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Iconic drive · Newfoundland
Bonavista & Discovery Trail
Puffins, icebergs and outport Newfoundland at its most photogenic.
Overview
The Bonavista Peninsula concentrates everything people travel to Newfoundland for — outport villages, sea-stack cliffs, puffin colonies and, in early summer, icebergs — into a peninsula you can drive in a long weekend.
From St. John's, the Discovery Trail heads out along the peninsula through Clarenville to Trinity, Elliston and Bonavista, roughly 480 km as an estimate for the round trip. Trinity is a preserved 18th-century town; Elliston bills itself as the root-cellar capital and offers unusually close land-based puffin viewing.
Iceberg season along this coast is typically late spring into early summer, varies hugely year to year, and cannot be promised. Track a current iceberg-sighting map rather than assuming. Whale sightings tend to build through summer with the capelin.
Distances and driving times on this page are planning estimates measured door to door without stops. Confirm ferry sailings, seasonal road openings, park access, fuel availability and weather with the operator or provincial highway service before you leave.
Distance
≈ 480 km
Estimate, round trip from St. John's
Wildlife
Puffins
Land-based viewing at Elliston
Icebergs
Variable
Late spring to early summer
Pace
4 days
Weather-flexible
The route
From start to finish
An approximate path through 5 key waypoints along the drive.
Driving times
Leg by leg
325 km across 4 legs. Times exclude stops, ferries, and weather contingencies.
| # | From → To | Distance | Driving time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | St. John's → Clarenville | 190 km | 2h 05m | — |
| 02 | Clarenville → Trinity | 70 km | 1h 00m | — |
| 03 | Trinity → Elliston | 50 km | 0h 50m | — |
| 04 | Elliston → Bonavista | 15 km | 0h 15m | — |
| Total | 325 km | 4h+ | Drive time only |
Day by day
The itinerary
A suggested route designed to balance driving time with the stops that matter.
St. John's to Trinity
Drive the Trans-Canada to Clarenville, then out to Trinity for the evening light on the harbour.
Trinity
Walk the heritage properties, hike the Skerwink Trail, and take a boat tour if the sea allows.
Elliston and Bonavista
View puffins from the Elliston headland, then Cape Bonavista lighthouse and the Dungeon Provincial Park sea arches.
Return via the Discovery Trail
Loop back through the peninsula's smaller communities toward St. John's.
When to drive
Month by month
Best window: June – September. Plan around shoulder months for fewer crowds at the cost of variable weather.
Budget
Three ways to drive it
Smart
$180–$290/ day
- Drive days
- 4
- Lodging
- Campgrounds, motels and small B&Bs
- Food
- Groceries, bakeries and roadside diners
- Experiences
- Self-guided hikes, beaches and viewpoints
Mid
$330–$560/ day
- Drive days
- 4
- Lodging
- Inns, lodges and mid-range hotels
- Food
- Regional restaurants and one standout meal a day
- Experiences
- One guided tour or ticketed attraction most days
Premium
$880+/ day
- Drive days
- 4
- Lodging
- Boutique hotels, resorts and premium lodges
- Food
- Chef-led tasting menus and producer visits
- Experiences
- Private guides, charters and small-group tours
Editorial picks
Where to stop, sleep, and eat
Stop
Skerwink Trail
Port Rexton
Sea stacks, cliffs and often whales, in a 5 km loop.
Stop
Elliston puffin site
Elliston
One of the closest land-based puffin viewpoints in North America.
Stop
Cape Bonavista lighthouse
Bonavista
Restored light on the headland, with sea-stack views nearby.
Signature stops
Don't miss
Trinity heritage town
Skerwink Trail
Elliston puffin viewing site
Cape Bonavista lighthouse
Before you go
The prep checklist.
Practical things to lock in before you leave the driveway.
- Track a live iceberg-sighting map rather than assuming a season.
- Fog can erase a viewpoint in minutes — keep plans flexible.
- Stay back from unfenced cliff edges, especially in wind.
- Book Trinity accommodation early; the town is small and popular.
Where this road leads
Related destinations
Good to know
Frequently
asked.
Practical answers from travellers who have driven this route.
- Will I see icebergs?
- Possibly, in late spring and early summer, but numbers and timing swing wildly between years. Use a live iceberg-sighting map to set expectations before you travel.
- How close can I get to the puffins?
- Elliston's site offers a viewing headland facing a nesting island. Keep to marked ground, stay back from cliff edges and never approach burrows.
- Is this route doable with the Irish Loop?
- Yes — both start from St. John's, so a week lets you combine the Avalon's Irish Loop with the Bonavista Peninsula.
Planning the bigger trip?
Read our full guide to Canadian road-trip itineraries.
Along this route
Parks, camps, and cities on the drive
Every place below is within a comfortable side-trip of the route waypoints — surfaced automatically from our national-park, provincial-park, campground, and city datasets.
Nearby national parks
Cities along the way
Curated trips
Related packages
Travel styles
Related experiences
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Orcas in the Salish Sea, polar bears in Churchill, puffins on the Atlantic cliffs.
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