Newfoundland In An RV?

[chp007kd40]

We live in Redding, Ca. and the wife wants to go to Montreal and Newfoundland after visiting Washington DC area. We have a 40' DP and do not tow a vehicle.

Any good advice.

Would it be like Victoria Island driving?

Thanks,

David and Ruthie

[dickandlois]

Hi David,

We travel with out a toad when traveling and staying only for a short time in an area and use a rental and one less thing to have to maintain when on the road.

We refer to the main road in Canada as the Maple Leaf or Trans Canadian Highway and it is the major cross country Rt. The Canadians Do not let ay grass grow under there feet, they move right along.

Montreal is an old city with narrow streets. It has been a long time between visits for us. Ottawa is also an older city, with a number of canals and small parks; with the old narrow streets.

One needs to cross the St. Lawrence back to the South side before going to far East. The roads get narrower and narrower as you head East on the North shore and some of the ferries become interesting

.

The Maritimes have some of the most beautiful sights and views one will see. The Bay of Fundy has one of the largest Tide changes anywhere in the world in regards the depth.

The ferry to Newfoundland is a large ocean going ship. Leaving from North Sidney to Port Aux Basques, is a 7 Hr. trip and takes a few hrs to load. Nice lounge Chairs to relax in.

The major roads are not bad,the side roads very considerably. The sea Food is some of the best we have ever tasted by the way.

Prince Edward Island is now reachable by a 12 mile bridge. No fee for the trip to the Island, but around $45.00 for the return trip.

Not a large piece of land, very able roads and some large Quilt displays, Celtic Music and small towns.

One needs to remember that the East Coast cites are old with many of the Lower Bridges and Narrow Streets. That in many ways make them quaint and interesting to visit.

Acadia National Park in Maine is also a special place.

Enjoy the East side on the country and have a safe trip.

Dave, I forgot to mention that one can run into some thick fog at times when the wind patters change. That area is a battle ground between warm and cold air in the summer.

Rich.

[chp007kd40]

Thank you Rich and Lois for participating in these forums and your willingness to help the members. As in this case, your information is quite useful and appreciated. We also travel without a toad and I'll bet other members will finally experience the freedom and joy of leaving the toad home and realize how really wonderful their motorhomes will perform, for members that tend to travel the way you and I do. We don't stay long unless something real grabs us and we are a lot less conspicuous without a tow vehicle. David

[brianm142@hotmail.com]

Hi David:

Montreal is a very large city and is quite interesting but I am not sure I would want to navigate a 40 ft MH aound there especially with the unique driving style of Montrealers. That said after you visit Montreal to get to the East Coast of Canada after leaving Montreal you will cross to the south side of the St. Lawrence River (several bridges and/or tunnels), and head East through Quebec to New Brunswick.

On the way down East from Montreal you will come to LEVIS, Quebec located on the South Side of the St. Lawrence. If you stop here (several RV Campgounds), you can catch a passenger ferry (less than a 5 minute ride) across the St. Lawrence river to Quebec City one of th oldest and most historical and IMO beautiful cities in Canada. This is the city where one of the most famous battles in Canadian History took place on the Plains of Abraham wher the British General Wolfe defeated the French General Montcalm (both diesd from their wounds), to secure Upper Canada for the english. If your wife enjoys Monreal she will LOVE Quebec City. By seeing it this way you will be able to very easily see all of the old part of the city with it's very narrow cobblestone streets and beautiful old stone buildings with no traffic problems. Then when you leave LEVIS you will be on the Trns-Canada Highway (TCH), in under 5 minutes heading to the east coast of Canada along the beautiful south shore of the St. Lawrence river.

Once you enter New Brunswick the drive down the Saint John River Valley on the TCH through New Brunswick to Nova Scotia is a beautiful scenic drive on an excellent highway. When you get to Nova Scotia do not miss taking the trip around Cape Beton Island on the Cabot Trail A VERY SCENIC BEAUTIFUL HIGHWAY) http.//www.cbisland.com . When you drive across the causeway to Cape Breton go to the left to go around the island clockwise as the hghway (an excellent road), that runs along the edge of the ocean pretty much all the way around the isalnd. On your way be sure to visit the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. The scenery throughout the island is SPECTACULAR and beautiful Cape Beton Highlands National Park http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ns/cbreton/index.aspx. As you travel around the island any time you are near the coast try to get down to some of the local waterfront towns/villages and buy some fresh cooked lobster (hot or cold) from the locals fro a picnic lunch.

Prince Edward Island - If I had to choose between Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton I would choose Cape Breton every time. The reason for this is once they built the huge causeway (which was built to satisfy commercial interests and not the majority of the residents of PEI), across to PEI from the mainland it forever changed the character of the island and it lost a lot of it's charm and ambience.

After you leave Cape Breton island I would recommend visiting the Fortress at Louisburg (about 2 hours drive) (http://www.novascotia.com/en/home/discovernovascotia/history/nationalhistoricsites/fortressoflouisbourg.aspx) in Nova Scotia. This was/is a large French fortified city (not a fort) and once you are let in by the soldiers guarding the main gate you enter a city with homes and businesses and people all constructed, decorated and dressed for the 16-17th century life they lived at that time. This city has been excavated and reconstructed over the past 25 years and this still continues today.

Bay of Fundy Before you go to Newfoundland and either before or after the Fortress at Louisburg you should try and see the Bay of Fundy Tide http://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/See/BayofFundy.aspx and book a stay at Fundy National Park http://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/Products/F/Fundy-National-Park.aspx

Newfoundland. From the Bay of Fundy go to North Sydney Nova Scotia to catch the ferry to Newfoundland http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/planyourtrip/gettinghere Be sure to make your reservations NOW as the ferries get booked well in advance. Newfoundland is a wonderful place and like all of the east coast the people are warm, friendly and among the nicest perople you will ever meet. Most people do not realize how large Newfoundland is. It would rank fourth in size behind Alaska, Texas, and California if it were one of the United States. Although in some of the outports (see as many as you can and be sure to meet the pople t every chance), the road/streets may occasionally be a little challenging for a unit your size but I think all in all you will be O.K. to get around there just DO NOT be tempted to take the ferry from Newfoundland to Labrador.

All of the provinces have websites and excellent tourist offices that will send you vacation packages with maps etc., and I recommend contacting them via their 1-800 numbers or the internet

Hope all of this information helps. Feel free to write me here or offline via email if you have any questions.

Happy Trails, Brian.

[bsinmich]

A few years back I drove tour buses and Montreal is not a convenient place to find parking. I think you will either end up taking a tour or renting a car.

[tbutler]

We're headed to Newfoundland, taking the ferry to Port Aux Basques on the 23rd of July.

We planned to take the ferry to Labrador but saw the caution above (Brian).

What is the challenge there?

Heavily booked or not suitable for big rigs?

We have friends who have been giving us advice for this trip and they didn't indicate any problem, in fact they were encouraging us to visit Labrador with our coach and then make the drive on to Quebec from there.

We've been in Alaska and all over Canada and driven many smaller roads and have been on small ferries (Top of the World Hwy, Grand Manan small ferry, etc.).

Do we need to change plans or is the advice to avoid that ferry for the feint of heart, i.e. is it difficult or impossible?

[wigginsjsr]

If you are going to Monteal you should not miss Quebec City. We found it much more interesting and easier to get around than Montreal. Especially the old town down by the cruise ship docks. The Province has gone in and rehabbed all the old structures and sold them back to shop owners and residents.

IMO it is a must see if you are in that part of Canada.

I'm not sure about driving your RV downtown, but the RV Park we used had a shuttle that ran daily to downtown and back.

Walking the downtown and harbor area is very practical.

[dickandlois]

Tom,

It has been many years (40) since our trip to Newfoundland and a ferry ride to Labrador. My young bride was wondering why Dad, my brother and I would travel there(We would fly in to do some Atlantic Salmon fishing).

We had a 4 wheel drive truck for this trip with My Mon, Dad Lois and I.The roads at that time where - More like the Oregon Trail, not roads for a coach at the time and not much there. My city girl wife had never had an opportunity to travel and this trip proved to wet he appetite for the travels we have shared.

The lasting memories have been remembering the Loons on the lake near the fishing camp, the bread recipe Lois copied while helping the cook bake early one morning (we still us it) and the number of stars visible at night. No city lights.

The people where friendly and the towns where reminiscent of the late 1800's.

I'm sure things have changed and I would hope the roads have been up graded to at least well graded gravel.

Rich.

[tbutler]

Thanks Rich,

We're looking forward to the trip. According to our friends, the road from Labrador back to Quebec proper is now paved all the way. I'll report back after our trip. Anyway, the route looks pretty lonely but we've done and enjoyed that before.

After my post above I realized that Brian's information was now going on two years old. I've checked on the ferry and it can accommodate loads over 70' and also wide loads so I don't anticipate any problems. We'll make reservations as soon as we get a good idea of our schedule. The links in the posts above are still active and a good resource for trip planning.

[dickandlois]

Tom,

Have a wonderful trip!!! Paved roads sound good and with the road improvements, they should now have some bridges that where missing years ago.

The one interesting item that I did not mention where the icebergs that we noticed in the strait between Newfoundland and Labrador. Our ferry ride across the strait was the last week in June. So if your not into big ice cubes, there should be less of them later in the summer.

The fog can move in and stick around from time to time. We got to stay an extra week on one of the boys only fly in trips. The bush pilots could not get in the air or see the lake on other days to make the pickup due to thick fog one year.

Keep us posted during your travels when you have network connections!

Rich.

[MichaelCanode]

15 June 21:00

While my experience is a bit limited (one trip in 2000), I would see no reason not to travel by RV in Newfoundland. Saint Johns is a magnificent seaside city with "boatloads" (pun intended) of maritime history. There is also a very flavorful microbrewery at Quidi Vidi: they actually salvaged a yeast culture from bottles recovered in a 1790's shipwreck to reproduce a classic ale from the period.

I also noticed in one of the earlier posts here that "...It would rank fourth in size behind Alaska, Texas, and California if it were one of the United States." Well, dig out your history books: back in the late 1940's there was a referendum to either stay a semi-autonomous British colony, become a province of Canada or seek admission into the USA. A fellow named Joey Smallwood (a.k.a. "The Huey Long of Canada") was in the thick of it -- One of the "Maritime Atlantic" ferries is named after him. And when Canada sought to negotiate the merger, another movement got started. Both the Wesleyans and the Seventh Day Adventists had listener-supported Christian radio stations on the air in Newfoundland. Canada did not want to grant the stations Canadian broadcast lincences, but a grassroots movement in Newfoundland pushed back. That's why radio stations in Newfoundland and Labrador still use "VO...." call signs. The Wesleyans are off-air nowadays, but the Adventists still operate VOAR out of Mount Pearl.

"Happy Cybercamping!"

Michael Canode, F13059S

[NorthernDriver]

Newfoundland is a wonderful place to go. I found it was 'like going home'! Warm and wonderful people. They have wonderful accent, sometimes difficult to understand, bye(boy). Different place name ie. Quidi Vidi pronounced Kitty Vitty. South ***** is were the Trans Atlantic cable came ashore in days gone by. One of the local things to do is - to 'kiss the Puffins Arse' and drink Screach! One thing I saw that was amasing was.....new Drive in Theaters. Have a good trip from a fellow West Coaster.

[ve744]

I am planning a trip from Seattle to Halifax leaving in mid Aug. Can someone guide me as to the best route and cautions (weather, roads, traffic, etc.) Will Newfoundland be too far to take in considering the late season travel? We do carry two small dogs. Will this be a problem?

Thanks

Monaco Monarch

[ARyall]

All good information above.

We're new to RVing (with a RoadTrek Adventurous - 23 ft).

We've been to Newfoundland 8 different years in September for the Targa Newfoundland car rally. While the September weather can be pleasant, it is touching on Hurricane Season, and Newfoundland often gets the tail. That can make for a rough crossing. You may get one of two days of pounding rain, then it will be wonderful.

You'll want to check and plan the ferry trips (Marine-Atlantic). The Argentia ferry (longer trip - but to east end) schedule gets reduced mid-September to once a week. The Port Aux Basques ferry is a shorter ferry trip - but is on the other end of the island. So, you'll want to go over on one, and back on the other.

Wonderful people . You will have a wonderful time.