New Foundland

[J&T2005]

Anyone have recs for a trip to New Foundland? Thanks!

[lil_geek]

Newfoundland (http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/)? ;)

I haven't been, but my parents did a self guided driving tour. They really liked it because the package included all their hotels/motels/B&B's, the car rental (including mileage) and coupons for some places. They had a set schedule in 'You are booked in this hotel on Tuesday night'.... but they had all day to do the drive and stop and see things they wanted as opposed to being on a bus.

I'm not sure if this was the company - but it has the same kind of tours.

http://www.visionatlanticvacations.com/packages/selfdrive/



It really looks amazing and is on my list!

[J&T2005]

Hey, I'm very literal. It should be spelled NewFINland!

[Sare79]

We went on a family trip when I was 8, so my recs would be 20 years old! It was awesome. We went in the springtime and we had every imaginable type of weather all in one day- it was raining when we got there, checked in to the hotel, it was clear and sunny, then we left for dinner and it started to snow.

We went hiking and saw the puffins and did the traditional kiss the cod thing and it was a blast. But I was 8, so I don't really remember things to do.

[Rosebud]

I haven't been, but I just pulled up some threads at Fodors.com that might be helpful to you:

Great B&Bs in Newfoundland (http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=29&tid=34930885)
Trip Report: St. John's and Avalon Peninsula (http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=29&tid=34848858)
Trip Report: 17 Days in Newfoundland (http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=29&tid=34713027)
Visiting Newfoundland in April (http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=29&tid=34734309)
What to See in Newfoundland (http://fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=29&tid=34492248)

[ktdelsur]

I have a friend who lived there for a few years - but she's on vacation until next week! If you can wait, I'll ask her when she gets back!

[J&T2005]

Rosebud thanks! You did google work for me! :D

KTDELSUR - I can totally wait! I'm looking at planning a trip for early March...

[ktdelsur]

You got lucky, I emailed my friend and she had not yet left on her vacation.... here is her reply!

I can definitely give you/your friend a hand with figuring out when to go to Newfoundland what to check out. March is still really snowy and sorta gray all the time. I would honestly recommend going there in July or August, if you want to take advantage of the "good" weather. In those months, the high is in the mid 70s and it gets much cooler in the evenings, it is the best times to hike, see whales, and enjoy all of the festivals that are happening each week/end. On the other hand, if your friend wants to go there to ski, then March would be great.

Do you know what town they wanted to go to? St. John's the capital is the most common place that people go to and has the most flights a day. In St. John's you have the downtown, lots of pubs, bars (they are famous for George Street which is a street of only bars and pubs), and shopping, a load of trails for hiking on the "East Coast Trail", there are the boat tours there, numerous historic sites like signal hill (site of the first transmission across the atlantic by Marconi) and Cape Spear (the easternmost point in North America). There are also a number of hotels and bed and breakfasts in St John's.

If you want to ski you should go to Corner Brook (for downhill) since there really isn't a good place to ski in St. John's. In Corner Brook there is Marble Mountain which is supposed to be quite nice. I am not a big skiing person, so we never went there.

I have put some links to stuff in Newfoundland for you to pass along. Some are local websites there, others are more generic, but they will give an idea. If your friend wants to ask any questions, get opinions, or wants to see any pictures of things let me know. I am happy to share all that I know. I can even give some recs for places to eat and all.

St. John's - http://www.stjohns.ca/

Signal Hill - http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/signalhill/index_e.asp

Cape Spear - http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/spear/index_e.asp

George Street - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Street,_St._John's

The Town Cryer (a local, weekly paper that tells about what's going on in town) http://www.thetowncryer.net/

Marble Mountain - http://www.skimarble.com/

Weather in Newfoundland (also gives a nice map of the island) http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/forecast/canada/index_e.html?id=NF

O'Brien's (one of the many whale and puffin tours) http://www.obriensboattours.com/index.php

Scademia (another tour that goes out of Petty Harbour a small fishing village near St. John's and the place where I do/did all my dialect research) http://www.netfx.ca/scademia/

OZ FM ( a local radio station that has a skycam and a pub cam to let you see what the town and weather look like) http://www.ozfm.com/

[J&T2005]

Thank you!! What a wealth of information!

Part of the deciding factor is the price of airfare... surprisingly, tickets aren't cheap in March. grrr... I wonder what the price would be in August...

Again, thank you, KT!!

[ktdelsur]

No problem - good luck.

Notice she says "I can give your FRIEND" some information. I didn't want to say, "hey, this chick on the internet that I've never met before wants to go to NewFoundland...can you help me with some recommendations?" LOL

[roadrunner]

I live in Newfoundland. Born here, raised here, still here :)

Certainly a wonderful choice for a trip!! I just barely had time to read your post, I'll come back later with a few tips.

In the meantime, ask me anything you want!

Generally, flights are cheaper through the spring and summer months, because there are a lot of 'travel' charter type flights added, in order to accomodate the large amount of tourists we get, as well as the number of people who want to 'come home' for a visit.

The summer months - particularly July and August are probably the best time to visit. The weather is not overly hot - coastal areas will get 'highs' of around 20 degrees, while the inland areas can be as high as 30. There are lots of local 'festivals' in July-August, which are great, particularly if you want to get a taste of the local culture.

What kind of a vacation are you looking for? Outdoor activities, partying, relaxation? Will you have children with you, and, if so, what ages? Just asking, because it will have an effect on where and what you want to do.

I'll be back later!! I'm all excited - getting to 'help' plan a trip to my province. I hope you do take the trip - Newfoundland (pronounced like understand) (new - fund - land) is an awesome place, and of course, I just adore my province!!!

[J&T2005]

oh goody!!

I'm so excited that there's a local here :)

I'd love to go in March, as that's my husband's birthday, but perhaps we could postpone and do something in August...

In any case, we don't have children and we love walking around cities or driving around the country. We're HUGE Great Big Sea fans, and we'd love to experience the kitchen parties that are so infamous :) We love music and eating is muy importante :)

Thank you for your help!!

[roadrunner]

Yeah, March is pretty cold and snowy - not to mention unpredictable. So, if you are planning on touring the province at all, I'd suggest you wait until the warmer months. Of course, if you want to go skiing, snowshowing, or snowmobiling, winter is the time to come!

A few of the tourist attractions off the top of my head:

We have two national parks:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/index_E.asp
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/terranova/index_E.asp
There are dozens of sites for each park, listing tourist info.

Within the Gros Morne area itself, there are lots of things to to, such as take a tour of the land locked fiords on the Western Brook Boat Tours. (google it, you'll find the link). It's an amazing trip, and well worth it.

Also:
http://www.newfoundlandtravelguide.com/
has a lot of information.

Some information by region:

The East Coast (Avalon Peninsula):
You really can't go wrong if you head into St. John's for a few days. It's a great city with a lot of history!! It's the oldest city in North America (except of course that it burnt down two times!!). George Street, in St. John's is the 'club district' with more clubs/bars per square footage than any other place in Canada! It's literally a whole street of clubs, and sooooo much fun!! There are dozens of whale watching tours all over the East Coast (where St. John's is located), and many hiking trails which take you to great places. La Manche park (http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/parks/parks/p_lm/index.html)is one of these, with an amazing suspended bridge and unbelievable scenery. Also, Cape Spear (http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/spear/index_e.asp)is a beautiful place to visit (just don't climb on the rocks next to the ocean, as we've lost some visitors to the massive waves. :( There's also the St. Mary's Bird Sanctuary (http://www.thecapeshore.com/), which is just amazing, but scary if you are afraid of heights! There's lots more, but these are a few I've visited, and am familiar with.

I'll BBL with some more info on the other regions - have two hungry and angry little ones waiting for me!

[J&T2005]

hmmm.... there's so much to see and do, I would truly be bummed if it were difficult to get around because of the weather. Maybe I should look more seriously into August.... please keep the info coming!!