Avalon

In the true Newfoundland and Labrador style of coming together to face a challenge, a team of local chefs will take over the kitchen at Bacalao to offer special five-course dinners while Chef Mike Barsky and the team represent the province at the Gold Medal Plates Canadian Culinary Championships in BC February 8-12.

Slice Of The City: St John's - One of the most fascinating and historic of Canada's cities will soon be only a five-hour flight from the UK, says Simon Calder

There are few views in Canada more evocative than the one from the dining room at Raymonds. Tall windows survey Newfoundland’s prosperity, past and present: from St. John’s Harbour, picturesquely gritty with its tugboats and toothless smiles, to colourful houses huddling together against the wind, to the Atlantic beyond, where offshore drilling is fuelling Canada’s other oil boom.

Rugged, wild and beautiful, the coastal communities of Brigus and Cupids will take you back in time. Rich in culture and history, the two towns are just a stone’s throw from one another, and both are located just an hour outside of St. John’s. Let the townspeople take you in as you explore heritage that has been preserved for hundreds of years. And see for yourself what we’ve been celebrating. 

Of all the mariners who set to sea in Newfoundland and Labrador over the centuries, none is more justly famous than Captain Bob Bartlett of Brigus. A noted explorer in his own right, and perhaps the greatest ice pilot who ever lived, Bartlett guided American Commodore Robert Peary to within 150 miles of the North Pole in 1909, at which point Peary set out with one servant to finish the job on foot. Bartlett won numerous awards and spent many summers exploring the Arctic, and had a gift for self-promotion that in the first half of the 20th century made him one of the most famous men alive.

Located at the most easterly point of land in North America, Cape Spear is where you can see nature at its most beautiful and wild; tranquil and ferocious; it all depends on the day you visit. The site is surrounded by spectacular scenery and wildlife such as whales, seabirds and icebergs in season.

In 1834, construction began on the first lighthouse, with a foghorn added in 1878. The light was first lit by oil, with acetylene adopted in 1916, and electricity in 1930. In 1955, the dipodic system was moved to a new light tower, not far from the original lighthouse. The original lighthouse is the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland with the original building and the lightkeeper’s residence restored to the period of 1939, and shows how a lightkeeper and his family might have lived there during that time.

St. John’s Time is an 11-day festival taking in the Royal St. John’s Regatta, the George Street Festival, the St. John’s Downtown Buskers Festival and the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival. The festival starts in late July and goes until early August.

Thousands descend on George Street every year to take in the annual George Street Festival - one of the biggest and friendliest patio parties in the world. This event always precedes the Royal St. John’s Regatta. The Royal St. John’s Regatta is a 1-day event and is the oldest, longest running sporting event in North America! This 1-day festival draws in the vicinity of 60,000 people to Quidi Vidi Lake in the heart of St. John’s to watch the races and to try their luck on various ticket spins, or just sit back and relax and take in the sights. This event is always the first Wednesday in August.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are known worldwide for their hospitality. Making your own way to (and through) Newfoundland and Labrador is sometimes exactly what’s called for, but if you’re interested in travelling here without having to worry about the details, there are many package tour operators that take care of arrangements for you.

CapeRace Cultural Adventures and Ocean Quest Adventures are just two of many tour operators that let you truly experience and explore the majestic beauty of our province, our rich culture and heritage and, maybe even, our ocean floors.

Ocean Quest Adventure Resort offers a 7-night multi-adventure vacation package on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Avalon Peninsula. CapeRace Cultural Adventures is a self-guided eco-cultural tour that features exclusive-use, serve-yourself accommodations at heritage houses in St. John’s, Heart’s Delight and Bonavista

The November issue of National Geographic Traveler Magazine rated the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador at the very top of 99 coastal tourism destinations in the world, beating out popular seaside travel spots in Wales, New Zealand, Hawaii, Italy, Australia and other provinces within Canada.

The magazine said that Newfoundland and Labrador has struck the right balance in developing its tourism industry without destroying what makes it unique, and noted it has welcomed the economic benefits of a strong offshore oil and natural gas industry while maintaining its "stunning natural and cultural integrity". The article also noted the unspoiled scenery, revitalization of waterfronts, rural communities, coastal hiking trails, colourful birdlife and seafaring heritage as among the components which make the Avalon Peninsula "one of the best-kept tourism secrets."