Travelling to Newfoundland

Wheety

Travelling to Newfoundland in June. Looking for some advice on where to stay, what to do etc.

Also, any recommendations for car rental? we'll be arriving in St John's and staying there for a few nights. Will be in Newfoundland for 12 days.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

I'm also looking to hit Newfoundland at some stage over the summer. Nothing booked yet, but hoping to stay for around 5 nights. I know that's not really enough to see everything which I'm fine with, really hoping to hang around St John's and the eastern side of the island in general. Would appreciate any advice re things to do/not to be missed.

cactusgal

Me too, guys! Would appreciate any tips!

bman1

In newfoundland now. Have been for the past 6 days. Flying to nova scotia tomorrow. Overall we are loving it here. St johns is nice, signal hill, logy bay (was a dead whale in the bay), Cape spear. Didn't see much else east coast as we were heading to deer lake/gros morne area. We visited trinity and Bonavista on the way. So many icebergs!! On to gros morne, did a bit of hiking. Some very quaint little villages, norris point, woody point, rocky harbour. Would say defo book accommodation in advance, can be hard enough to find places, or to find wifi to look up places. We made a packed lunch every night for the next day to avoid having to find places to eat, but we are travelling for 6 weeks so need to go easy on the spending. Left the gros morne area and headed back to gander, a fairly big place, plenty of shops and stores. Probably the handiest place to stop if you are stuck for certain items. We travelled from gander to twillingate yesterday, was foggy but found it beautiful, so many places to stop to take pics on the way. Heading back to st johns today.
So... have plenty cash on you. Book airbnb or whatever in advance. Long long days driving. Watch out for moose. Oh and potholes!!!! Big potholes!! Hope some bit of this helps sumone.

cactusgal

bman1 wrote: »

In newfoundland now. Have been for the past 6 days. Flying to nova scotia tomorrow. Overall we are loving it here. St johns is nice, signal hill, logy bay (was a dead whale in the bay), Cape spear. Didn't see much else east coast as we were heading to deer lake/gros morne area. We visited trinity and Bonavista on the way. So many icebergs!! On to gros morne, did a bit of hiking. Some very quaint little villages, norris point, woody point, rocky harbour. Would say defo book accommodation in advance, can be hard enough to find places, or to find wifi to look up places. We made a packed lunch every night for the next day to avoid having to find places to eat, but we are travelling for 6 weeks so need to go easy on the spending. Left the gros morne area and headed back to gander, a fairly big place, plenty of shops and stores. Probably the handiest place to stop if you are stuck for certain items. We travelled from gander to twillingate yesterday, was foggy but found it beautiful, so many places to stop to take pics on the way. Heading back to st johns today.
So... have plenty cash on you. Book airbnb or whatever in advance. Long long days driving. Watch out for moose. Oh and potholes!!!! Big potholes!! Hope some bit of this helps sumone.

Thanks for the info! How is it pricewise, cheaper/same/dearer than Dublin?

bman1

We are staying in cheap airbnb, like tonight in st johns we are only paying $32 for a room. It can obviously go to the far side of $100 too so pays to book early and do research. We had to stay in a motel last night and it cost $140 but we had no choice. Food, dunno, it varies, could spend $50 easily on a meal for 2. General food stuff in stores we found added up quite quickly. Fuel isn't bad. Ud get caught out on prices in sum places because sum places advertise a price but then it's actually the price + tax so remember that. Also don't forget to tip in most restaurants or pubs, i often forgot till the last second because it's not sumthing we are used to. Dunno if any of that helps but keep asking questions if u need to, I'll see if my friend can help with better replies.

cactusgal

bman1 wrote: »

We are staying in cheap airbnb, like tonight in st johns we are only paying $32 for a room. It can obviously go to the far side of $100 too so pays to book early and do research. We had to stay in a motel last night and it cost $140 but we had no choice. Food, dunno, it varies, could spend $50 easily on a meal for 2. General food stuff in stores we found added up quite quickly. Fuel isn't bad. Ud get caught out on prices in sum places because sum places advertise a price but then it's actually the price + tax so remember that. Also don't forget to tip in most restaurants or pubs, i often forgot till the last second because it's not sumthing we are used to. Dunno if any of that helps but keep asking questions if u need to, I'll see if my friend can help with better replies.

It does, thank you! I'm American, so am used to whacking on extra money for tips and tax Thanks for the info, hope you enjoy the rest of your trip!

Ardillaun

In Canada we generally don't include our tax in the upfront price which is annoying. For St. John's, I would recommend Signal Hill, Cape Spear, The Rooms, Bay Bulls and Quidi Vidi. Petrol starts at around 1.05 a litre in St. John's (what we call 'town') and gets worse as you go north e.g. 1.20 in Gander. Definitely take a boat trip while you are there to see icebergs and birds. The ferries are great value too to places like St. Brendan's on the north east coast.

Ardillaun

If you're a hardy type, try some sea kayaking. Great fun.

Ardillaun

Here's a link to the local kayaking magazine here:
http://www.paddlenl.ca/Newsletter.html

Ardillaun

And if you're a complete maniac you could do this:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=knl+kayak&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjot4XCooTVAhULOj4KHQkSCRoQ_AUICCgD&biw=1920&bih=1070#tbm=isch&q=iceberg+climbing+newfoundland'&imgrc=JmuybqEWwgP2EM:

Ardillaun

https://www.google.ca/search?q=knl+kayak&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjot4XCooTVAhULOj4KHQkSCRoQ_AUICCgD&biw=1920&bih=1070#tbm=isch&q=iceberg+climbing+newfoundland'&imgrc=JmuybqEWwgP2EM:

cactusgal

Any boardsies used Westjet Dublin - St John's? How was it?

Ardillaun

cactusgal wrote: »

Any boardsies used Westjet Dublin - St John's? How was it?

The seats were a bit slippery and uncomfortable for a trip of that length. On the way back, we couldn't land in St. John', because of fog, so we went on to Deer Lake but there were no custom staff there, and we ended up getting off in Toronto!

robo

cactusgal wrote: »

Any boardsies used Westjet Dublin - St John's? How was it?

I flew in June from Dublin & back the following week - i was expecting cramped Ryanair type seats with no room in front (I'm not tall), but found them lovely. No pushing of food or scratch cards (thankfully) and got offered free drinks twice (I know, we pay with the ticket) and choice of pretzels or cookie. Staff were very nice and relaxed. Had no issues - when waiting in St Johns, they offered to take on more of the bags in the baggage compartment rather than other head for free. Plus if you install their app on your tablet or phone you can have a choice of loads of different movies and TV programmes to watch once you connect to their wifi (free - its intranet not internet) and there is a socket for charging for plugs and USB cables, what else do you need for 4 and a half hours travelling

Loved St Johns - defo will be back, the accents are just bizarre but the people were lovely and friendly. Got return flights for EUR450.

cactusgal

robo wrote: »

I flew in June from Dublin & back the following week - i was expecting cramped Ryanair type seats with no room in front (I'm not tall), but found them lovely. No pushing of food or scratch cards (thankfully) and got offered free drinks twice (I know, we pay with the ticket) and choice of pretzels or cookie. Staff were very nice and relaxed. Had no issues - when waiting in St Johns, they offered to take on more of the bags in the baggage compartment rather than other head for free. Plus if you install their app on your tablet or phone you can have a choice of loads of different movies and TV programmes to watch once you connect to their wifi (free - its intranet not internet) and there is a socket for charging for plugs and USB cables, what else do you need for 4 and a half hours travelling

Loved St Johns - defo will be back, the accents are just bizarre but the people were lovely and friendly. Got return flights for EUR450.

That sounds great! Yes, I guess I'm expecting a Ryanair setup of sorts, but your description sounds much nicer. How does it work with passport control, do you do it on the Canadian side? Is 2 hrs in advance time enough to arrive at Dublin Airport, or 3 hrs in advance, as recommended for the USA?

Thanks for the info!

robo

cactusgal wrote: »

That sounds great! Yes, I guess I'm expecting a Ryanair setup of sorts, but your description sounds much nicer. How does it work with passport control, do you do it on the Canadian side? Is 2 hrs in advance time enough to arrive at Dublin Airport, or 3 hrs in advance, as recommended for the USA?

Thanks for the info!

Ah yeh 2 hours is well enough - but you have to fill in your details on ESTAfor Canada. They also bring around a form on the plane for you to fill out and hand into Passport control when you arrive at St Johns. Coming home then was all smooth, its a tiny airport but they have free wifi and charging areas for you to watch stuff on your laptop or tablet!

circular flexing

robo wrote: »

Ah yeh 2 hours is well enough - but you have to fill in your details on ESTAfor Canada. They also bring around a form on the plane for you to fill out and hand into Passport control when you arrive at St Johns. Coming home then was all smooth, its a tiny airport but they have free wifi and charging areas for you to watch stuff on your laptop or tablet!

ESTA is not for Canada, it's for US only.

The Canadian equivalent is ETA: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp

robo

circular flexing wrote: »

ESTA is not for Canada, it's for US only.

The Canadian equivalent is ETA: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp

Doh - that is what I meant, Thanks