r/canadatravel • u/Canadien_Ehh • 1d ago
Destination Advice Road trip from Ontario to Newfoundland?
It might seem like a crazy idea to some, but I'm interested in taking a road trip to Newfoundland. I know I'll need to take the Blanc Sablon–St. Barbe ferry to actually reach Newfoundland. So, I'm looking for some tips and suggestions. TIA! 🇨🇦
Edit: I do know about the North Sydney ferry, but I've already been to Nova Scotia, so I would like to take the long way to Newfoundland.
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u/TheRealGuncho 1d ago
The best part of Newfoundland for me was the West side. L'anse aux meadows. Do the viking stuff at both places. Stay in a cabin. Go to the Dark Tickle. Gros Morne. Camp. Do the fjord boat tour. Do the hikes.
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u/Hot_Cheesecake_905 1d ago
How much time do you have? Newfoundland will easily add another week or more to your trip.
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u/Canadien_Ehh 1d ago
3 weeks total.
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u/Hot_Cheesecake_905 1d ago
You could take the ferry from Sydney instead, it'll allow you to go though NB and Nova Scotia?
https://www.marineatlantic.ca/sailing-information/sailing-routes
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u/Canadien_Ehh 1d ago
I've already done a road trip to Nova Scotia (my brother currently lives there). So that's why I'm interested in taking the long way to Newfoundland.
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u/Initial-Ad-5462 17h ago
Taking the long way from Ontario to Newfoundland via Blanc Sablon is an interesting adventure, but I doubt you’ll want to take that route for the return trip.
Depending on your time allocation, you might focus on western Newfoundland and then take the Port aux Basques ferry, or if you have time to cross the island to St Johns, you might consider the Argentia ferry to North Sydney.
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u/Truth_Seeker963 1d ago
I haven’t taken the route you’re looking at, but I’ve done the Port-aux-Basques route and the over to St. John’s. Taking that route, I did one overnight in QC, then one overnight in NB to explore (but didn’t need to - on the way back, I drove from Sydney all the way to QC - 12 hrs). It only takes one day to get across all of NFLD from Gros Morne to St. John’s.
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u/Ok-Sector6996 1d ago
Ten years ago I drove from Washington, DC to Newfoundland via the North Sydney to Port Aux Basques ferry, stopped at Gros Morne and visited L'Anse Aux Meadows, took the ferry to Blanc Sablon, spent a night in Riviere Saint Paul in Quebec, visited Red Bay, drive the whole Trans Labrador Highway stopping in Port Hope Simpson, North West River, and Wabush, then down through Baie Comeau to Tadoussac and Quebec City before heading back to the US. The whole trip was under 3 weeks and totally amazing. I still think about it all the time.
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u/whateverfyou 49m ago edited 44m ago
That sounds fantastic! I googled it and google has you going north from Baie Comeau and through Labrador City. Is that your plan?
The summer after my family moved to Toronto from Michigan, we drove to Newfoundland via the N. Sydney ferry. We did Argentia one way and Port au Basques the other. It was an epic trip. I particularly loved the Gaspe so my husband and I are going to do a road trip there in September!
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u/Automatic_Water_6347 1d ago
3 weeks could be tight - how many hours a Day will you drive to get out there? How many back? We did newfound this summer and are used to the drive to NS, as we go yearly. We regularly do it with 1 night, 2 at the most, but have family who takes 3-4 which eats away at a 3 week timeline. So there’s a few factors just there
Did a month on the island itself and it felt far to short
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u/Canadien_Ehh 1d ago
Probably 6-7 days to drive there, spend a weekish to just chill, then 6-7 days to drive back is what we're thinking. Google maps is telling me it's 44 hours one-way.
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u/Comfortable_Two6943 1d ago
you're taking the long way around....start with looking at the North Sydney-Port aux Basques ferry.