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Strawberry Hill Resort, just East of Corner Brook. This "upscale" resort used to be the guest house for visiting "nobility". It has been used by both the Queen and the Prime Minister in recent years.
The Quirpon Lighthouse Inn, at the tip of the Great Northern Peninsula. This would be a unique experience.
Gros Morne Resort, just south of Cowhead. A new resort, just about completed, will eventually offer a golf course to go along with its spectacular view. It's slow coming along.
Tuckamore Lodge - One group of visitors (both to Newfoundland and to our site) described their stay at Tuckamore Lodge as the most enjoyable aspect of their visit.
The Doctor's House - In Curling, just down the bay from Corner Brook.
If you're looking for a vacation home in the Trinity area, try Newfoundland Vacation Homes.
Ah, they're all so good. If we were only going to do one easy hike, it would be Western Brook Pond. If we were going to do only one moderately difficult hike, it would be the Discovery Center trail. In "Central" Newfoundland, it would be the Salvage (pronounced with the accent on the last syllable )Trail. See our Hikes page for descriptions.
Seaside Restaurant - Our favourite restaurant, anywhere, is in Trout River. It's an old, converted house. It does not have Buckingham Palace appointment. Waiters/waitresses do NOT have white napkins hung over their sleeves. It IS, however, perched on the seashore, immediately next to the sea and the boardwalk. The seafood is fresh, pan fried, and always features in-season catches. CFAs (Come From Aways) will always find items on the platter that they'll need explained: cod tongues, cod cheeks, caplin (pronounced: cape-linn), wolffish, etc. The prices are reasonable, but they've gone up a little this year as management has just completed extensions and renovations. As they're only open five months of the year, we don't begrudge them the raised prices. Our last meal there cost us about $55.00 , including a seafood platter for me (and a beer), and a scallop dinner for Carol, and all tips. We didn't get the mussels this time. The mussels, when available, make a lovely appetizer. I'd recommend the platter if you have a large appetite. All the seafood is well prepared. I can't speak for any of the other items on the menu. (If you're driving the South Side of Gros Morne, and if you take a left turn just before you get to Woody Point, you'll be on the road to Trout River. This road, which is a little rough over the first kilometer or so, takes you through a valley that you'd think was in Arizona somewhere. You'll end up in Trout River, as typical a Newfoundland outport as you'll find.) *****
The Chip Van - This is just north of Sally's Cove. It's just on the side of the road. There are a few picnic tables. The chips are good. We stop there for a snack. You can get a few other things there as well. **** (As far as chips go)
Shallow Bay Motel - Good food at reasonable prices. A lot of their seafood is deep-fried, but it's good. Prices are reasonable. It's on the shore, so you have a nice view if your table is well located. This is also the gathering place for those who wish to take in any of the Gros Morne Theatre Festival. This festival is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. You can attend lovely dinner theatre. The performance is competent and informative; the meal is adequate. CFA's in particular seem to enjoy both aspects. *** (food) **** (dinner theatre)
Irving Stations - All along the highway you'll find Irving stations with restaurants, called Big Stops. The food in these is OK, and the service is usually quite good, as long as there isn't a bus or a bus tour stopped there. The French fries are plastic (just like you're used to); we'll stop and eat in them if we have to; it's not a disastrous experience. Some of the other small restaurants along the way are slightly better. ***
Mount Peyton Hotel, Grand Falls - A little bit more upscale than the Irving stations, and the food is slightly better with still reasonable prices. You won't get in and out of there quickly if you're in any kind of a hurry. The dining room is comfortable. It's just off the highway, easily accessible if you're traveling East, tricky if you're heading West. ***1/2
Maggie's - (Coleman's - Caribou Rd - Corner Brook) - This is a cafeteria style restaurant with extremely reasonable prices, fast service, and moderately good food. You can always get delicious seafood chowder and freshly baked buns. The ordinary fare is ordinary fare. The pan fried cod is good as long as it hasn't been sitting in the warmer very long. Daily specials are good. This is an economical place to get a good meal. ***1/2 (considering what it is) For similar fare, for a little less, and bigger helpings but not quite as good, visit Aromas on the corner of Main Street and Park Street. *** (again, considering) (Hmmmmm.... I think this is closed now. Bummer!)
Sorrento's (across from Aromas, Corner Brook) - This is run by a wonderful Bulgarian couple. They take pride in the quality of their product. They're listed in "Places to Eat in Canada". We eat there frequently. Prices are reasonable. Service is slow. They've recently moved. Eventually they'll be one of the fancier, more expensive restaurants in the city. At the moment they're just a bargain. **** (There's not an extensive menu nor much of a variety) They have just opened a piano bar in the end of the building. We haven't been there yet, but hear they have some interesting musicians playing there.
Ches's Fish and Chips (St. John's) - They have a couple of locations. You have to eat there. It's required. Fish is deep fried, and heavily battered (but crisp). The French fries are good. Paper plates and a fork. Uncomfortable seats. But if you're going to get fish and chips in St. John's, this is where you'll be told to go. ** If you want the same thing in a nicer setting with real plates (and slightly better fish), visit the Captain's Table, on the Southern Shore highway. It's a nice little drive out of St. John's. You could easily go there after your boat tour. But you have to be a fan of deep fried fish. ***
The Fairmont Hotel- This is upscale. It's the place to go for an expensive Sunday Brunch. You'll get a good meal there anytime, but expect to pay slightly less than a premium price. These are the banquet rooms where they feed visiting heads of state and politicians on expense accounts. ****
The Battery - If you want the best view of St. John's while you're eating, then go to The Battery. We've never been particularly impressed with the food there, but the view is unequaled. ***
Bairds - In Grand Falls - This is a little difficult to find. Exit on Cromer Avenue (North) and continue until you come to the sharp right turn in the road. Take the right turn and then take the first left. Continue until you come to Bairds. Bairds is a converted A&W. It's just a family restaurant, but you'll find stuff on the menu you won't find anywhere else in the world (Newfoundland stuff). It's just a nice, inexpensive place to eat if you like going off the beaten path. ***
The Glynmill Inn - Corner Brook - This is a classy place. The dining room is good, and not too expensive. The Wine Cellar (downstairs) is fine dining and expensive. Both offer food that is a little above average for their respective price ranges. ****
Rose Blanche - If you like lighthouses, you'll certainly go to Rose Blanche to see the historical lighthouse there. There's a lovely place to eat just at the beginning of the trail to the lighthouse. (I don't remember the name of it, and I can't really recommend it not having eaten there, but it has a good reputation.) There's another cheesier restaurant in town (also can't remember the name of it), but we had a lovely meal of fish and chips there. (Hmmmmm, that set me to thinking: There are LOADS of historical lighthouses in Newfoundland, and some folks are hooked on lighthouses, so I'll have to do a separate attractions page for lighthouses. A project for later though.)
The Fish Plant, Rocky Harbour - Well this isn't really a restaurant, but you can get some wonderful meals there. It's a godsend for folks camping in the area (if you like seafood). Just about every time we go to Gros Morne, we'll stop at the fish plant on the way home and pick up our meal. Just about every time we have visitors, we'll go to the fish plant and buy food for a fish platter. The seafood is fresh and inexpensive. For example, just two days ago (May 15, 2004), we were staying in cabins in Rocky Harbour. We went to the fish plant, bought two lobsters (about 1lb and a quarter each), a HUGE piece of halibut (caught that morning), and a pound of mussels. Total cost was $25.00. On the way home the next day we stopped in again and bought scallops for our evening meal, just over a pound. Cost less than $10.00 and we had an obscene meal of scallops later that evening. If we want to feed four people with salmon, halibut, cod, mussels, and sometimes cod cheeks or britches, we can usually do it for around $30.00. (There are many similar places in Newfoundland. Just ask the locals where there's a fish plant and if they have a retail outlet.)
(You'll find links to a lot of these attractions on our Links page.)
Whale and bird boat tours, Bay Bulls (just outside of St. John's). These are very popular. The whales are in abundance at the right time of year (June through early August). There are several popular tours, the best known being O'Brien's. In late May, Early June (and sometimes later), you may also see icebergs, but other places on the island are better for icebergs. I don't think there are any better spots for whale watching. We HAVE seen whales in abundance off St. Anthony (at the tip of the Northern Peninsula), and you can occasionally see them in ANY bay if you're alert. There are more and more bald eagles to be seen, particularly along the South Coast. Note: There are THOUSANDS of moose and caribou on the island. You folks from up-a-long just don't see them. You're not looking for them, and you're not cautious enough. Every year there are fatal moose-car collisions, and even though mainlanders are in the minority on the highway, they are involved in the majority of moose-car collisions. Moose are HUGE, some weighing in at well over a thousand pounds, and you just don't see the bloody things. Go figure!
Trinity Pageant - This is the best known and the best theatre festival in the province. It's performed in one of the prettiest communities in the province. It features both indoor and outdoor performances as well as dinner theatre. Book well in advance. The road to Trinity will take you off the beaten path a little, but that's what you're here for isn't it? It's a nice drive; there are nice restaurants in Trinity; there are interesting side trips off this side trip. The best thing for you to do would be to leave St. John's (it will take you three or four hours to get to Trinity), take in the festival, stay overnight, make a few side trips in the morning and head back to St. John's after supper (in the summer). Stay longer if you have the time and the money.
Stephenville Festival - This is more of a repertory theatre. They will offer everything from full scale musicals to avant guarde theatre. This is a professional theatre company that uses local talent liberally. There will be several performances on the same day, and various different offerings throughout a week. You can plan to take in three different shows in one night, varying from the main stage, to the lobby, to the local pub. Quality varies. Check your schedule, plan your day (or days), and stay overnight. Stephenville is off the Trans Canada Highway, about an hour from Corner Brook. There are some interesting side trips you can take during the day. We'd recommend a drive out and around the Port Aux Port Peninsula where you'll find Newfoundland's great French influence.
Gros Morne Theatre Festival - Gros Morne National Park. There is lovely dinner theatre and various other performances catering to all tastes, but mainly geared toward local colour and local history. It's quite good. (See The Shallow Bay motel, above.)
Gros Morne Summer Music - When in Rocky Harbour (Gros Morne), look up David Maggs and his guests from across the country for their evening performances of classical music (predominantly chamber music). David is a world class classical pianist and his quests come from across the country to take part in this unique musical experience. Visit the site at: http://www.gmsm.ca
The Newfoundland Insectarium - Located just off the Trans Canada Highway East of Deer Lake. It's a great place for kids or anyone interested in creepy crawly things.
The Salmonid Interpretation Centre - Grand Falls, downtown, behind the mill. You'll have to take the bridge across the river (from behind the paper mill). This was/is a woods road, but in pretty good shape for a dirt road. The interpretation centre features a fluvarium where you can watch the salmon make their way up the river, one of the best salmon rivers in North America. It's a nice spot too, worth a visit of approximately an hour. There's a snack bar there. You can read a little more about the Centre and other attractions in the Grand Falls - Windsor are HERE.
The Sound Symposium - "Sound Symposium is known for breaking boundaries and making connections: where traditions meet new inventions; different disciplines mix, match and create magic; late night improv sessions lead into morning workshops, and the..." In St. John's, July 8-18 2004.
Again, there are links to many of these attractions on our Links page.
A new event to the province (this is its third year) is Targa Newfoundland, a high quality automotive adventure (old and new sports cars in their natural element). It's a motor sport competition. Read all about it HERE and plan to take in some portion of it or take part in it from Sept 13 - 18 this year.
Becoming more successful each year and continuing to attract world class athletes, the Corner Brook Triathlon will run this year from July 13 through 18.
King's Point Pottery - On your side trip to Green Bay you'll want to take a fun down to King's Point (that's where the Alexander Murray Trail is). When there you'll want to visit the home of King's Point Pottery. If you like that kind of thing, King's Point Pottery is one of the better known potters in the province, making award winning quality products with their signature blue on white. We have a couple of pieces of their work; we'd have more if that were our "thing."
(Please e-mail us with any recommendations you'd like to see added to this page.)
"Your web site is great and I have read most of it before our family trip this past August.
Regarding hiking trials, there are several I would like to suggest, near LeAnse Meadow's.
Lacey's trail, very near the entrance to LeAnse de Meadows. Nice walk around a cove, leads to a sea cave on the right, but if you hang a left you go up a hill with a very nice look out.
Cape Raven's trail. Goes up to a look out of the whole area.
Best of all, is a trail called Noddy Bay Head. This one is in Hay cove.
Prob. about a mile south of the turn off into LeAnse deux Meadows. You go down Hay Cove past the cottages, to near the water. Turn right and the trial head right there. It is an uphill trial, but it goes up to two look outs. The view from the top is simply spectacular! You can see the Quipron's light house from there. Great at dusk. See the JPEG enclosed. In our stay there, we did this one three times! As said, great at dusk after dinner, and it takes about 30 min to get to the top if you are in good shape, but for an enjoyable stroll, one hour would be better.
Your assessment of Gros Morne mountain was right on. We had a great time in Gros Morne.
For restaurants, one very nice local place called Northern Delight was good. Cheap and good seafood. It is about 7 km south of Le Anse Meadows. Another higher class one call the Norseman is also good but more expensive. It is 1 km north of Le Anse Meadows. (Richard T)"
Ray C from NY commented on how much they enjoyed their stay at Tuckamore Lodge and the hospitality of Barb Genge on the Great Northern Peninsula. They said "We foud what we were looking for," when they visited Newfoundland. They regretted that they had to spend so much time in the car, not realizing of course how large the island is. I've added the link to Tuckamore Lodge.
When driving past Pasadena, we highly recommend you visit Meyer's Minerals, a unique opportunity to see beautiful native carvings and quality Newfoundland and Labrador stonecraft. This is quality work.
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