Description
The 1500km/900 mile-long all-season route is entirely paved and includes the 500-km/300-mile-long Viking Trail (NL-430) up the Great Northern Peninsula. Driving at night is not recommended on the island of Newfoundland, as moose outnumber people. Otherwise, night driving in NB and NS on the Trans-Canada is fine.
The trip shares much with the Eastern Trans-Canada trip until Deer Lake, when a left is made onto the Viking Trail. The Trail offers access to Gros Morne National Park as it heads up the Great Northern Peninsula to L'Anse-Aux-Meadows Historic Site, where Leif Erikson established the only known Viking settlement in North America in 989 AD, 500 years before Christopher Columbus mistook the Carribean for India.
Grose Morne is possibly the best National Park in Canada, certainly on par with Banff and Jasper in the Rocky Mountains, while enjoying an order of magnitude less visitors. The park surrounds a huge inlet ringed by the highest portion of the Long Range Mountains. Boat trips down a fjord is available as well as various hikes up the mountains. On Table Mountain, there is no vegetation because of its nearly unique geography. The World Heritage Site is one of only two places where the Earth's mantle was thrust up through the crust.
Beyond Gros Morne is Port-Aux-Choix National Heritage Site, and the only patch of barren Arctic tundra on Newfoundland, the rest of the island largely consisting of boreal forest. Along the entire peninsula the coast is littered with dozons of fishing villages. Near the north end of the peninsula, a ferry across the Strait of Belle Isle to the Labrador mainland is available, where the North Shore Ferry and TLH trips terminate.
Near the end of the Viking Trail, a loop takes the road to the east side of the peninsula and the northernmost point in Newfoundland. There, iceberg and whalewatching boat trips are available, in conventional boats or Viking sailing ships. At L'Anse-aux-Meadows, a National Historic Site preserves the location where Leif Erikson established the only known Viking settlement in North America in 989 AD, 500 years before Christopher Columbus mistook the Carribean for India. Nearby, a complete replica of a Viking trading settlement has been built, with interpreters.
Getting There
The Viking Trail is accessed via the Trans-Canada Highway, which passes through NB and NS before taking the ferry to Newfoundland, an adventure in itself, detailed as part of other trips. The TCH is accessed via Maine and New Brunswick, or via NY/VT/NH and Quebec. It's also possible to take a ferry to NS from ME.
Alternatives / Spurs
A short spur to Roddickton and Englee at the north end of the Peninsula is worthwhile, allowing more icebergs to be viewed. Spurs within Gros Morne Park are recommended as well. In a sense, Viking Trail and the eastern Trans-Canada in Newfoundland are alternative routes or spurs. While getting to Newfoundland, the spur loop of the Cabot Trail in NS through Cape Breton Highlands National Park is highly recommended.
For a shorter trip, turn round in Cape Breton. But then it's no longer the Viking Trail trip, is it? See Maritimes Tour instead.
Sights / Attractions
Gros Morne, Table Mountain, Long Range Mountains, fjords, fishing villages, waterfalls, icebergs, whales, puffins, seals, viking boat, viking settlement.
Claims to Fame
The Viking Trail leads to the northernmost point of Newfoundland, near 51 degrees latitude. L'Anse-Aux-Meadows is the only known viking settlement in North America.
Estimates
One way from NYC is 3-4 days of driving depending upon whether the NS/NL ferry is overnight. Allow more time for sight-seeing. The only problem is that you'll want to spend a few more weeks exploring Newfoundland. The route can be retraced, or return is available via the TLH or North Shore trips.
Links
Honeymoon Travelogue
Strait of Belle Isle ferry info (MV Apollo)
NS-Newfoundland info (Marine Atlantic)