I keep going back to Newfoundland. I've made 20 trips there

Hamilton Spectator

31-07-2025

We asked Star readers to tell us about trips they have taken and to share their experience and advice:
Where:
Newfoundland
When:
September 2024
Trip rating:
4.5/5
What inspired you to take this trip?
I have travelled most of the world, but the one place that keeps drawing me back, on an annual basis, is Newfoundland. I have made more than 20 trips there. Each has rewarded me with something new every time. The inspiration for this trip was to make it a bit different by taking a new approach. Don't just drive, but try to look beyond the obvious by digging for the hidden gems of stories from the past.
In a previous year, I had explored the Baie Verte Peninsula. This trip was going to take me to the other four and much larger peninsulas: Avalon, Bonavista, Burin and Great Northern.
What was the best sight?
The scenery along St. Mary's Bay was outstanding. The beaches were clean, and the presence of lots of cages showed this to be an active lobster fishing area. Quite by accident and in the mood for exploring, I turned onto a gravel road toward Portugal Cove (Portugal Cove-St. Philip's), a Portuguese fishing community dating back to the 1500s. The road was full of deep ruts and quite dusty. I did not know where I was going and almost turned back. The road came to a dead end at the Cape Race Lighthouse, a National Historic Site. The Lighthouse is not only the oldest one in Newfoundland, but it also has one of the most powerful lights in the world. To this day, it is the first and last light seen by many ships crossing the Atlantic. This lighthouse also played a pivotal role in communicating enemy ship or submarine activity in both world wars.
What was your favourite activity?
While I did not set out to do so, it did end up that my activities focused on visiting historic sites. Cape Race also had Newfoundland's first wireless station. Hard-copy news bulletins would arrive from Europe in boats. These would be retrieved, then transmitted by the Marconi wireless telegraph to news organizations, primarily in New York. In April 1912, the wireless station received one of the first distress calls made from the Titanic.
Today, the Myrick Wireless Interpretative Centre gives a full account of the fateful event. It also houses many artifacts rescued and has a wall banner providing the names of all those who were victims of the disaster. The site is the closest point of land to the Titanic's resting place.
What was the most delicious thing you ate?
Dining in rural areas and small towns provided home-cooked meals. Because it was so good, cod was the main course I had most nights for dinner. The cod dinner in Aquaforte, at Bernard Kavanagh's Million Dollar View Restaurant, is memorable. The view made the evening perfect.
What was the most memorable thing you learned?
This is the trip that taught me how much Newfoundland offered to the overall history of Canada. On Conception Bay, the visit to Cupids Cove offered a glimpse of the first English settlement in what became Canada.
Further along, in Harbour Grace, I saw the place, where, in 1932, Amelia Earhart was the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean to successfully land in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Along Trinity Bay, I stopped in Heart's Content. Here, there is a line going across the road, where the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable was brought ashore in 1866.
On Placentia Bay and overlooking the town of Placentia (original French capital of Newfoundland) is the 17th-century Castle Hill fort, built by the French to control the lucrative cod fishing of the Grand Banks. It took me an afternoon to complete the audio tour of this huge fort.
I also paid a visit to L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, a Norse settlement in North America dating to approximately 1,000 years ago.
Other early settlers? I visited the monument dedicated to John Cabot. In 1497, this explorer landed in Cape Bonavista, on the coast of Newfoundland, making him the first known European to do so since the Norse visits in the 11th century.
What is one piece of advice you would give?
Not every port, town or hamlet had accommodations, restaurants or a gas station. Book well in advance, and fill gas at every opportunity, even if not needed. Carry snacks and beverages, and be aware of the fact that there are no roadside rest stops. Being alone and frequently without cell service, being stranded was not an option I wanted to cope with.
I have booked my next visit and know without planning and research I will miss the many stories and sites that make trips so interesting.
Wilhelmina (Willy) Wilkins, Richmond Hill, Ont.
READERS
' TIPS
We've launched a series that invites Star readers to share places they've visited recently and would recommend, whether it's a weekend getaway in Elora, a Banff canoe trip, or a jaunt to Victoria, B.C. If you've been, loved it and want to tell us about it, we'd like to hear from you.
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Please include brief responses to these questions. If your holiday experience is chosen, we'll be in touch.
1. Where did you go and when was it?
2. Where did you stay?
3. What was a highlight of your trip? Why?
4. Any travel tips?