Ease of travel from Halafax to PEI to Newfoundland and back (appointed, rent)
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We will be driving to a convention in Halifax this summer.
I would really love to take the ferry to PEI then on to Newfoundland and back. MrsM has never been to PEI and neither of us to Newfoundland.
We have been to all 50 US states and all Canadian Provinces except Labrador and Newfoundland for me and PEI plus PEI and L&N for MrsM. (We've also spent time in the Yukon and NW Territories- Another trip will complete Territories with Nunavut. We love National Parks)
Is this really doable? Drive, ferry and drive for a vacation in Aug and Sept?
Roads, hotels, sights and activities?
Time is not a factor. Counting a drive from Cincinnati to Halifax, a week for the convention then a real vacation and a drive home. We have 5-6 weeks. I'm thinking logistics and cost.
Is this something we can reasonably do on a limited budget?
There is a bridge to PEI. You can drive Halifax to Charlottrtown in a couple of hours.
Newfoundland is still ferry only. either all day or overnight. Pricey, and reservations required .
You can still go and "collect" Newfoundland, as a foot passenger on the boat. Spend a day in Port aux Basques, a genuine island. experience. Another choice would be to fly Sydney to either Stephenville or Deer Lake, mayne rent a local car for a day.
If I were you. I might just book a berth for two overnight crossings, and spend the day kicking around among friendly (to a fault) Newfoundlanders in PaB. a short walk from the port. You'll meet plenty on the boat, learn to appreciate their heart-felt welcome.
BTW, when you do Nunavut, you know it is an easy drive there? Drive the paved Quebec highway nort from Val d'Or and Rouyn[Noranda. When you reach the James Bay shore tons, like Eastmain, hire a local Cree outfitter to take you to any offshore island. Those uninhabited James Bay islands are all Nunavut Territory.
If your goal is just collecting the provjnce of NL, it's possible to drive Quebec to Labrador. About 12 hours Quebec City to the border at Fermont QC and Labrador. I would expect it to be he most monotonous day of your life, but this description mat not be exaggerated -- https://www.dangerousroads.org/north...ay-canada.html
We spent 3 weeks in Newfoundland August 2018 it is beautiful place with the East and West coast being so different.
We drove from Philadelphia, Pa to Sydney, NS and took the 7 hour ferry to Port aux Basques. If you drive you have the option of either a 7 hour or 21 hour ferry. On the ferry we saw whales, seals and many birds which broke up the trip over. We found a warm place to sit and nap and ventured outside to checkout the wildlife. The ferry was the worst part of the trip, wife got seasick.
Our NF Experience
A lot of one way roads meaning down the same road to get to a place, not many looping roads. So drive 1 hour down a road spend a few hours checking out the place and drive 1 hour back the same road you came back down. That got old after a while, BUT the views were amazing the entire time, folks very friendly so yea worth a visit.
COD!! you can only have so much cod. It is the first 4 items on every menu which is great, but you can not have cod everyday ….well we did not. What cod we had was amazing.... but got old real fast. St. John’s had no problem finding Great food but venture out of St. John’s and it goes down hill fast. The food on the west coast ie Port aux Basques (we ate at Tim Horton for dinner because we could not find a decent place to eat) Deer Lake, Lobster Cove was lacking. Perhaps we just did not find the good places. Even some of the restaurants we did research reviews were not good. We have traveled a lot having visited all 50 states and most of the the Canadian Provinces. So we know good food when we find it…lol.
Beware of moose while driving they are definitely around as well as bears. Once you get out of an area the next place not much around so if you are low on gas fill up! The weather was in the 60’s in August and it rained very often so bring layers and rain gear. Once you get out of St. John’s it get very rural very fast, lots of trees and more trees....lol
They LOVE coffee especially Tim Horton’s no matter what time of day we passed a Tim Horton’s they had a line both inside and the drive through!!!
The locals accent is sometimes hard to figure out particularly the older folks, I just kinda smiled and said yes.....Then again they probably had a hard time understanding my New Jersey accent.
Many locals we spoke to worked in the oil fields in Alberta and came back a few months at a time. The cod industry really never came back so many folks do what they have to get by.
ATV’s are everywhere in the rural area ie most of the island kinda like the third car in the family. Interesting we saw a group of about 25 stopped in a beautiful lookout, I asked a guy what they were doing...25 all in a group. They said they were traveling the island as a group and staying in B&B at night for 10 days ALL on ATV, wow long time riding an ATV....lol Apparently this is a common thing with locals as tour guide the entire time. The guy said when exploring the options you could have camped out instead of B&B.
Have fun it is a beautiful place to explore.
Stuff we Liked
1. Bonavista
Dungeon Provincial Park
The town and fishing village
The puffins in Elliston and the root cellars
Cape Bonavista Lighthouse ( some puffins here but more in Elliston)
The Matthew Museum
Bonavista has some nice places to dine.
2. Bell Island near St. John’s
(need to take a ferry to the island)
Iron ore mine tour ( go below into the mine very interesting)
3. Gross Morne National Park
Tablelands Trail where the earth mantle is exposed
West Brook Boat Tour would NOT recommend, they replaced the walkway through the forest with a 30’ wide gravel road 1 mile plus long to the lake. Boring boat tour of cliffs which you will see many along your travel through NB.
Green Point beautiful beach.
4. Rose Blanch
Pretty town with a granite lighthouse
5. Arches Provincial Park
6. Blow me Down Provincial Park
7. Trinity Village historic village, beautiful church and craft shops
8. St John’s
Signal Hill
Cape Spear Lighthouse
Petty Harbor ( great fish and chips at Chafe’s Landing when 2 times that good)
Pippy Park & Memorial University Botanical Garden
Downtown area including
Waterfront
Railway Coastal Museum
Anglican Cathedral
The Rooms (history museum)
Fort Amherst (Lighthouse and Fort)
Johnson Geo Center (great Titanic Exhibit)
9. Castle Hill National Historic Site ( near ferry to St John’s )
We have visited PEI since 1985 it is our favorite place. We have been to all 50 states and most of Canada but continue to love and visit the island typically spending a month on the island. If you spent a week on the island you can get a feel for the place.
I have posted a lot of information on our experiences on this Fodors website. Please review and I can answer any questions you may have.
When we visited Newfoundland as noted above we then spent 2 weeks on PEI. We took the ferry from Nova Scotia to PEI. You can take the confederation bridge back. The ferry and the bridge are free to the island BUT you pay to leave the island via the ferry or the bridge ( about $50 for the bridge).
One way to get a feel for Newfoundland (and how to say it), you can live-stream VOCM radio, which has a call-in talk show all morning. You might hear some colorful "bay-man" talk. Im listening now, they/re talking about bringing back the seal hunt.
We will be driving to a convention in Halifax this summer.
I would really love to take the ferry to PEI then on to Newfoundland and back. MrsM has never been to PEI and neither of us to Newfoundland.
As someone already pointed out, you can take a ferry to PEI, but you don't need to. Take the bridge.
PEI is gorgeous. We stayed at a great B&B with super friendly owners. The beaches are lovely but windy. To be honest, I was a little disappointed in Charlottetown. There are some nice areas, but much of it seemed rather rundown. Go to PEI for the smaller towns and farms. Charlottetown itself? Meh.
But if you are in Halifax. do yourself a favor and drive west up into the Apple Valley. If you have time drive west through the whole peninsula. There are some great small towns. We have yet to drive eastward out to Cape Breton, etc., but it's on the To Do list.
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