What Not to Do in Newfoundland: Biggest Mistakes Travellers Make

We love Newfoundland. It’s beautiful, rugged, friendly, joyful, and awe-inspiring. We love it when people discover the province and make a trip to come visit and we love it when they have a great time.

Which is why it makes us twitchy when we see people making mistakes in Newfoundland when they visit. Some are small irritants. Some are dangerous. But some could ruin your whole trip.

It’s okay if you make mistakes! We don’t expect anyone to know Newfoundland like a local, and mistakes can often turn into great memories.

But our ultimate goal is for you to have a Newfoundland trip that you’ll remember fondly for the rest of your life. Follow these tips and you will be well on your way.

Here’s our list of what NOT to do in Newfoundland!

Relying on public transportation

One of the surest ways to ruin your trip to Newfoundland is to arrive by air without a rental car reserved. Public transportation is very limited and you’ll find it tough and expensive just to get around the city of St. John’s, let alone get to anywhere else in the province.

Metrobus in St. John’s finally operates a route to the airport and you can take the Trolley Line in the summer to hit up some hotels and popular tourist spots like Signal Hill and the Johnson Geo Centre, but it won’t get you out to Cape Spear or into Quidi Vidi or Bowring Park.

Outside the metro region things get much tougher. DRL makes one trip daily (in each direction) between St. John’s and Port-aux-Basques stopping at towns along the way. It won’t take you to popular places like Trinity, Twillingate, or Gros Morne though. To reach those towns without a car there are a handful of private shuttle companies – none of which have an online presence so you’ll need to call to book.

Our biggest piece of advice is to drive and take the ferry or rent a car to get yourself around and book it far in advance if you’re visiting in the summer. There’s a limited number of rental cars available on the island and they do sell out.

Trying to see the whole island in a week

Newfoundland is bigger than you might think so trying to fit multiple regions into a short visit is going to leave you exhausted and unfulfilled. Better to spend more time in one region and come back again another time to see the places you missed.

St. John’s and Gros Morne are almost 700km apart and you’ll spend an entire day of your vacation just to get to one from the other. If you’re only coming to Newfoundland for a week we recommend sticking to just one coast.

We’ve heard of visitors with an itinerary that left them staying in a new town each night and we were exhausted just thinking about it. Slow down your pace when you’re visiting Newfoundland and you’ll have a much better time of it.

With a week spent on the eastern half of the island you could see St. John’s, Dildo, Trinity, and Eastport pretty handily.

On the west coast, with a week, you could see Corner Brook, Gros Morne, and take a spin up the Northern Peninsula.

Bringing an umbrella

It rains in Newfoundland, quite a bit even. In fact, St. John’s is the wettest city in Canada with an average of 212 days with precipitation each year. So why shouldn’t you pack an umbrella when coming for a visit? Wind.

The rain rarely falls straight down here. Typically if it’s raining, it’s coming at you sideways. More umbrellas get twisted inside out than keep people dry here. You’ll be much better off packing a good raincoat. You may even want to pack some rain pants and waterproof hikers with you while you’re at it. A rainy day is a great chance to have a place like Cape St. Mary’s all to yourself if you’re willing to venture out.

Calling locals Newfies

This one can be a touchy subject. Many Newfoundlanders see nothing wrong with the term and embrace it themselves, but many others have heard it used in a derogatory way too many times and want nothing to do with it. There’s a long history of ‘goofy Newfie’ and ‘stupid Newfie’ jokes and stereotypes out there that do a disservice to the people of the province.

So when you’re visiting and referring to locals, be a gracious guest and choose the term that’s not going to potentially offend your hosts.

Sticking just to St. John’s

St. John’s is a cool city no doubt. There’s colourful houses, a rollicking nightlife, and nature right on your doorstep. But if you come for a visit and never leave the city limits you’re not getting the full Newfoundland experience.

If you never leave the city you’ll miss out on the small coves and outports, the icebergs, the puffins, and whales. You won’t see the Dildo sign up in the hills, raft the Badger chute, or visit where the Earth’s mantle breaks through the crust. You’ll miss out on boil ups in the woods and scoffs on the beach. Hiking Damnable Trails and walking where Vikings first set foot.

St. John’s is wonderful but be sure to also get yourself out beyond the overpass and into the bays.

Assuming Newfoundland is part of the Maritimes

This one is a simple enough mistake but most Newfoundlanders will be quick to correct you if you make it. If you say something like, “I’m so happy to be here because I’ve never travelled to the Maritimes before.” you’ll get a look. You see, there are two groups out here on the East Coast: the Maritimes and Atlantic Canada. The two are not equivalent.

The Maritimes consist of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Atlantic Canada is those plus Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s a small point, so make note, but no need to sweat it.

Not paying attention driving at night

For the most part, Newfoundlanders will try to avoid driving on the highway after dark. Not because they have bad driving skills or lack night vision, but because of moose.

Moose are most active between dusk and dawn so if you need to be on the highway during that time, be extra cautious. There are about 120,000 moose roaming the wilds of Newfoundland, sometimes they like to come up on the roads, and they can be almost impossible to see at night. While their eyes do reflect light the same as deer, moose often stand so tall that your car headlights never reach their heads. Their height and size is also why moose-vehicle collisions can be so much worse than hitting a deer.

Newfoundland is a very special place. We want you to have the best trip possible there — and following some of these tips will give you a Newfoundland trip to remember for all the right reasons.