Newfoundland region
Great Northern Peninsula
A long road north to the only confirmed Norse site in North America
Deer Lake (YDF) or St. Anthony (YAY)
2 to 3 nights minimum, given the drive
Plan ahead; long gaps between stations north of Port au Choix
Wind and fog can arrive quickly on exposed shoreline sites
About 4.5 hours from Deer Lake to St. Anthony
What this region is really like
Route 430, the Viking Trail, runs the full length of the peninsula with the Gulf of St. Lawrence on one side and the Long Range Mountains on the other. It is a long drive, and the reward at the end is worth arranging your whole trip around.
L’Anse aux Meadows is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the only authenticated Norse settlement in North America, dated to roughly 1000 CE. Parks Canada interprets the excavated sod structures alongside reconstructions, and the setting on a low windswept shoreline does most of the emotional work.
Port au Choix National Historic Site, further south, holds burial grounds and artefacts from Maritime Archaic, Groswater, Dorset, and later peoples going back thousands of years. It reframes the peninsula as a place of continuous human presence rather than an empty coast that Norse sailors happened upon.
St. Anthony sits near the northern tip, with the Grenfell Historic Properties, a lighthouse trail, and iceberg viewing in spring and early summer. Fuel and groceries thin out considerably north of Port au Choix, so fill up when you can.
Other regions
Avalon Peninsula
Cities, sea stacks, and the most easterly light in North America
Eastern Newfoundland
Bonavista, Trinity, and coastlines cut into long fingers of rock
Central Newfoundland
Twillingate, Fogo Island, and the ice that drifts down the Labrador Current
Western Newfoundland
Gros Morne, the Tablelands, and a fjord cut through a billion years of rock
