Andrew Hempstead - Moon Newfoundland & Labrador

Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse

Start in St. Johns, Newfoundlands provincial capital, then head to The Rooms to learn about local history and Signal Hill National Historic Site for the views. Spend late afternoon exploring the charming village of Quidi Vidi, where you have reservations at Mallard Cottage for dinner. Still feeling energetic? The downtown bars of George Street come alive after dark.

Today is spent exploring the Avalon Peninsula. After a whale-watching tour of Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, continue south to Ferryland. Here, Lighthouse Picnics serves up one of the provinces most unique dining experiences after which you can explore the archaeological dig at the Colony of Avalon. Continuing around the peninsula, the next stop is Cape St. Marys Ecological Reserve, and from where its an easy drive back to St. Johns.

Head west, stopping at Trinity, a tiny fishing village where little has changed in over a century, en route to Gros Morne National Park, where during the long days of summer you have time for a walk through the Tablelands and can still be at Lobster Cove Head in time to watch the sunset. Gros Morne Cabins are a centrally located base in Rocky Harbour.

Green Gardens in Gros Morne National Park

Day 4

Join a morning boat tour of Western Brook Pond and drive north along the Northern Peninsula. Make sure to stop at Port au Choix National Historic Site and the thrombolites of Flowers Cove en route to Southwest Pond Cabins in LAnse aux Meadows. Dinner at the Norseman Restaurant is a must.

Day 5

Visit LAnse aux Meadows National Historic Site, then drive to St. Barbe and put your feet up for a couple of hours on the ferry crossing to Labrador. Red Bay National Historic Site should definitely be on your afternoon itinerary, as should the lighthouse at LAnse Amour.

Day 6

Continue north along the Labrador Straits to Marys Harbour. Park your vehicle and pack an overnight bag for the short boat trip to Battle Harbour, an outport (remote fishing village) that was abandoned in the 1960s, but where restoration efforts include a restaurant and an inn.

Battle Harbour

Point Amour Lighthouse

Day 7

Return to the mainland and catch the ferry back to St. Barbe. Stretch your legs at Marble Mountain, and continue south to Port-aux-Basques and then home (or catch an evening ferry to Nova Scotia).

St. Johns Harbour

Gower Street is lined with colorful homes.

St. Johns, the provincial capital, is a colorful and comfortable city. Situated on the steep inland side of St. Johns Harbour, the citys rooftops form a tapestry: Some are gracefully drawn with swooping mansard curves, some are pancake-flat or starkly pitched, and others are pyramidal with clay pots placed atop the central chimneys. Against this otherwise picture-perfect tapestry, the tangle of electrical wires strung up and down the hillside is a visual offense.

Contrasts of color are everywhere. House windows are framed in deep turquoise, red, bright yellow, or pale pink and are covered with starched white lace curtains. Window boxes are stuffed to overflowing with red geraniums and purple and pink petunias. Along the streets, cement walls brace the hillside, and any blank surface serves as an excuse for a pastel-painted mural. The storefronts on Water Street, as individual as their owners, stand out in Wedgwood blue, lime green, purple, and rose. At street-side, public telephone booths are painted the bright red of old-time fire hydrants.