Welcome to St. John’s, the New World’s first city! We greet you at St. John’s airport (YYT) and, if time allows, provide a short orientation excursion around the town. Enjoy your hotel’s prime downtown location. Perhaps take a stroll on Water Street this evening, North America’s oldest street. In the morning after breakfast, meet your tour leader and fellow travelers. Your adventure begins!

Overnight Location: St. John's

Today we travel southwest on the Avalon to Cape St. Mary’s along the scenic Cape Shore; stopping in along the way to Castle Hill National Historic Site in Placentia, or as the French referred to it, ‘Plaisance’. In the early seventeenth century this area became the French capital of Newfoundland and is still steeped in its history today. Vantage points along the way overlook the ocean and expanses of wild country, providing chances for moose and eagle sightings or activity on the water.

You will never forget your time at the Cape! Before modern day’s recognition by the world’s nature-loving community, our famous Cape St. Mary’s had been celebrated locally in myth and song for centuries. Roger Tory Peterson, himself, recognized it as one of our planet’s most dramatic marine wonders. Cape St. Mary’s Seabird Sanctuary, the continent’s third largest gannet nesting site, is an incredible breeding ground for tens of thousands of seabirds, including the world’s most southerly thick-billed murres. Stand only feet away from gannets, kittiwakes, and murres as they tend to their eggs and/or chicks! View Gannets at Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve. In season, usually mid-July, sea cliffs act as theatre seating for you to enjoy some of the world’s finest land-based whale watching, as these majestic marine mammals cavort around their northern coastal feeding grounds.

After a night’s rest in a comfortable bed, this morning we go to sea once again, to enjoy more of the ocean’s wonders. The Trinity Bay area is alive with Bald eagles, whales, and dolphins. On one of our nature studies, Wildland Tours was the first to determine that Sperm whales are consistently found during the summer in parts of Trinity Bay. When you are rewarded with the sound of Sperm whales through an underwater microphone, as they communicate to each other with vocal ‘clicks’, it is truly a once in a life-time experience!

Your afternoon will feature more of what makes this area so special — trails, moose, osprey, songbirds, dramatic vistas, orchids, shore-birds, and numerous small museums and interpretation centres. In some ways this is an afternoon where you can explore your interests. Bird watching, icebergs, lighthouses, flower walks, beachcombing, land-based whale watching, photographing the local architecture, and a visit to the local aquarium are all possibilities. Many guests simply enjoy exploring the beautiful and historic community of Trinity. Wander through this picturesque town rich in history or take in some local theatre on your own.

Overnight Location: Trinity/Bonavista

Travel to Cape Spear, North America’s most easterly point, and look over the blue horizon as it reaches endlessly towards the eastern continents. Today, we can further explore the trails, museums, and attractions of historic St. John’s. Maybe you would like to visit The Rooms – the majestic provincial museum, gallery, and archives, where Newfoundland and Labrador history, heritage, and artistic expression come together; or venture through the Johnson Geo Centre – an underground geological interpretation centre. Maybe you would like to go shopping or stroll through Harbourside Park where Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed this land for England in 1583? Perhaps an additional boat tour out of the St. John’s Harbour would also be an option to top off your Newfoundland Adventure!

Overnight Location: St. John's