Whales About 5,000 humpbacks plus minkes and 20 more species of whales and dolphins are found here. For humpbacks and minkes, try anywhere along Newfoundland's east coast from June to August. More than 50 tour boats take whale watchers to places like the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve near St. John's.
Gros Morne National Park A UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its geology and scenery. Take a boat tour on Western Brook Pond, a 10-mile long inland fjord carved by glaciers. Hike alpine meadows and sand dunes, or ancient rocks usually found far below the seabed. There's also a theatre festival here. Open year round, but best in summer.
L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site -The only authentic Viking settlement in North America dates from 1000 AD, five centuries before Columbus. Tour the reconstructed sod village and learn about these amazing people who explored east to Moscow and south to Arabia. From June to September.
Icebergs
- Dynamic mountains of ice 10,000 years old float by the coast every year. Bergs twist and turn and roll over, taking amazing shapes in the process. Get close enough - but not too close - to breathe air bubbles trapped in ice thousands of years before the Pyramids were built. See what sank Titanic. Spring and early summer.
Seabirds
- Millions and millions of seabirds inhabit almost 300 colonies along the coast, including Northern Gannets at Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve, the most spectacular and accessible seabird colony on the continent. Razorbills, murres, petrels and of course our provincial bird, the Atlantic Puffin. More than 360 varieties of birds. Summer for seabirds, spring and fall for migrants and rarities.
The New-Found-Lande Trinity Pageant and Summer in the Bight Theatre Festival
- The pageant is a thrice-weekly comedic walking tour though the narrow streets of Trinity, a picturesque village of 300, while the festival features local drama and comedies, plus international favorites, Shakespeare and more. July and August.
Stephenville Theatre Festival
- A summer favorite for more than 20 years, featuring a popular line-up of drama, comedy and cabaret. Mid-July to early August.
Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival
- Featuring the top folk artists from around the province, this weekend festival has been drawing crowds to Bannerman Park in the heart of St. John's for 25 years. Real roots music. The weekend following the first Wednesday in August.
Exploits Valley Salmon Festival The biggest summer concert in the province always delivers a major international musical group, lots of great seafood, and fish stories galore about the ones that didn't get away. Mid-July.
Hiking - Fabulous, uncrowded seacoast hiking along the East Coast Trail. Mountain hiking in Gros Morne National Park. And the mother of all hiking trails - the 900-km T'Railway, part of the Trans-Canada Trail, from Port aux Basques to St. John's. Plus dozens of other trails both great and small. Summer and fall.
Sea kayaking
- Paddle among the whales and bergs while tens of thousands of seabirds fly overhead. Explore ecological reserves, parks and caves. Watch for bald eagles and have a boil-up on the beach. Plus 10,500 miles of coastline to explore. Spring, summer and fall.
Hunting
- With 175,000 moose, the biggest black bears you'll see in North America, the largest caribou herd in the world, and high success rates, it's no wonder hunters come here for adventure. Fall.
Fishing- With more than 200 known Atlantic Salmon rivers, world record landlocked salmon, huge northern pike, six-pound trout, and even tuna fishing, Newfoundland and Labrador is an angler's paradise. Summer.
Signal Hill National Historic Site
This is where the last battle of the Seven Years� War was fought, and where Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic wireless signal 100 years ago. From up here you can see St. John's, the coast, the ocean, bergs, birds and whales. Year round.
Cape Spear National Historic Site The easternmost point in North America. Stand here with your back to the sea and everyone in North America is west of you. A must-see on any visit to St. John's. Year round.
Red Bay National Historic Site In the 15th and 16th centuries, Basque whalers established the first industrial complex in North America here to process whale blubber that lit the lamps of Europe. Find out how the Right Whale got its name. June to September.
Archaeology Discover the oldest English settlement in Canada, the oldest funeral monument in North America, the first European settlement in the New World, the Maritime Archaic and Dorset peoples, and Lord Baltimore's Colony of Avalon on a learning vacation. Summer and fall.
Terra Nova National Park Four hundred square kilometers of forest, bogs, and coastline - typical Newfoundland terrain - criss-crossed by trails. Two campgrounds the kids will love - because there are so many other kids here. Boat tours, sea kayaking, and a marine interpretation center are among the many highlights. Open all year.
Marble Mountain
With an average annual snowfall of 16 feet, you can see why this hill claims to have the best skiing east of the Rockies. Downhill, snowboarding, cross-country, and fabulous back country cat-skiing. December to March.
Snowmobiling
- Thousands of kilometers of groomed trails in both Newfoundland and Labrador, and sledding into April. Sled into Labrador from the St. Lawrence River along a marked trail. In Newfoundland sled into the mountains around Corner Brook - in April! All winter.
Not many offer this part of the world, but we do!
Several Itineraries to choose from.
For further information and booking, please contact our User Friendly Newfoundland Experts today at:
V.J's EXOTIC SAFARIS
Phone: 620-221-4085
