Signal Hill is the walk up to Cabot Tower and the drop into the Narrows, the city and harbour beneath you. Trails run the hill around the tower, coastal on one side and the harbour mouth on the other. A short stop at the tower is enough for the view, or you can spend the day on those paths.
Cape Spear is the other day from Pippy Park, a white-and-red lighthouse on a grass cliff and Atlantic swell working the rocks below. Icebergs, whales, and seabirds show offshore in season. Parks Canada calls that point Canada's most easterly point of land. The lighthouse is the oldest surviving one in Newfoundland and Labrador, with visitor services June through October and grounds open year-round.
Sleep at Pippy Park inside the city on a full-service site with hookups. The campground runs mid-May into October. When you leave town, take Route 10 south.
The Irish Loop and Witless Bay puffins
Route 10 runs south from St. John's as the Irish Loop. Tour boats leave Bay Bulls for the islands in the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve. Puffins raft on the water around the boat and nest in burrows in the island cliffs. The province calls this North America's largest Atlantic Puffin colony. Ferryland is farther down that shore if you keep driving after the boats.
La Manche Provincial Park is the overnight on that road, in the trees above a river gorge. A suspension bridge crosses to the abandoned village, house foundations still on the far side. Some sites have electrical hookups. Most loops take larger rigs, so if you need more sleeping space than a campervan, look at RV rentals in St. John's.
Lock the site before you drive south. The van is the second booking. Watch for moose on the highway at night.
Butter Pot Provincial Park
Butter Pot Provincial Park is the other close night, on the Trans-Canada beside Big Otter Pond. Forested loops stay in the trees next to the water. The walk is Butter Pot Hill, and from the summit you look over the pond and the woods. ParksNL calls it one of the most popular provincial parks in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Argentia ferry to North Sydney is a seasonal overnight crossing about 90 minutes from St. John's, three sailings a week from late June into early October as of September 2026. If you are continuing across the island, Gros Morne leads the rest of Newfoundland and Labrador.