The lesser-known mid-haul holiday destination with ‘jelly-bean’ houses, whale-watching and new direct UK flights
A HOLIDAY destination yet to be discovered by Brits is about to be much easier to get to from the UK.
Canadian airline WestJet is launching new flights from the UK to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada.
The London Gatwick to St John’s route, launching from May 1, 2024, will take just 5hr45, being the most easterly point of the country.
Currently taking around 14 hours with a connection, they won’t cost much either, with one-way fares from £232.
This makes it faster and cheaper than New York – making it the perfect mid-haul winter destination.
While St John’s is a city, it feels much more like a town with just 110,00 locals.
Some even call it a “mini San Francisco” due to its hilly terrain, with the tourism board calling it “the perfect combination of big-city luxury and traditional small-town charm”.
It sadly isn’t very old, after a series of fires in the late 1800s.
Many of the houses lining the narrow streets are painted in different colours, with one of the most popular roads being nicknamed Jelly Bean Row.
Most tourists head to George Street in the evenings with bars and nightclubs as well as festivals throughout the year.
Make sure to grab a Newfoundland and Labrador tea bun, inspired by European travellers and similar to a rock cake.
Or grab an award-winning beer from Quidi Vidi Brewery, that uses water harvested from icebergs off the coast.
For some more wholesome activities take a walk to Cape Spear Lighthouse, dating back nearly 200 years with amazing ocean views.
St John’s is even home to one of the largest urban parks in Canada, Pippy Park, with golf and even a campground on-site.
And the rest of Newfoundland and Labrador has a whopping 18,000 miles of coastline with beaches and hiking trails.
Nature boat trips include whale-watching – the province being the world’s largest concentration of humpback whales – and puffin spotting, as well as hunting for icebergs.
While iceberg hunting may sound strange, it is one of the most popular activities with 10,000-year old glaciers being spotted in the region, breaking off from glaciers in Greenland.
Back in 2017, an iceberg in Ferryland, Newfoundland, became a tourist attraction after it became stuck in the water.
The east coast of Canada is also known for being used to film Netflix drama Anne With An E set across Prince Edward Island and nearby New Brunswick.
In the meantime, Sun Travel recently headed to Quebec for an autumnal break – here is what to expect from a holiday to the region.
And here are the best things that have come from Canada.