On the way to Too Good Arm

A 10 day tour of Newfoundland & Labrador
from our Northeastern issue,
Summer 2012.

	Photo: Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism
	A pair of hikers looks toward Western Brook Pond at Gros Morne National Park.

With national and provincial parks, cruises, ferry crossings and several United Nations World Heritage Sites, Newfoundland & Labrador share Atlantic Canada’s splendor.

Lighthouses, fishing villages, a former Viking settlement and North America’s oldest community are on this itinerary by St. John’s, Newfoundland-based Freedom Tours & Travel that starts in Corner Brook.

Day One

Tour Corner Brook. Then, visit Captain James Cook National Historic Site, which fetes the British explorer.

Travel along Humber Arm and Bay of Islands en route to Frenchman’s Cove. Stop at Lark Harbour, and return via Guernsey, Tweed and Pearl Islands.

Day Two

Skirt the shores of Deer Lake and head north to Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its beauty and geology.

Depart for Plum Point, stopping along the way. At Lobster Cove Head, visit the lighthouse and the maritime displays. Next is Broom Point, which highlights early fishing settlements. 

View glacier-carved gorges en route to Port au Choix National Historic Site, with exhibits on archaeological finds of Maritime Archaic and Dorset peoples who settled here before 2000 B.C.

Day Three

Board a ferry to cross the Strait of Belle Isle, known as Iceberg Alley, to Blanc Sablon, Quebec. Icebergs are most often seen in June and July.

Then, head east to Red Bay National Historic Site, a Labrador village once home to a 16th-century Basque whaling station. Return to L’Anse-au-Clair, Labrador. 

Day Four

From L’Anse-au-Clair, take the ferry to St. Barbe, Newfoundland. 

Enter L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, the only known Viking settlement in North America and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tour reconstructed sod huts and see Norse artifacts dating to 1000 A.D. with re-enactors enhancing the experience.

Day Five

In the morning, visit St. Anthony. Grenfell Mission is where Sir Wilfred Grenfell brought modern medicine to Labrador in the 1890s. Tour his family home and an interpretation center.

Travel along the Viking Trail, stopping at Arches Provincial Park’s two sea-carved rock arches.

Day Six

Depart for Grand Falls-Windsor with a stop at Salmonid Interpretation Centre, an Atlantic salmon enhancement project.

Head on to Gander.

Day Seven

Along the Road to the Isles, the local predilection for colorful language comes across with locales such as Too Good Arm, Virgin Arm and Crow Head.

On the way to Twillingate, visit Prime Berth Fishing Museum and Long Point Lighthouse. With luck, spot whales on the way to Terra Nova National Park near Glovertown.

Day Eight

In the morning, visit historic Trinity and continue to Cape Bonavista, admiring harbors, cliffs and coastlines. 

In Bonavista, learn how modern North America began when explorer John Cabot made landfall here in 1497. 

Visit Ryan Premises National Historic Site, which fetes the fishing industry from the 1500s to present day.

Day Nine

Head for the Avalon Peninsula. 

Drive through Heart’s Delight and Heart’s Desire to Heart’s Content to visit Heart’s Content Cable Station Provincial Historic Site, where the first transatlantic cable was landed in 1866. 

Stop in Harbour Grace, where U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart took off in 1932 on her solo flight across the Atlantic.

Continue around Conception Bay to St. John’s, stopping at Cape Spear, North America’s most easterly point.

Day 10 

Tour Signal Hill National Historic Site, North America’s oldest settlement. Check out Cabot Tower, old town and the Basilica of St. John the Baptist. 

Then, head south to Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, where whales and puffins abound. After lunch, take a narrated cruise.  

Leave St. John’s the next morning.

GO

Newfoundland & Labrador

SEE

Gros Morne National Park
(709) 458-2417
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/index.asp

L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site
(709) 458-2417
www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows/index.aspx

Port au Choix National Historic Site
(709) 861-3522 (seasonal)
(709) 458-2417 (offseason)
www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/portauchoix/index.aspx

Signal Hill National Historic Site
(709) 772-5367
www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/nl/signalhill/index.aspx

Terra Nova National Park
(709) 533-2801
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/terranova/index.aspx

ASK

Freedom Tours & Travel
(800) 561-2324
www.freedomtours.com

Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism
(800) 563-6353
(709) 729-2830
www.newfoundlandandlabrador.com

Tell us what you think or offer your Newfoundland & Labrador adventure-themed group travel itineraries to the editor.
Mail: 2465 112th Ave.
Holland, MI 49424
Fax: (616) 393-0085
Phone: 1-800-767-3489 between 8am - 5pm, EST.