Bonavista is one of the oldest towns in Newfoundland. It has lots of history, adorable old buildings, and an iconic lighthouse. It’s also not too far (about 3.5 hours) from St. John’s. I’ve made two separate trips to this area, so I’ve got some great ideas for things to do in Bonavista, Newfoundland.
While other towns in Newfoundland like Trinity or Twillingate are tourist favourites thanks to their picturesque settings, Bonavista has my heart. It’s my favourite town in the province since it just feels… real.
It’s a mix of newly restored and falling down buildings. It has tons of history. While it has lots of shops, restaurants, hotels, and attractions for tourists, it also feels like a real town where about 3000 Newfoundlanders live and work.
The other big reason you will love Bonavista is the puffins! There are three different places to see puffins from land near the town, including by far the best puffin colony in Newfoundland. I love these cute and clumsy little birds and could watch them for hours.
This guide to things to do in Bonavista, Newfoundland includes:
- Bonavista Basics: How to get there? How long to spend? Best time to go? What’s the weather like? And lots more.
- Map of Bonavista that includes all the places I mention in this post.
- Best things to do in Bonavista: Historic sites, a lighthouse, hikes, shops, puffins, and more.
- Where to eat in Bonavista: Restaurants that I recommend.
- Where to stay in Bonavista: My picks for the best hotels and B&Bs.
Hey there: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks for your support. -Taryn
Bonavista Basics
How to Get to Bonavista
The town of Bonavista is at the end of the Bonavista Peninsula. It’s a 3.5-hour drive from St. John’s via the Trans Canada Highway and Newfoundland Route 230. There is no public transportation in this area so you will need to rent a car in St. John’s and drive yourself.
The Trans Canada Highway is smooth and easy to drive, but Route 230 has lots of potholes and bumps. Go slow and enjoy the drive! The main attractions on the Peninsula are clustered together near the end between Trinity and Bonavista, which are 45 minutes apart.
How Long to Spend in Bonavista
I recommend spending at least one night in Bonavista. And in general you’ll want to spend at least two or three nights on the Bonavista Peninsula so you can visit both Bonavista and and nearby Trinity, plus take some short hikes or a boat tour.
You can see a few of the major sites in a single day, but you will be very rushed and spend a lot of time driving.
Best Time to Go to Bonavista
The main tourist season in Bonavista is from mid-June to late September. That is when the weather is the nicest and all of the hotels, restaurants, tour companies, and historic sites are open. It’s also when the puffins are nesting.
I visited at the beginning of June and a few places weren’t open yet for the year, or had just opened. If you plan to visit in May, June, or September, check the opening hours of key attractions before you go.
Bonavista Weather
Summer in Bonavista has great weather… by Newfoundland standards. The average temperatures are between 10 and 20°C. June, July, and August get the least rain. However, it can be rainy, foggy, or chilly at any time. Pack a rain jacket and a warm jacket like a fleece or lightweight puffy jacket, just in case.
History of Bonavista
Bonavista is an important place because it is the site of one of the earliest known European exploratory voyages to North America. John Cabot (or Giovanni Caboto), an Italian explorer sailing for England, landed here in 1497. He was so happy to see land that he allegedly said “O buon vista”, which translates to “Oh, happy sight”.
Side note: If I’m going to talk about European explorers and their voyages of so-called “discovery”, I need to point out that Indigenous people have lived here since time immemorial. Newfoundland is the traditional territory of the Beothuk and Mi’kma’ki.
In the decades that followed Cabot’s visit, Bonavista became an important fishing town since it is close to the offshore fishing grounds. The town boomed and busted along with the success of the fishery. At one time it was one of the biggest cities in Newfoundland with about 20,000 residents.
Today it is mostly a tourist town with about 3,000 inhabitants, but the fishing legacy lives on in the form of many historic sites and buildings.
Bonavista Map
To help you find your way around, I made this custom Google Map of Bonavista for you. It includes every single place I mention in this post.
Best Things To Do in Bonavista
Cape Bonavista Lighthouse
The Cape Bonavista Lighthouse is an easy 10-minute drive north of Bonavista. It is one of Newfoundland’s most iconic buildings, with its distinctive red and white stripes. We saw several houses on the Bonavista Peninsula with mini Cape Bonavista Lighthouse-shaped mailboxes!
The lighthouse is a provincial historic site and you can visit the exhibits inside for $6 per person. But exploring the grounds is free. On my last visit, it was really foggy, which meant that I didn’t get the classic shot of the gorgeous lighthouse.
But it did make for some really beautiful moody vibes when we walked over to the nearby coast on the northeast side of the lighthouse. We could see the waves breaking against the rocks. And the little island just offshore is a puffin colony, so we could see puffins flapping away through the fog.
The foghorn was also blaring at the lighthouse – a great reminder that this is still a working building! A family of foxes was living in the rocks on the west side of the lighthouse and watching the fox kits play was adorable! They didn’t seem to mind the foghorn: I guess it’s all they know!
Admire the Adorable Buildings
The historic centre of Bonavista is a great place to go for a wander. The streets seem to wind and crisscross each other in unexpected ways, so you never know where you will end up. (But don’t worry – there is a cell service so you can always count on Google Maps to put you back on track.)
My favourite area was around Church Street and along the waterfront. We loved looking at all the historic buildings and brightly painted houses. In the last few years, many of the old buildings have been restored as tourist rental accommodation, but there are still lots of old buildings in various states of beautiful decay.
A few buildings you might want to gawk at include the Garrick Theatre, Memorial United Church, Alexander Chapel of All Souls, and the Loyal Orange Lodge.
Go Shopping
Bonavista has a few cute boutiques that are worth a look. Most of them are on Church Street. Artistry on Church has lots of unique artisanal crafts, books, art, and more.
East Coast Glow makes incredible soaps, shampoos, and skincare from foraged sustainable ingredients. A few of the hotels we stayed in across Newfoundland (including the Russelltown Inn in Bonavista) had East Coast Glow products in their bathrooms. I loved their mint and rosemary iceberg-infused shampoo!
Aunt Sarah’s Chocolate Shop makes incredible hand-crafted chocolates in nearby Trinity, but they also have a location (and ice cream shop) in Bonavista.
Walk the Old Day’s Pond Boardwalk
If you want a quick leg-stretcher, walk the one-kilometre boardwalk around Old Day’s Pond. It has great views of some of the colourful buildings. If you want to walk a little further, you can follow the path along the creek out to the ocean near the Mockbeggar Plantation.
Visit a Historic Site
Since it dates back to 1497, it’s no surprise that Bonavista has quite a few historic sites. The most popular one is the Ryan Premises National Historic Site of Canada. I visited this site on my first trip to Bonavista and learned a lot. It has extensive exhibits about the 500-year history of fishing in Newfoundland, housed in 19th-century buildings.
The Mockbeggar Plantation is a provincial historic site that was an important part of Bonavista’s history. Today you can visit several buildings including a fish store, carpentry shop, cod-liver-oil factory and a historic home, restored to the 1939 Confederation question era. Guided tours are available. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit on my last visit to Bonavista.
The Matthew Legacy is a full-scale reproduction of John Cabot’s ship, the Matthew, that landed here in 1497. Built in 1997 to commemorate 500 years since Cabot’s arrival, the ship floats in its own boat bay in the harbour. You can take a guided tour of the ship that explains what life was like for sailors in the late 1400s.
Dungeon Provincial Park
Dungeon Provincial Park is located a few minutes northeast of Bonavista. You can get there via Dungeon Road (also known as Lance Cove Road) from Bonavista in the south or Bonavista Lighthouse in the North. The road is gravel, but it is fine for all cars.
The small park includes a spectacular crater and sea caves. From the viewing platform, you can look down into the crater as the ocean rushes in through two sinuous sea caves. Informal walking paths through the grass take you to clifftop viewpoints. But be careful near the edges!
On my first trip we didn’t know about Dungeon Provincial Park and I can’t believe we missed it. This spot was much more spectacular than I expected.
Town of Elliston Root Cellars
Elliston is a tiny fishing village 10 minutes from Bonavista on Route 238. Like most small fishing towns in Newfoundland, it is pretty cute. However, it is nicknamed the root cellar capital of the world with over 100 root cellars dug into hillsides throughout the town.
In the days before refrigeration, locals kept food cold year-round in underground root cellars. You are welcome to explore any unlocked root cellar in the town. Once you see what the root cellars look like, you’ll be spotting them in communities all over the Bonavista Peninsula. My husband and I made a game of it in the car, racing to see who could spot old root cellars in people’s yards as we drove past.
If you want coffee or a snack, visit The Puffin Cafe on Maberly Road. We stopped in to warm up on a cold day. Their partridgeberry tart was delicious! And the puffin-shaped chairs are adorable.
Elliston Puffin Viewing Site
The main reason to visit Elliston is to go to the puffin viewing site – it’s by far the best place to see puffins on land in Newfoundland. There are puffin tours to islands near St. John’s but those are boat tours where you can’t go ashore. In Elliston, you can see puffins up close… like sometimes they land right next you close!
The puffins nest on a rock islet just offshore between May and September. To find the viewing site, drive a few minutes down Maberly Road from Elliston. You’ll see the entrance to the site on your left – there is a parking lot one minute further on your right.
To see the puffins, follow the sometimes muddy path through the grass for five minutes to the end of the peninsula. You can look across the narrow channel to the puffins nesting on the island. And if you’re patient, some of them will land on the peninsula right in front of you!
Give the puffins lots of space to waddle around wherever they want. Resist the urge to get too close – you’ll scare them away. Binoculars and a camera with a zoom lens are a good idea, but I was able to get some good photos with just my phone!
Visiting the puffin site is free, but donations are appreciated. You can leave them in a box near the site entrance.
Hike The Chimney/Klondike Trail in Spillar’s Cove
If you’re looking for a short and easy hike with a great payoff, try the path to the Chimney on the Klondike Trail – it made my list of the best hikes in Newfoundland. It starts in Spillar’s Cove, about 5 minutes from Bonavista via Route 235.
The Klondike Trail is actually an old horse and cart route between Spillar’s Cove and Elliston. You can hike the entire 6.5 km length in about 2 hours. The Klondike Trail is part of the Hike Discovery trail system that includes nine trails along the Bonavista Peninsula.
But if you want a shorter and easier walk, stop at the first view of the coast where you can marvel at The Chimney, an impressive rock spire. The hike to the Chimney is just 2 km round-trip and takes about 45 minutes.
There is also a puffin colony on an islet just offshore here. The puffins aren’t quite as close as at Elliston, but you might have them all to yourself.
Visit the Town of Trinity
The cute historic town of Trinity is 45 minutes south of Bonavista via Route 230 and Route 239. It is famous for its huge number of historic buildings, and unlike Bonavista, most of them are restored. It’s worth a visit to wander through the town, go to the Rising Tide Theatre, and hike the Skerwink Trail, another one of my picks for the best hikes in Newfoundland.
Where to Eat in Bonavista
Bonavista is a small place so there aren’t that many restaurants to choose from. Thankfully, there are a few gems.
We had a great meal at Ragged Rocks Gastropub on Church Street. Their seafood chowder was one of the best I’ve ever had – such huge scallops! My husband also enjoyed the moose burger.
Dinner at Mifflin’s Tea Room was also great. It has an old-school, grandma’s front room kind of vibe… probably because it is located in the front of an old house. This is the place to go if you want to try traditional Newfoundland food. I had some great fishcakes and my husband had a huge plate of fisherman’s brewis, which is cooked hard bread with cod and scrunchions. It has a mashed potatoes with bacon feel… but with cod too.
There are a few other restaurants in Bonavista that we didn’t have time to try. The Boreal Diner gets good reviews for its casual fine-dining menu, but it was closed the night we visited. The Quintal Cafe also sounds yummy.
Where to Stay in Bonavista
We stayed at the Russelltown Inn, which was amazing. The inn is actually spread out over several historic homes that have been lovingly restored and modernized. It has a great location just around the corner from all the shops and restaurants on Church Street.
Our room had the most adorable wallpaper. I found out later that the print is called Bonavista Houses and the artist lives in Bonavista.
I’ve also heard good things about the Harbour Quarters Inn, which is next door to the Ryan Premises. The inn is a historic building on the waterfront that was restored in 2004.
The Bird Island B&B in Elliston gets great reviews. It’s one block from the Puffin Cafe and a short walk or drive to the puffin viewing site.
Final Thoughts
Bonavista is my favourite town in Newfoundland and I hope you’ll love it as much as I do. I don’t work for the tourist office, but if I did, I would say that Bonavista’s motto should be “Come for the puffins, stay for the historical ambiance.” And of course, if you’re going to visit Bonavista, you have to visit Trinity too!
If you have questions about things to do in Bonavista, leave them in the comments. I’d love to help.
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