Two Days on the Irish Loop: A Slow Traveller's Itinerary

Just south of St. John's, Route 10 leaves the city behind and becomes something older. The Irish Loop traces the edge of the Avalon Peninsula past fishing harbours, fossil cliffs, and beaches where whales feed close enough to hear them breathe. You can drive it in an afternoon. We think you shouldn't.

This is the Loop the way we'd take our own friends: two unhurried days, with time to taste, wander, and stand still when something wild shows up.

Day 1: Out on the Water, Down to the Fire

Start with breakfast in St. John's, then point the car south. Thirty minutes later you're in Bay Bulls, checking in for the morning sailing with O'Brien's Boat Tours into the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, home to half a million Atlantic puffins and, through the summer, humpback whales feeding just offshore. The 9:00 boat gets you back on the wharf at 11:00 with salt on your skin and an appetite.

Two hours among the puffins and humpbacks of Witless Bay.

Which is exactly the point, because ten minutes down the road in Mobile, lunch is already crackling.

Our Beach Boil Up is the heart of this day: a fire built on the stones, the kettle on, foraged teas steeping, and a traditional Newfoundland boil up cooked the way generations of families have done it on this very shore. You'll eat well, learn what the coastline offers to those who know how to look, and leave with stories you'll tell long after the drive home. (New to the tradition? Here's the full story of the boil up.)

The afternoon belongs to the road. Wind south through Tors Cove and La Manche with the windows down; this stretch of coast rewards every unplanned stop.

The Loop's small details: sheep on the hills, winter wood stacked to the rafters.

Stop in Ferryland to walk the Colony of Avalon, where archaeologists are still unearthing a 1621 settlement, or stretch your legs on the path toward the lighthouse for the view (and, if you've planned ahead, a famous Lighthouse Picnics lunch).

Save room in the trunk for MerryMeeting in Renews, John and Rita Chidley's living arts space full of work by local hands (and, rumour has it, some of the best coffee on the Loop).

Gas up and grab any supplies in Trepassey, the last fuel and cell service before St. Shott's, then carry on to your bed for the night: The Keeper's Kitchen. The Myrick family inn carries six generations of lighthouse keeping, and the evening is a gourmet meal with a story behind every course. Reserve dinner when you book the room, and ask your hosts about a packed lunch for tomorrow. Staying out here means you wake up right at the caribou barrens, no early drive, no backtracking.

Day 2: The Oldest Morning on Earth

No alarm needed, and no driving to do. The barrens around St. Shott's are home to a wandering caribou herd, and because you slept right here, the morning is yours. After breakfast at the inn, head out onto the barrens with binoculars and patience; this is wildlife on its own terms, right outside the door.

From there it's a short drive east to Portugal Cove South for the experience people cross oceans for: the guided hike into Mistaken Point, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where you'll stand, in sock feet, on a 565-million-year-old sea floor printed with the oldest large fossils ever found on Earth. Tours run once or twice daily in season and spots are limited, so reserve ahead. Eat your packed lunch on the trail with the wind for company.

If your legs have one more stop in them, the gravel road past the reserve leads to Cape Race Lighthouse, the station that received the Titanic's distress call. Worth the detour.

The drive home is anything but a drive home. At St. Vincent's, the beach drops away so steeply that humpbacks chase capelin within metres of the sand. From mid-June through early August, you can watch whales with your boots on the beach, no boat required. This is the stop we tell people not to rush. Bring a thermos, find a seat on the stones, and stay as long as the whales do.

St. Vincent's: whale watching with your boots on the beach.

From there it's an easy ninety minutes up Route 90 to St. John's, sun-tired and full of the south shore, in plenty of time for supper downtown. Two days, one coastline, and a fire on the beach at the heart of it all. When you're ready to plan your own, book your Beach Boil Up and let us hold the centre of your first day.

When to Go and What to Bring

• Mid-June to early August: whales, puffins, and the capelin roll. Peak everything.
• Late May to mid-June: icebergs offshore and empty roads.
• September: golden light, berries on the barrens, fewer crowds.

Whatever the month, pack layers, a rain shell, and proper footwear; the Irish Loop writes its own weather. Cell coverage fades south of Ferryland, so download your maps before you leave the city, and book your boat tour, your Boil Up, your fossil hike, and your room before you set out.