Why Newfoundland and Labrador Draws Visitors Back, Again and Again
by Globe Content Studio
This article is part of a series about the unforgettable experiences and exceptional people that bring visitors back to Newfoundland and Labrador again and again. From stunning landscapes to playful whales to heartwarming entertainment, there’s a never-ending list of things to see and do. The people are warm, welcoming, and funny to the core. So have a read and plan your visit.
The colourful houses of “Jellybean Row” in St. John’s. Credit: Supplied
Meg McDonagh first visited Newfoundland and Labrador in the summer of 1977. Newly graduated from nursing school, the province was the final stop on an epic cross-Canada road trip from Vancouver.
She says she’ll never forget landing in the town of Channel-Port aux Basques on the southwest coast. Thankful to be on dry land after a particularly “rocking” ferry ride from Nova Scotia, she saw “tuckamore trees” – local slang for weather-gnarled, wind-stunted evergreens that hunch on the shoreline.
“That was so amazing, and unlike anything I’d ever seen before,” says McDonagh. “That was the first big wow.”
Another thing she remembers from that trip was the vast distances you can cover in this province, a landscape of breathtaking diversity that covers over 400,000 square kilometres and is three times the size of the Maritime provinces combined. “There’s so much to see. It’s huge,” she says.
McDonagh knew she wasn’t done with Newfoundland and Labrador, and she was thrilled in 2004 when a Canadian Nurses Association conference brought her back to St. John’s. She hiked to the iconic historic site, Signal Hill, delighted in the colourful Victorian houses in downtown St. John’s, and was charmed by the friendliness of the locals.
Traveller Meg McDonagh atop Signal Hill during her second trip to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2004. Credit: Supplied
The food was also memorably delicious: sweet-and-spicy “figgy duff” pudding, delicate cod cheeks, and tangy bakeapple berries, which she got to try out of season when a restaurant owner pulled some frozen ones from her freezer especially for McDonagh. “Where else in the world would that happen?” she says. “The people were something else.”
McDonagh tacked on a few days of exploring after her work trip. “We got to see everything. We saw puffins, whales, and icebergs,” she says. “It was so perfect.”
With the wonders of that experience in mind, she’s now planning her third trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. “I’m not done,” says McDonagh, now retired and living in Cochrane, Alta. “I have to go back again.”
Jill Curran of Curamara Travel Design says the legendary friendliness of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador is often a key reason why they return. Credit: Ritche Perez
Locals who make you feel like old friends
“I had a beautiful email from guests who said, ‘It was an unbelievable feeling to walk into somewhere and feel like you were coming home.”
Jill Curran says it’s no surprise to hear about a visitor “from away” finding themselves drawn back to Newfoundland and Labrador.
“The vast majority of our business is from previous guests who are returning, or from previous guests who have referred their friends or family,” says Curran, operator of Curamara Travel Design.
Right now, Curran is helping two women plan their fifth trip to the province. Like other visitors, the pair thought their first trip would be enough to tick everything off their itinerary. “But when they got here, they realized how vast the geography of the province was, and they started hearing about all these things they couldn’t fit in,” she says.
These visitors had initially fallen in love with Writers at Woody Point, a literary festival held every summer in beautiful Gros Morne National Park, and had enjoyed exploring the west coast. Then they did the east coast, which sparked a desire to visit Labrador.
“They’ve returned to some of the same places again, but they also realized, ‘If we love this part of the province, I wonder what it would be like [in other areas],’” she says.
Like McDonagh, many visitors are struck by the legendary friendliness and kindness of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, which plays a key role in their desire to return, says Curran.
“I had a beautiful email from guests who said, ‘It was an unbelievable feeling to walk into somewhere and feel like you were coming home, even though you’d never been there before,’” she says. That couple had been to a music event, met some locals, and then were delighted when those same folks recognized them a few days later.
“They were really pleased that in a very fast and busy world, someone you had a brief chat with welcomes you two days later like an old friend.”
Special moments, whatever the season
At Curamara (named after the Gaelic word ‘curam,’ which means “to care for”), Curran and her team specialize in customizing itineraries for visitors.
“We always say, 'This is your trip. What has made you decide to come to Newfoundland and Labrador?'” For many first-timers, that will mean wanting to tick off the classics: spotting a towering iceberg in the ocean, seeing a humpback whale leap into the air, or getting “screeched in” and kissing the cod during a light-hearted “citizenship” ceremony. Other visitors like to tailor their trip to a special interest, like food or music, Curran says.
“I had someone recently who was very much about ‘moments of serenity’. They want to be very close to the ocean,” she says. “It really depends on the person.”
Western Brook Pond, a freshwater fjord in Gros Morne National Park. Credit: Supplied
A humpback whale shows off for visitors at sunset. Credit: Supplied
There are also compelling reasons to visit again just to experience a different season. For prime whale watching, you want to plan a trip for June to September, while icebergs are best in late spring. October is ideal for hikers who want fewer bugs and spectacular fall foliage.
Curran jokes that, thanks to its relative geographic isolation, there are no “accidental tourists” in Newfoundland and Labrador. This makes the fact that people return, over and over, even more special.
“We’ve had some clients who’ve come back for seven visits,” she says. “They’re like a sub-set of our marketing team, because they just spread the word [about the province] all the time.”
Craving a visit to Newfoundland and Labrador for the first, or second, or seventh time? Check out Curamara’s curated experiences and start packing.
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