How to get to Newfoundland, Canada?

Here’s another practical article on how to get to Newfoundland, after giving you practical advice on the best time to visit. This may seem like a silly question, but in fact, during our month there this year, we met many Canadians who arrived by various means, some by plane and others by car/campervan (via ferry).

So we thought that it would be a good idea to write a short article that sums up all the different ways that you can get to Newfoundland. We’ll tell you how we did it, but it’s a bit of a special case because we’re living in Guadeloupe as I write, and I’m willing to bet that not many people will try it from the Guadeloupe islands. For many people, the island of Newfoundland isn’t exactly a priority…

However, there are some very nice spots, such as the beautiful island of Fogo, where we spent 5 days.

So, without further ado, I’ll explain all the options for getting to Newfoundland, especially from Nova Scotia, the island we should have visited before changing our plans. Just another example of how plans change and evolve! But it is also possible to get there from Quebec. In short, I’ll tell you everything.

Before leaving, please read our article about a beautiful National Park where we spent almost 5 days, Gros Morne National Park.

As I said, we’re in a rather unusual situation. Living on a Caribbean island (Guadeloupe) probably won’t be of interest to many people, but I’ll talk about it in a few lines. We’re lucky, if I may say so, to be able to travel to Montreal, Canada, for not too much money if we plan ahead and are flexible. I insist on advance planning because prices can be very high. Proof is that we should have spent Christmas in New York, USA this year, but prices shot up and we finally gave up. At €900 per person for a flight from Point-à-Pitre to New York, it’s very (very) expensive, considering there are four of us.

We ourselves flew with Air Canada from Pointe-à-Pitre to Montreal (which takes 5 hours to fly). You can expect to pay between 400 and 500 euros per person. Once in Montreal, we were unable to make our next flight to St. John’s in Newfoundland. We spent the night in a hotel before taking another 2h25 flight. The fare was still almost the same, give or take a little. Between the four of us, that’s almost €4,000 for a plane ticket from Guadeloupe…

In fact, our dear friend Valérie, who has lived in Montreal for the past 5 years, has written a full guide on everything you need to know about visiting Montreal.

Of course, you’re going to tell me that it all depends on where you live, and that’s obvious. But I’m going to give you a few things you need to know to get you started. There are officially four airports on the island of Newfoundland, the largest and most international being St John’s (YYT) at the eastern end of the island. The others are Gander (YQX), Deer Lake (YDF) and St. Anthony (YAY) in the island’s far northwest. St. John’s is the largest airport. It receives flights from the neighbouring Canadian provinces (Alberta, Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia). In summary, for Canada

• Calgary/Edmonton (Canada’s West Coast) – Newfoundland : 6 hours flying time
• Ottawa – Newfoundland : 3 hours flying time
• Toronto or Montreal – Newfoundland : 3 hour flight
• Halifax (Nova Scotia) – Newfoundland : 1 hour flight

Though I’m not sure it’s worth it (if you want to save yourself hours of driving…), you can also fly from Gander (in the centre of the island) or Deer Lake to Saint John’s, a domestic destination.

There are also flights from Labrador to Newfoundland via the airports of Happy Valley-Goose Bay (YYR) or Wabush (YWK).

You can also find flights from London for around €700 with a stopover. These are often in Nova Scotia. From Paris, you’ll have to fly first to Montreal (which is the cheapest flight in my opinion) and then another flight from Montreal to St. John’s.

Finally, it’s possible to fly from the small island of Saint Pierre et Miquelon (the French piece of rock off the coast of Newfoundland) to St. John’s. You can fly with PAL Airlines or Air Saint Pierre. For a 15-minute flight, expect to pay between €200 and €250 (yes, yes!) return.

Although few (if any!) French people come to Newfoundland by boat, there’s a good chance some Quebecers or Canadians from other provinces are reading this. After all, I translate all my articles into English! So I have everyone’s interests in mind.

Here’s everything there is to know about the Newfoundland boat trip. The obvious advantage of a boat trip to the island is that you can have your own vehicle (camper, car, van, etc). We met several Quebecers who had done this, either coming directly from Quebec or from Nova Scotia.

I won’t go into the details below, but you should know that you can also get to Newfoundland from the islands of Saint-Pierre, Miquelon and Langlade (in France, in other words). It costs about €10 one way with SPM Ferries.

If you wish to travel to Newfoundland from the province of Quebec, the only (direct) option is to take the ferry across the Strait of Belle Isle from the town of Blanc-Sablon (on the Labrador border) to the town of St. Barbe on Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula. Only one boat makes the crossing, the Qajaq W. The crossing takes 1 hour and 45 minutes and covers a distance of 36 kilometres. The boat can carry vehicles and up to 300 passengers. The service is said to be available all year round, although winter weather conditions can sometimes make the crossing difficult (ice obliges, haha)! You can book and check prices and schedules. Click here. After that, just between you and me, it’s hard to imagine recommending this option to people who live in Montreal or Quebec, for example. The journey from Quebec City to Blanc Sablon takes 27 hours. That is more than 2000 km. Finally, this route is much more interesting for people who live in Labrador, for example. Of course, it is also possible to fly to Newfoundland. Personally, if I were equipped and wanted to keep my own car, the Happy Valey-Goose Bay to Blanc-Sablon route (to the ferry) would be a good idea. It is ‘only’ 600 km and takes 8 hours to drive.

I also found another possibility from the province of Quebec, but not directly. The idea would be to take a ferry from Kegaska to the terminus, which would be Blanc-Sablon. Admittedly, that’s two ferries, but it’s still possible. It’s about 1,000 km from Quebec City. The journey takes about 13 hours. I’m going to let you check the prices and schedules on Relaisnordik’s website.

If you’re not from Quebec, taking the ferry from the town of North Sydney on Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia is the only way to bring your car and visit Newfoundland by boat. If you’re a resident of the area (in the broadest sense of the word), the ferry trip is clearly worth your while. But we’re still 1500 km away from Montreal and have a 15 hour drive ahead of us. That’s like 2 days non-stop, or almost. In fact, that was our original idea. We were going to visit New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. We ended up deciding against it because we realised it was a long way from Montreal, where we were going to land.

There are two ferries to consider from the small town of North Sydney. The first takes you to the west coast of Newfoundland Island, to Port-aux-Basques, and the second southeast, to Argentia. This service is only offered by Marineatlantic.

In case you’re wondering: You can sleep on the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. You can book a small cabin for two. It has a bathroom. There are several types of cabins. It depends on your preferences and budget. It’s not necessary and depends on what ferry you’re taking.

Of course you can have a bite to eat in the restaurants on the ferry during your crossing. It’s also worth mentioning that you can take your pet with you on the ferry. The company offers this service at extra cost when you book.

A children’s play area, television, theatre and games room are also available on the ferries.

The following are some key points that should be borne in mind when planning your ferry crossing:

• From the North of Sydney to Port au Basques: 180km, takes about 7 hours to cross, sailing all year round. Usually cross twice daily (late morning and evening),
• North Sydney to Argentia: 520 km, takes about 16 hours to cross the river. There are approximately 3 crossings per week between mid-June and the end of September,
• At the moment there are 3 boats that make the crossings: MV Highlanders and MV Blue Puttees to Port-aux-Basques and MV Atlantic Vision to Argentia.

Click on the following link to check times and days of sailings.

You can also take the ferry from North Sydney to Port aux Basques (west coast) and from Argentia (east coast) back to Nova Scotia.

As is often the case, it’s a personal choice, depending on what you want to do on your holiday. My point of view is this. I would definitely recommend taking the ferry to Argentia if budget is not an issue for you.

Yes, the ferry is much longer (17 hours) and more expensive ($99.80 per person + $207.25 for a car). But you’re at the beginning of your holiday, so it’s not a problem. Plus, you’ll be able to drive along Newfoundland’s south coast, which is famous for its beautiful scenery and blue whale sightings. Finally, you’re only 135km from St. John’s (the capital) in just 1h30 by car. Rental cars seem to be more readily available on this side of the island than the other. (If you’ve come on foot, for example). Also, if you’re planning to visit the whole of Newfoundland, my advice would be to go this way and save the (shorter) return trip to Nova Scotia for the end of your trip.

That’s it, that’s the end of my Newfoundland travel guide. Now you know all there is to know! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you know of any other ways to get there, or if you have any interesting information to add.

In the meantime, I invite you to discover Terra Nova National Park. It is a beautiful park to explore.

Goodbye.

Written by Sylvain PONS

I had the opportunity to explore the beauty of this country I love on several different occasions and in different places (Canadian Rockies, the Island of Newfoundland for 1 month, Yukon and Québec)!

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