in the line-up for a looong time. There is a really nice Visitor’s Centre just on the north outskirts of town in Port-aux-Basques; worth a stop. They mentioned that there are also some very interesting places to visit & see just east of P-aux-B as well.
July 21st back to Sydney. (& on the very day of the 2023 epic rain storm in Halifax. Crazy).
We spent almost 3 weeks in NFLD and it went by quickly. Our only regret is that we should’ve booked longer over there but the ferries are so booked up in advance that you can’t easily change your dates. We had a wonderful time, the people, the seafood, everything, however we did luck out with great weather & know that it made a huge difference to our experience....as it always does on vacations.
Good luck!
Richard.
Ron in BC
Senior Member
Great write-up with info that well be very helpful to others.
Ron
Ron
NorCal Ellen
Advanced Member
Many thanks, Richard aka land’SCAPE for your very helpful notes on visiting Newfoundland!
I/we had planned our trip to be summer of 2024, but life got in the way (two lives actually, twin grandbabies arrived so we decided to pause our plans). New plans are in the works, Ferry reservations for four couples all made, and now the details to assemble. Your notes help us to narrow down a few choices and make some decisions on where best park our rigs along the way. We’ll be spending a month there, hope to visit all the “must see” places we hear about.
Anybody else that may have anything to add, please reply to this thread. After Newfoundland we’ll spend a few days at PEI and then in Nova Scotia, four days at Acadia National Park, and then begin our slow trek back to the west coast (California for us).
Appreciatively, Ellen & Bret
I/we had planned our trip to be summer of 2024, but life got in the way (two lives actually, twin grandbabies arrived so we decided to pause our plans). New plans are in the works, Ferry reservations for four couples all made, and now the details to assemble. Your notes help us to narrow down a few choices and make some decisions on where best park our rigs along the way. We’ll be spending a month there, hope to visit all the “must see” places we hear about.
Anybody else that may have anything to add, please reply to this thread. After Newfoundland we’ll spend a few days at PEI and then in Nova Scotia, four days at Acadia National Park, and then begin our slow trek back to the west coast (California for us).
Appreciatively, Ellen & Bret
land’SCAPE
Advanced Member
Awesome, family always comes first......John Lennon was inspired to include in a song "life is what happens while you're busy making plans".
I have a few 'must see' (perhaps I should say, 'must eat') recommendations for PEI. I'll have a look and post here as well. (will you - NorCal Ellen) head back through parts of Canada?
I have a few 'must see' (perhaps I should say, 'must eat') recommendations for PEI. I'll have a look and post here as well. (will you - NorCal Ellen) head back through parts of Canada?
Ron in BC
Senior Member
Don't get me wrong, I'm not negative about the trip in general, great memories, but there was one aspect that I didn't enjoy. That was the lobster type restaurants both in PEI and Nova Scotia. My sense was that they've served millions of dinners and its like shooting fish in the barrel. Run down establishments and slap it down service.
I guess when you're in a high tourist business that's what you should expect but we find ourselves avoiding those type of establishments now.
Ron
iamunique127
Senior Member
We avoided those big places too and preferred to get our seafood, including lobster, at the fish stores or fresh off the boats and eat oceanside, in a picnic spot or at our campsites. Some items, like lobster and crab, can be purchased already-cooked at the stores.
Obviously, others do prefer the restaurants.
NorCal Ellen
Advanced Member
We’re traveling across the US on either Interstate 90 or Hwy 2 with stops along the way (figuring that out now). On the way home, being mid September, we’ll be dropping down a bit and landing in Boise, ID, to help out our kids with the twins. I’d like to take all of September for our travel back, but they need us, so we’ll have to skedaddle a bit.
I’m always interested in your “must see’s” so please add on anything we should consider.
NorCal Ellen
Advanced Member
I couldn’t agree more. To me, a chain restaurant is to be avoided whenever possible. When near the ocean, fresh and worthy seafood is the only way too go. I love cooking when on the road, but am limited to 3 burners and maybe my InstantPot if I bring it along. Not much to cook fancy with, but fresh seafood doesn’t need fancy I don’t think.
My thought would be that I-90 is better if you are in a hurry to just "get there," and US-2 is better if you want to be more leisurely. If you do take US-2, consider at least a detour at Duluth MN on Hwy 61 along the "north shore" (lake Superior) as far as Grand Marais. An escarpment parallels the shoreline, causing a bunch of waterfalls (many of which are at state parks). The SP campgrounds tend to be booked, but it's usually pretty easy to get a spot at the state forest campgrounds near Finland MN. Drop the trailer and cruise around for a day to see the sights. Don't miss the high overlook of the lake at Palisade Head. At Grand Marais, walk out past the coast guard station to Artist's Point, and then have a pizza at Sven & Ole's.
You could drive north of the lake past Thunder Bay, or resume on US-2 into Michigan and pick up M-28 all the way to Sault Ste. Marie to cross the bridge into Canada. This would take you through Munising MI where you could (if weather is nice and time permits) take a cruise along the Pictured Rocks lakeshore (the sunset cruise has the best light).
You could drive north of the lake past Thunder Bay, or resume on US-2 into Michigan and pick up M-28 all the way to Sault Ste. Marie to cross the bridge into Canada. This would take you through Munising MI where you could (if weather is nice and time permits) take a cruise along the Pictured Rocks lakeshore (the sunset cruise has the best light).
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