I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that Newfoundland was our favorite trip ever (or at least yet). There are a lot of places I haven’t been–it’s true–but I have seen some pretty amazing places and covered the lower 48 and Atlantic Canada pretty well over the past few years. I’m saying this as someone, for example, who just finished blogging about our amazing time in Glacier National Park the summer before we went to Newfoundland. Dave and I both agreed at the end of the summer that Newfoundland was our favorite of our trips, and I’m standing by it now that I’ve had a few months to let it percolate.
It’s not that any one day or place in Newfoundland was better or more impressive than the best things we saw in Glacier; it’s that every day and every place we went was so incredible…just day after day of awesomeness for five weeks. And it’s that Newfoundland has all the ingredients for an amazing vacation: gorgeous scenery, great hikes, friendly locals, quaint villages, charming big cities, music, art, wildlife, mountains, the ocean…I could keep going! And I will. For, like, a lot of posts. But today I’m doing an overview type of post: some planning tips, some what to expect, all that sort of thing.
Incidentally, I talked about a lot of this in the episodes I did over on the RV Atlas podcast, so you can listen to those if you prefer audio or if you want the digest form. Or you can read this AND listen to that! If you can’t get enough Newfoundland. Like us.
Itinerary Planning
The title of this post is not a joke. Tell (American) people you’re going to Newfoundland, and the most common reaction is a confession that they don’t actually have any idea where Newfoundland is. “Go as far east as you can in Canada,” I told them, “and then keep going and you’ll get there.” Newfoundland is an island off the east coast of Canada, and you can’t get there without taking a ferry or flying (which means you can’t get there without taking a ferry if you’re bringing your RV). I talk all about the ferry ride and logistics in this post.
Newfoundland was a separate country until 1949, when it (narrowly) voted to become a part of Canada, so it still feels very much like nowhere else in Canada and, really, like nowhere else in the world. Different culture, different accent, etc. etc. The province is Newfoundland and Labrador, but we didn’t make it to the Labrador part of things.
Probably the first thing to know when planning a Newfoundland itinerary is that Newfoundland is big. It’s roughly the size of Pennsylvania–so don’t make the mistake of hearing that it’s an island and thinking you’ll be able to see the whole thing in a week or two (or a month or two, for that matter). Put that together with how logistically difficult and expensive it is to get there, and it’s worth devoting as much time as you can to a Newfoundland trip. We definitely did not feel like our five weeks there was too much, and there was a ton we didn’t see. If you have less than two weeks, you might consider picking one side of the island or the other to explore; otherwise you risk mostly seeing Newfoundland from your car.
Here’s an outline of our five week itinerary (I’m going to go ahead and put dates in because, as I’ll talk about later, it can make a big difference what you do in June vs. July, if those are your travel months like ours were):
June 14: overnight ferry from Nova Scotia
June 15: Grand Cordoy RV park (about 30 minutes from ferry)
June 16-19: southern side of Gros Morne National Park, Water’s Edge RV Park
June 19-21: Port Au Choix, RV parking at Sea Echo Motel
June 21-24: L’anse Aux Meadows and St. Anthony, Viking RV Park
June 24-27: northern side of Gros Morne National Park, Gros Morne/Norris Point KOA
June 27-28: Grand Falls Windsor, Sanger Memorial RV Park
June 28-30: Fogo Island, Brimstone Head RV Park
June 30-July 2: Twillingate, Dildo Run Provincial Park
July 2-July 9: St. John’s, Pippy Park Campground
July 9-July 14: Bonavista Peninsula, Cabot Hi-way RV Park
July 14-July 16: Terra Nova National Park, Newman Sound Campground
July 16-July 18: Corner Brook, Kinsman Prince Edward Campground
July 18-July 19: Grand Codroy RV Park again
July 19: ferry back to Nova Scotia
This was the itinerary we planned, but we didn’t actually make it to L’anse Aux Meadows. When we were in Port Au Choix, this is what the weather looked like:
The forecast for the 2 days we had planned up in the northernmost part of the island called for similar temperatures…plus rain. We also discovered that none of the Parks Canada programs we’d been looking forward to at L’anse aux Meadows would be running yet. So we regretfully canceled our reservation and spent a few extra days in the northern side of Gros Morne instead. Next time, Viking stuff!
Resources for Planning
This trip got postponed several times for one reason or another, so I feel like I basically spent about five years planning. As such, I got very familiar with the various resources out there. I recommended starting with the stuff put out by the actual tourism board of Newfoundland and Labrador. That’s not the first place I’d send people for every destination, but they do really nice work there in this case. The photography is amazing, and the information is abundant and well-thought out. You can request material in the mail, and you’ll get a very nice, thorough guidebook. Or you can stick with the website, with its super helpful interactive map. And make sure to follow them on instagram as well. Once you’re on the island, there are visitor information centres scattered around, invariably staffed by helpful and friendly people.
We had the Moon guide to Atlantic Canada, too (affiliate link). I always like Moon Guides, but I do think you could skip this one and just use the more comprehensive material on the Newfoundland and Labrador website.
Finally, we found YouTube videos helpful and fun to watch. We searched “Newfoundland” or “Newfoundland RV” regularly and found new stuff as it popped up. In particular, M&M Travel did a series about their trip to Newfoundland that mirrored our planned itinerary pretty closely (and included kids), so we found it especially useful.
General Stuff to Know About Visiting Newfoundland
Here’s a catch-all section with just…things that are perhaps helpful to know in advance as you’re planning and then actually traveling around in Newfoundland. In no particular order:
*Gas and food (and beer! especially beer) are expensive, but campgrounds are very, very cheap. I think the most we paid for a campground was just under $50/night Canadian (so under $40/night US), but prices even that high were the exception rather than the rule. We usually paid around/under $35 Canadian, and this held true whether the campground was public or private. We always had hookups, although usually only W/E. We didn’t do any boondocking, but I understand that it’s common and widely accepted; from what I’ve read, it’s fine to park overnight anywhere there’s not a sign specifically prohibiting it.
*The roads are…not great. We met a couple from Ontario who were horrified by the state of the roads: “in Ontario,” they told us, “they say that if someone’s swerving all over the road it’s because they’re looking at their phone. Here it’s because they’re trying to avoid potholes.” The Trans-Canada is mostly in good shape (although even there you’ll encounter some rough roads and lots and lots of construction), but anytime you venture off of it (and, of course, you want to venture off of it), lots and lots of potholes are the norm. Big island with lots of roads + small population doesn’t, I gather, lend itself to a large enough tax base to keep up with road repairs. And I’m sure the long winters don’t help matters, either. It’s all doable; we drove all over for weeks and didn’t have major problems; just be prepared to take it slow and have your alignment checked once you get home!
*Boil water advisories at campgrounds are very common.
*Deciding when to travel can be tricky. We went in June and July because that was when our scheduled allowed, but June isn’t really summer in Newfoundland. Locals sometimes refer to it as “June-uary” because it can still be so cold and windy. Another issue with June is that a lot of tourist sites haven’t opened for the season yet. But it’s not as simple as “visit during July and August if you can,” either. June is the best time to see icebergs, for example; you’re likely to miss them if you don’t get there until July. Whale viewing is best in July and August. We hear that September is great for weather (July and August can be uncomfortably hot and humid), but the puffins might have moved on by then. So…figure out what you most want to see and pack a lot of layers.
*Internet is spotty. We found that when we were actually in a town, even a very tiny one, we had a signal, but the roads between towns or campgrounds outside of towns were much less connected. We have a Verizon unlimited plan, and traveling to Canada is seamless with that. They automatically connect you to local networks and there are no extra charges. There is a cap on data, but it’s higher now than it was last time we traveled to Canada, and we found it was plenty for general e-mailing checking and web browsing (not for streaming or uploading pictures).
*For us, Newfoundland was very much a hiking destination. There are trails everywhere; it seemed that nearly every town maintained some nice trails, in addition to all the trails in the national and provincial parks. And there are trails of all different difficulties and lengths: we did so many medium length hikes with amazing views. It’s definitely worth getting off the road and onto the trails if you can.
*We found Newfoundland very dog-friendly and encountered very few trails that didn’t allow dogs, even in the national parks. And the trails were rarely particularly crowded, which made them great for certain of our dogs who tend to be jerks to other dogs they don’t know.
*The people in Newfoundland are warm, friendly, and funny. Back when we were first considering a trip, I read on a blog that the people in Newfoundland make the people in Nova Scotia look like axe murderers. At the time I had just been to Nova Scotia and been very impressed with how friendly Nova Scotians are, so I knew this was something I had to see for myself. I won’t make any declarations about which province wins for friendliest people, but…Newfoundlanders are really just lovely people and generally very happy to have you and to tell you all about their island. Even if you’re not usually the chatty type, make sure to spend some time talking to Newfoundlanders and getting recommendations on what to do and see. And soaking up the great accent that you won’t hear anywhere else in the world!
2023 Newfoundland Trip Posts
Visiting Newfoundland: Overview and General Thoughts
Grand Codroy RV Park and Codroy Valley
Water’s Edge RV Park in Gros Morne
Gros Morne National Park: South
Port Au Choix and the Great Northern Peninsula
Gros Morne National Park: North
Sanger Memorial RV Park/Grand Falls-Windsor
Fogo Island/Brimstone Head RV Park
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Great article! We are returning to the Canadian Maritimes this summer, June thru September, primarily focusing on Newfoundland and PEI
We visited in 2022 with an RV Caravan and loved Newfoundland and PEI the most.
We have a 42 ft Motorhome and a towed vehicle and will stay at several of the RV Parks you mentioned.
You are correct, we missed icebergs in 2022 as we were in Newfoundland in mid-July. This year, we will attend in Iceberg Festival in St Anthony, NL.
We Boondock and have several stays at Harvest Host sites.
Do you know if overnight parkung at Visitor Information Centers is allowed?
Thanx for the super article and tips. Safe travels!
I’m jealous–I can’t wait to go back! I’ve heard of people parking overnight at the Visitor Information Centres, but we didn’t ask about it ourselves. If they don’t allow parking, though, I’m sure they’d at least be able to direct you to somewhere nearby that does. Have an amazing trip!
Thanx! Safe travels!