St. John's travel guide

St. John's, Canada

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

St. John's

Introduction

St. John's is the capital and largest city of Newfoundland and Labrador, set on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. It is the easternmost city in North America, so your first stop here puts you at the continent's Atlantic edge.

The city covers a wide stretch of the peninsula, giving it a spread-out feel between the coast and the surrounding land. Use it as your base for exploring the Avalon Peninsula and the province beyond.

Before you go

St. John's sits far out on the eastern edge of the continent, at the end of the Trans-Canada Highway and closer to Dublin than to Vancouver, so plan your travel days with that distance in mind. The city keeps its own time, offset from both Greenwich Mean Time and the rest of Canada, and its position on the coast brings high precipitation, smaller swings in temperature and a strong seasonal lag. Whatever season you visit, bring layers and come prepared for the unexpected.

Summer is the most popular time to come, with the most reliable warm weather and the peak of whale- and seabird-watching from mid-June to mid-August; if icebergs are what you're after, time your visit earlier, in April or May. From late June to early September a stretch of Water Street downtown is pedestrianized and fills with free events, buskers, food vendors and patio seating, and the first week of August brings the George Street Festival and the Royal St. John's Regatta. Many visitors use the city as a base for exploring the wider Avalon Peninsula and its fishing villages and coastal hiking, while the city itself rewards fans of old buildings, fiddle music in taverns and fresh local seafood. You can pick up information at the visitor information centre on Water Street.

Getting there

Most visitors reach St. John's by air, landing at St. John's International Airport, about 10 km from downtown. Flights connect the city with major Canadian centres such as Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, and there are international services from Europe (including Dublin, London and Paris), warmer destinations in Florida and the Caribbean, and longer-range seasonal flights to Calgary and Edmonton. Canadian carriers serving the airport include Air Canada, Flair Airlines, PAL Airlines, Porter Airlines and WestJet, while Air Saint-Pierre links the city with the French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon to the south. From the airport, you can reach downtown on public bus No. 14 on weekdays only, with buses running roughly hourly to the Memorial University campus, where you can connect to downtown buses; taxis to downtown are also available.

By road, St. John's sits at the eastern end of Highway 1, the Trans-Canada Highway, the main road across Newfoundland. Drivers arriving from out of province usually cross by ferry from North Sydney in Nova Scotia to either Port-aux-Basques or Argentia, then follow the Trans-Canada Highway east to the city. The Port-aux-Basques crossing takes five to six hours, followed by a long drive across the island, while the Argentia crossing runs from mid-June through September and takes 14 to 17 hours, leaving a much shorter drive to St. John's. Book ferry space well in advance, especially if you want a cabin on an overnight crossing. A daily bus route also runs between Port-aux-Basques and St. John's with numerous stops along the way, and another operator connects Argentia to St. John's from June to September on a few days per week.

Getting around

St. John's is a driver-dominated city with a haphazard road layout, so a map or GPS is essential if you're behind the wheel. Parking is almost always abundant outside the downtown core, where many one-way streets make it important to watch for signs; traffic jams are common during road maintenance season because of limited corridors to outlying communities. Rental agencies operate at the airport and in the city, but book well in advance for the peak summer months, when cars are often totally unavailable. Taxis are another option, and many drivers are knowledgeable and happy to show visitors around or take you out to Cape Spear; chauffeured car rentals and tours are also offered by several providers.

Metrobus serves nearly all of St. John's, with limited service to Shea Heights, Kilbride and the Goulds, plus neighbouring Mount Pearl; surrounding communities have no bus service. Fares are flat rather than distance-based, and you must pay the exact cash fare since drivers give no change and cards aren't accepted on board. You can buy an mCard at a Metrobus service point and load it with money, a ten-ride pass or a monthly pass. Routes and the current position of any bus are on the Metrobus website or app, but buses are frequently late or early and locals don't consider them reliable; walking is often quicker for journeys under 4 km. Stops typically have no shelters or benches and aren't cleared in winter, when snowbanks can bury them. Some buses are accessible, but sidewalks and stops are not, especially in winter; GoBus Accessible Transit offers shared door-to-door service as an alternative. In summer a private Hop On Hop Off bus links downtown, Quidi Vidi, Cape Spear and Signal Hill.

The downtown core is easily explored on foot if you have full mobility: stroll Water Street for drinking establishments, restaurants and distinctive shopping, and note that a section of it becomes pedestrian-only for several weeks in summer. George Street, near City Hall and the Convention Centre, concentrates nightclubs, taverns and restaurants that spill onto patios and the street most nights, while Duckworth Street and adjacent streets have interesting shopping and restaurants. Quidi Vidi Lake, Quidi Vidi Harbour and Signal Hill are within walking distance of downtown. In winter, though, most sidewalks aren't cleared, so pedestrians walk on the streets and climb over icy snowbanks; drivers routinely ignore stop signs and run red lights, especially when turning right, so be extremely cautious and don't expect your right of way to be respected. Cycling is hampered by steep hills, few painted lanes, poor infrastructure and reckless drivers, and there are very limited rental options.

Where to stay

St. John's has a good spread of places to stay, from hostels to heritage inns. Budget travellers can head to City Hostel (HI-St. John's), which has dorms and private rooms, free WiFi and internet terminals, with check-in at its Gower Street address. Mid-range options cluster around the centre and its edges: Leaside Manor Suites & Apartments on Topsail Road offers double Jacuzzi suites with fireplaces and executive apartments, while The Roses Heritage Inn on Military Road occupies a building from 1905 with individually designed rooms. The Abba Inn on Queen's Road has large rooms and free WiFi, Blue on Water on Water Street is a small hotel with its own restaurant and bar, and the Courtyard Marriott on Duckworth Street has a restaurant, fitness centre and harbour views. The Ramada Inn is a renovated suburban hotel near shopping and business parks, the Holiday Inn Express near the Confederation Building Complex includes breakfast, and Rendell Shea Manor on Cochrane Street offers six rooms in an old house that survived the Great Fire of 1892, with ensuite bathrooms and breakfast included. Elizabeth Manor on Military Road is a bed and breakfast.

For a splurge, the Delta Hotels St. John's Conference Centre sits at New Gower and Barter's Hill, near George Street and Mile One Stadium, and the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland near the business district has a renovated lobby and lounge and many rooms with harbour and downtown views. Ryan Mansion on Rennie's Mill Road is a heritage bed and breakfast with marble ensuite baths, heated floors, therapeutic tubs and a collection of artworks throughout. 10 Victoria Street is a luxury short-term vacation rental downtown that sleeps eight, with harbour views and a hot tub overlooking the inner harbour toward Cabot Tower on Signal Hill.

Food & drink

St. John's is the hometown of the Canadian fried chicken chain Mary Brown's, whose first location opened at the Avalon Mall, where a branch still operates. For local flavour, look for chips, dressing and gravy (fries and stuffing under thick gravy), fish-and-brewis, and cod cheeks. Newfoundlanders will tell you that you can't leave St. John's without fish and chips at either Ches's or the Big R, known to locals as "the Big Arse" — both have multiple locations. Other budget options include the Bagel Café on Duckworth Street, which serves breakfast all day alongside hamburgers, sandwiches, soups and salads; Leo's Fish and Chips on Freshwater Road; the Magic Wok Eatery on Water Street for traditional or Canadian-style Chinese food; and the Rocket Bakery and Fresh Food, also on Water Street, for coffee, baked goods, soups and sandwiches.

For mid-range meals, the Sprout on Duckworth Street serves vegetarian cuisine — sandwiches, tacos, curries and salads — with most items vegan or makeable vegan and many gluten-free options, plus a Saturday brunch menu. The Celtic Hearth on Water Street is a traditional Irish pub and restaurant, and India Gate on Duckworth Street has been serving Indian dishes such as tandoori chicken since 1991. At the higher end, the Gypsy Tea Room on Water Street is a restaurant and cocktail bar with international cuisine, Magnum & Stein's on Duckworth Street serves upscale seasonal local food, and Basho on Duckworth Street is a Japanese fusion restaurant with chic minimalist décor.

George Street, in the heart of downtown, is a prime location for nightlife, while Water Street — said to be the oldest street in North America — holds several pubs with a more relaxing atmosphere. There are a lot of Irish pubs here, perhaps no surprise since St. John's is the point in North America closest to Ireland. Among them are Erin's Pub on Water Street, a small Irish pub with live music; O'Reilly's Pub on George Street, with live music every day and Newfoundland and international pub food; and Broderick's on George, an Irish pub and restaurant with live music. The Duke of Duckworth on Duckworth Street is a cosy English-style pub with excellent food and good beer, while the Ship Pub & Kitchen on Duckworth Street has something going on every night — live music, open mic events or trivia nights. Yellowbelly Brewery & Public House on Water Street is a brewpub and restaurant on five floors, Christian's Pub on George Street specializes in craft beers, cocktails, premium spirits and specialty coffees, Kelly's Pub serves pub food such as fish and chips as well as breakfast, and 3 Cheers Pub on New Gower Street is described as less touristy than other places and a good spot to meet locals. The Newfoundland Embassy on New Gower Street is a traditional pub with almost 30 beers on tap, homestyle food and live music, and the Station Lounge on Hutchings Street is a pub and concert venue. Unlike most provinces in Canada, cold beer can be purchased in convenience stores; liquor and wine are only available at NLC locations, and adults can buy cannabis products, including pre-rolls and beverages, from several retail locations. To taste where some of it is made, tour the Quidi Vidi Brewing Company on Barrows Road and sample specialty beers — the 30-minute hike along the shore from Signal Hill is gorgeous.

What to see and do

St. John's grew up around its harbour, and you can take in the water from several vantage points, including Signal Hill and the eastern shore. Signal Hill itself is a National Historic Site overlooking the city, where Cabot Tower stands at the top and where the first wireless transatlantic message was received. Below it, The Battery is a small village of houses framed by sheer cliffs, once part of the harbour's defences, with a trail that leads from its end around the cliffs and up to Signal Hill. Across The Narrows, Fort Amherst offers a lighthouse, a World War II fortification and views back toward the city and Cape Spear.

For green space, Bowring Park has duck ponds, bridges, walking trails, tennis courts and an outdoor pool, while Bannerman Park offers large lawns, flower beds and a bandstand. Harbourside Park hosts concerts and features statues of a Newfoundland Dog and a Labrador Retriever, and the Terry Fox Mile 0 Site marks where his Marathon of Hope began. The Rooms holds the provincial museum, archives and art gallery with an unrivalled view from its upper floor, and the Johnson GeoCentre is partly excavated into Signal Hill with exhibits on oceans, the Earth's interior and the solar system. History fills the churches and old buildings, from the black wooden St. Thomas' Anglican Church to the twin-towered Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the neoclassical Colonial Building and the Newman Wine Vaults, built to age port. George Street is the core of the city's nightlife. To get out and about, the Grand Concourse oversees an extensive network of walking trails, the East Coast Trail follows the cliffs north of Signal Hill, and the St. John's Haunted Hike tours the historic streets after dark.

When to go

Summer is the peak visitor season, when the weather is at its most reliably warm and the days are long. This is also when the city's waterfront comes alive: from late June to early September, Water Street is pedestrianized, with free events, buskers, food vendors and patios spilling into the street. Wildlife watchers should aim for mid-June to mid-August, when whale- and seabird-watching is at its height. Be aware that the first week of August brings the George Street Festival and the Royal St. John's Regatta, so expect the biggest crowds and highest prices around then. Late summer can bring tropical cyclones, though the pedestrianized stretch of Water Street stays lively into early September.

Spring is changeable, so bring layers and come prepared for the unexpected. If seeing icebergs is your goal, time your visit to April or May. Winter brings short daylight hours, and you'll want layers and a flexible plan for the unexpected weather.

Three days in St. John's

Day one: Start in St. John's itself, the city on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador, and orient yourself along Water Street, the main artery of the old downtown. Note that the city keeps Greenwich Mean Time, so your daylight hours may feel shifted from what you're used to. In summer, June through August, the days are long and the weather is mild enough for walking; in April and May it can still be cold, so pack accordingly. If you've flown in, you'll likely have arrived via Toronto, Montreal, or Halifax on Canadian carriers, or on direct flights from London, Paris, or Dublin.

Day two: Use the Trans-Canada Highway to get a sense of the wider island, or stay in the city and time your visit to the George Street Festival if you're here in late summer. The Royal St. John's Regatta is another seasonal draw, held in the warmer months. Whatever your timing, check what's on before you go, since many events cluster in the summer window from June to September.

Day three: Slow down and take in the Atlantic setting. St. John's is the easternmost city in North America, and the coastline of the Avalon Peninsula rewards a quiet final day. If you're departing, the international airport connects onward to Canadian cities and to Europe, with flights to London, Paris, and Dublin among the options. Most visitors find three days enough to see the city and a slice of the surrounding peninsula without rushing.

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