Newfoundland

[bhivetravels]

Wife and I would like to travel to St John's Newfoundland this coming June (2014). I've searched the Newfoundland website, used GoodSam trip making software, but none of them give enough information. I've kept a few blogs people have written about their trips but again, not enough good information about roads, fuel, and campsites. Any recommendations?

[Little_Kopit]

Diann, of RobandDi, haven't I told you 5 or more 2 month explorings of The Rock cover more of that island than all of my two week outings.

For all that I'm not a Tex Mex afficiando, but have a good idea of where to ferret out the local veg stands, fish sources, lobster stands and perhaps have a stronger idea of how to spot the good liver and onion restaurants (if they've got it on the menu, they know how to cook that one), I still don't know how to cook seal flippers or fish and brewis. & I can make a super Israeli salad.

Who can ever see the whole of Newfoundland and Labrador???

😛

[robanddi]

We have spent a good bit of time in Newfoundland (summers only) since 2001. The people are wonderful and the 'rock' is a great place to visit.

I strongly urge you to take your rig. My personal feelings are that I like my stuff with me and I don't like packing and unpacking (that's why we RV ... LOL) and we also travel with a dog.

We have boon docked all over the rock. "If it ain't posted, you can camp there." We have also utilized the campgrounds and have some favorites.

The earlier you go the more likely to see burgs and that is a great thrill. From the water tank hill in Bonavista we counted almost 30 good-sized ones.

We took the long ferry once; we prefer the shorter ride (for the dog's sake and our own).

There are so many positives (cheap lobster and cheap crab come to mind) but there are a few negatives (Little Kopit may disagree with me here). First, unless you are in Corner Brook or St. John's, the choice of veggies is limited. Generally when eating out you get potatoes, carrots and peas. Also unless you are in those two areas, buying books is a challenge (I bring plenty of reading matter ... thank goodness for Kindels). Being from TexaS I HAVE TO HAVE MEXICAN FOOD preferably Tex Mex and there is no good Mexican food on the rock. Trust me I have tried them all! LOL.

For years, I have made list of what I run out of and pack accordingly. Butterfingers are hard to find; hot red hard candy is difficult to find anywhere in Canada; spices for fixing your own Mexican food can generally be found in the big stores. (Little Kopit, you know us and you know we do like to eat local and we also like to shop local BUT with a rig we also like to eat in and be able to maneuver in parking lots.)

Be warned. When you visit Newfoundland, you will fall in love and want to return.

Diann

[chiefneon]

Howdy!

Jim & monica, my wife and I just spent over three months traveling in Newfoundland in our MDT, large 5er with a tote for our Smart Car. It was a trip of a lifetime and I would put it right up there with Alaska. The ferry is expensive but we decided from the getgo to stay long enough to get our monies worth out of the trip. The roads are good but at times can get ruff and you just need to slow down when they do. The last thing you want to happen is have a breakdown in Newfoundland. We arrived in Newfoundland in early June at Port Au Basque taking the short ferry due to traveling with our two dogs. We traveled the west side of the Island up to the northwest to St Anthony the first month and were able to get one of our "bucket list" check off several times seeing Iceburgs. We also took a trip to Labrador leaving our RV in St Barbe and taking the ferry over and staying in a B&B a couple of nights. The one thing we did not need is 50 amps due to the cool weather. During the months of July and August which is their tourist season we did have problems finding campgrounds to stay in. Almost all of them are filled with seasonal campers and there are very few site for traveling RV'er like us especially on the weekends. Also we are setup to boondock and we found no places to boondock other Walmart which we used but they are few and far between. We are not into the tourist trap thing and found the beauty of the Island remarkable. The hidden treasure of Newfoundland is the small coves and harbours at the end of its many roads. We drove every hard surface road and some of the gravel on "The Rock" and it was impressive. So don't let the expensive of the ferry keep you from enjoying a trip to "The Rock" (Newfoundland) in your RV. Stay long enough to see it. We met a lot of travelers that were only driving from one side of the island to the other on the Trans Canadian Highway in a few days or trying to see everthing in a week or two.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon

[lakeside013104]

Birds coming back into the USA can be somewhat problematic and expensive. Check the CBP website before attempting reentry into the USA. NL is beautiful part of Canada. Enjoy your trip.

Lakeside

[Little_Kopit]

I lived on Newfoundland for 24.5 years and moved away in 2008.

Believe you me I could tell this thread had been moved.

I know people who have spent several 2 month summers on that island.

People from Port aux Basques take 12 hours to drive from there to St. John's I used to do from Corner Brook to St. John's in 8 hours with a meal stop.

Re. Argentia ferry, you spend a lot and miss seeing lots of places you could see. & I'd question whether you save $ on fuel.

Now, sites, did you go to: http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/PlanYourTrip/TravelBrochures?gclid=CL2VqICMhboCFYqZ4AodP0IA8Q

That's what I get when I go to www.google.ca and ask for "Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism". Why.
- I'm using a domain specific url for searching for Canadian information.
- I'm asking for specific items, ie. name of province and tourism.

Check out visitors guides for nearby provinces too.

My thoughts on Places to visit.

- L'Anse aux Meadows, World Heritage Viking Site, and nearby Norsted set up by local organizations.
- Both Federal Parks, epecially Gros Morne
- Codroy Valley
- St. Mary's Bird Sanctuary
- historic St. John's
- Many many many historic towns and villages en route either way, going either north or south around various peninsulas. You will find people still speaking with the accents of their ancestors.

& eat local cuisine, ie baked crab on the crab half shell in Fishing Point Park at St. Anthony.

Lighthouse at Rocky Harbour






:B

[JohnnyT]

Moved from class A forum

[Lobstah]

When we went, it was cheaper to disconnect the car and pay for that separately.
We took the short ferry up, and the long one back, mostly because of time...
It's 500mi from Port Au Basque over to St. John. On the West coast (PoB) there are TONS of things to see, and in our opinion, not to be missed. Wished we'd been able to spend a week just in that area. You can go to the most Northwestern tip and see one of the original Norse settlements. Tons of history up there, and every where else.
We were there for the month of Sept. Weather was gorgeous, never had trouble finding a place to stay or finding fuel. Paying for it?...yeah, that was hard ;)...but finding it was easy.
Driving across the Rock, be prepared for a constant stream of "OOOohhhhhhhhhh!" and "AAAHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"s coming from you and your mate. Every corner, every hill you crest, will present yet another incredibly scenic vista.

Jim

[BUTCHPHI]

Leave the RV on mainland, take the money you save and use B&B or motels and take a couple of weeks and see whole Island. Don't miss Twillingate. And June is perfect. Roads were not great but people were. We want to return.

[GREGORYJ]

One other consideration when taking the ferry. They require RV's/trailers to
turn off their propane , and therefore fridge during the crossing. The shorter
6 hour crossing wasn't a problem for us, however the 16 to 18 hour crossing could be. One may need to have freeze packs in the fridge to help keep food cold. The drive across Newfoundland is about 500 miles. We chose to cross over at Port Aux Basque, then drive to and return from St. John's and return on the shorter Port Aux Basque ferry. The ferrys are quite large but we were concerned about getting sea sick on the 16-18 hour ferry. We did this last month, 48 foot total lenght RV with Smart Car & 2 persons was aprox. $380 each way.

[accsys]

bhivetravels wrote:
Well for starters the ferry goes to two locations. One seems to be the long way around the rock, the other closer to St John's. What if any are the benefits of taking the longer drive?

Other than the lesser cost, the trip time is less than half to/from Port Aux Basque rather than Argentia and the sea seems to be a little smoother. If you are just going to St. John's and not tour the rest of the rock, I would just fly and rent a car. If you are going to see the whole rock, I would use Port Aux Basque both ways and stop at different places going and coming between St; Johns and Port Aux Basque

What's the difference in ferry cost?

You can check rates at the Marine Atlantic site


Are there any 50 amp full service rv parks around St John's?

30 amps seems to be the most plentiful but there are a few parks with 50 amp (Pippy at St. Johns being one.) I would suggest using RV Park Reviews (Click on the Show Canada button and select Newfoundland from the list then the area you want) to see what campgrounds are available where you are going and their amenities.

I noticed in one travel blog that the couple traveled with their two dogs. Are there any restrictions to birds?

No pets here so cannot give you any advice on this. As others have said check with immigration. I would think NL would have the same rules as the rest of Canada on that point.

And finally we are planning on June but are flexible to go later. Shoould we wait until July or August?

I would think that timing would be perfect to see the most icebergs and moose. We were there the month of August and saw little of either.

If you want you can check or trip there in 2010 on our blog listed in our signature.

[CA_Traveler]

BTW The ferry prices quoted above are extremely reasonable. Years ago we were told that a condition of Labador and Newfoundland joining Canada was a transportation subsidy. Perhaps someone can provide a update.

But the cost is what it is and the experience unforgettable!

[CA_Traveler]

Years ago we took the ferry to Argentia and then drove to the St Johns area and then back west to Port aux Basques. For us this helped to keep the driving time down as we basically did a one way trip across Newfoundland. The trip and people were wonderful.

Be advised that the ferry and especially the Argentia ferry is 18 hours (when we went) in the North Atlantic. I repeat - North Atlantic. You might have a nice calm trip or not.

[bhivetravels]

anconn wrote:
This year in June we took our 34' M/H towing our jeep Liberty. My wife and I with our pup. Cost was $480 each way. A 6 hour ferry ride. there are several campgrounds near Port-aux-Basque for the first night as you get in in the evening. We found a nice campground about half way to St John's then the city campground was decent there. We found we didn't need 50 amp services as the weather was not that hot. We didn't go the other ferry as it was about 12 to 14 hours and we weren't going to leave our pup in the M/H that long un attended and didn't ant to kennel her on the boat. Had we not had the dog we would have left the M/H in North Sydney as other people were doing that at the KOA there, then just taken the Jeep and done bed and breakfasts as there were plenty of those that looked nice.

What an excellent idea. I think I'll look into this option! Thanks everyone for your collective advice! I knew I'd hit the right combo of savvy and smart on this forum !

[anconn]

This year in June we took our 34' M/H towing our jeep Liberty. My wife and I with our pup. Cost was $480 each way. A 6 hour ferry ride. there are several campgrounds near Port-aux-Basque for the first night as you get in in the evening. We found a nice campground about half way to St John's then the city campground was decent there. We found we didn't need 50 amp services as the weather was not that hot. We didn't go the other ferry as it was about 12 to 14 hours and we weren't going to leave our pup in the M/H that long un attended and didn't ant to kennel her on the boat. Had we not had the dog we would have left the M/H in North Sydney as other people were doing that at the KOA there, then just taken the Jeep and done bed and breakfasts as there were plenty of those that looked nice.