Welcome to Wild Wales Tours
Newfoundland & Labrador,
an Eleven Day Adventure, July 16-26, 2026
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This eleven-day adventure for twelve people begins at Deer Lake on the western shore of Newfoundland, next to the Gros Morne National Park. We believe in small group travel, to promote meaningful experiences, flexibility, and connect you with the local people. Most of the time we will be in small outports, supporting small family, owned businesses. We expect you to be able to walk at least a mile a day to get to the sites we will be visiting. There will be ample opportunities for those folks who would like to hike including further, before we get on the bus in the morning, or after supper.
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Thursday, July 16, 4pm
We gather at the Deer Lake Motel to greet each other. Taff the Director of Wild Wales Tours will present on ‘Newfoundland and it’s People’. This night we will be providing your supper at the Deer Lake Motel.
Friday, July 17, 9am
Our friendly bus driver will pick us up, and for the next two days we will be joined by Paul Knott, a local historian and guide, who was born and raised in Norris Point. This morning we will take a short walk on the Tablelands, the earth’s mantle: a bizarre and beautiful landscape among the glacially carved valleys and unique plants and vegetation that call the Tablelands their home.
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Our lunch is at Woody Point. We board a small ferry and ride across Bonne Bay, a salt water fjord, to Norris Point. Then we take a short ride up the western coast to Cow Head where we will be staying for two nights at the Shallow Bay Motel & Cabins. Supper is at our motel. Cow Head is the home of the Gros Morne Theater, featuring a show with local music and humor. We strongly recommend taking in a show on one of your nights. Tickets are around $35 per person, and there is a different show each night.
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Saturday, July 18, 9am
This morning we visit Green Point. Almost 500 million years ago, these rocks formed on the bottom of an ocean floor. Here geologists have discovered fossils that define the boundary between the Cambrian and Ordovician periods, which makes Green Point a world geological benchmark. We recommend taking a boat trip on Western Brook Pond, a fresh water fjord, (two hours $80 approx).
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Sunday, July 19
After breakfast we head up to St. Barb’s to catch the ferry to Blanc Sablon, Quebec, across the Straits of Belle Isle (90 minutes). Tonight’s stay will be at Forteau, in Labrador, where we will be warmly welcomed by our host. We enjoy supper at a local restaurant followed by a presentation on local history and the fishing industry.
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Monday, July 20, 8:30am
After breakfast we head north on Route 510 to Mary’s Harbor on the eastern shore of Labrador. Here we will board our ferry to Battle Harbor (65 minutes), for a two-night stay at the Battle Harbor Historic Site. Once the economic and social center of southeastern Labrador, and the "Capital of Labrador" during the 19th century due to its thriving saltfish trade Battle Harbor is now a preserved 19th-century fishing village. Our accommodations will be in the restored fishing homes, guided tours by locals. We will be guided and entertained by local musicians and storytellers.
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Tuesday, July 21, 8am
After breakfast we embark on a guided tour with staff who grew up on the island and
visit Cape St. Charles, the most easterly point in the continental North America.
From the hill above the fishing village you will be able to traverse the scenic trails, sit at the edge of the Labrador Sea, and look out for icebergs, whales and passing ships while you breath the salt air. There are no roads or cars on the island. This very special place transports us back in time.
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Wednesday, July 22, 8am
After breakfast we board the ferry back to Mary’s Harbor, and head down the coast to the Red Bay Basque Whaling Station, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here we explore where the Basque whalers once produced the oil that lit the lamps of Europe in the early 1500’s.
The Basque whaling galleon San Juan sank off Saddle Island across from Red Bay, Labrador in December of 1565, after a violent storm. It was the end of the whaling season and they had a full load of whale oil on board. The well-preserved wreck, found in 1978, provided invaluable insight into 16th-century shipbuilding and Basque whaling, a practice that was once dominant in the area. For the past ten years a replica of the San Juan has been built in the Basque Country using traditional techniques and materials, a collaborative project between the Basque and Canadian governments, she will sail from Spain to Red Bay in the summer of 2026!
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Below is a chalupa -a mid-16th century boat used by the Basque whalers. This 8-meter (26”) chalupa was discovered in the mud and silt beneath the sunken San Juan. The craft was designed to handle tough conditions like strong tides and high winds. It held a crew of seven—one steersman and six oarsmen, including a harpooner—that pursued and killed whales that were three times the size of their vessel.
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Thursday, July 23, 7am
After breakfast we will board the 9am ferry back to Newfoundland, and a stop in Flower Cove for lunch before heading up to St. Anthony’s. This afternoon is a trip out into the bay with Dark Tickle Boat Expedition Tours, to look for icebergs, whales, dolphins and birds. Tonight we will be staying in Straitview at the South West Cabins, next door to the UNESCO Viking settlement at L’ Anse aux Meadows.
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Friday, July 24, 9am
After breakfast at Café Nymphe is a visit to L’ Anse aux Meadows, an archaeological site (first discovered in the 1960s), of a Norse settlement dating approximately 1,000 years ago. The site is located on the northern most tip of Newfoundland. With carbon dating estimates between 990 and 1050 CE, L’Anse aux Meadows is the only undisputed site of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact between Europeans and the Americas, outside of Greenland.
In the afternoon we visit Saint Anthony and the Grenfell Historic Properties for a tour and presentation on Dr Wilfred Grenfell, who committed himself to improve the medical, economic and spiritual needs of the fishermen and their families, in the early 1900’s.
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Saturday, July 25, 9am
After breakfast we board the bus and head west and south down the coast to the National Historic site at Port au Choix. For over 5000 years this location has been the crossroads for various indigenous and European cultures. Evidence of four ancient cultures have been uncovered here: Maritime Archaic, the Groswater, the Dorset Palaeo-Eskimo and Recent Period First Nations. This site is regarded as one of the richest archeological finds in North America. After lunch we head down Route 430 to Cow Head for our last night together. Over dinner we will share and celebrate. Wild Wales Tours will be providing your supper this evening.
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Sunday July 26, 7am
After early breakfast this morning, and we head south to Deer Lake (75 minutes) to the airport for your trip home, or continuation of your travels. We will gather for goodbyes, and take pictures at the airport. Please plan your flight to depart after 11am. If you do have an early flight, we would be able to transport you to Deer lake and catch your flight the following morning. There is a bus that leaves the Deer Lakes, Circle K, daily, that takes you to St John’s the (capital of the province) at 12:33 pm, arriving in St John’s at 9:40pm. C$89.
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We do recommend that you fly into Deer Lake a day early in case of a delay with your flight, which does happen. Flights into Deer Lake usually arrive between 11:30pm- 1:30am. We suggest that you fly in on July 15th(actually arriving on the 16th early in the morning). I will be there to pick you up at the airport to transport you to our motel, a five-minute drive.
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Please do bring a rain jacket. We will be close to the ocean most of the time and we recommend bringing a warm down jacket, wool hat, a thin pair of gloves, and hiking sticks. You will need the warm clothing when we out on the water.
PAYMENTS
The cost of the trip $4850. We will email invoices which can be paid online with a credit card. A deposit of $1616 per person ($3232 per couple) is required to secure your place, followed by a payment of $1616 ($3232 per couple) November, 2025. The final payment of $1616 per person ($3232 per couple) is due on January 1, 2026. The single room supplement is $500.
The price above includes your accommodations, transportation, guides, iceberg & whale watching boat trip, (weather permitting), boat ferry, three evening meals, five breakfasts, museums and historical sites and all local taxes (15%), airport pick-up and return to Deer Lake Airport.
You will be paying for your airfare, seven evening meals, five breakfasts, and all lunches, and refreshments. Please do let us know if you have any special dietary needs.
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REFUNDS
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You may cancel your Wild Wales Walkabout for a full refund, minus a $200 processing fee, if you do so more than 4 months prior to your scheduled tour (March 16, 2026).
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If you cancel between 3 and 4 months before your scheduled tour, you will receive a 50% refund, minus a $200 processing fee, ONLY if your slot can be filled. If your slot cannot be filled, there is not refund.
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If you cancel fewer than 3 months (April 16, 2026) prior to your scheduled tour, and your slot cannot be filled, no refund will be given. If your slot is filled you receive a 50% refund.
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PASSPORTS
If your passport isn’t current, it can take up to 10 weeks to process a renewal. However, it normally takes around a month. If you have had your passport for years, make sure it does not expire in 2026! You will need to have it expire after January 1, 2027.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
It is highly recommended you purchase travel insurance. It covers almost everything involved with your trip: flights, bags, delays, healthcare, etc. And if, for any illness or family-related reason, you have to cancel after the refund deadline, the insurance should cover it. One company to consider is TravelGuard.
LAUNDRY & TEMPS
We will be near the sea often and it will be breezy, so we need to dress accordingly. The normal temperatures in June/July range from 45F to 75F degrees. The tour is casual and there is no dress code.
There will be appliances to wash and dry your clothes in Cow Head and Battle Harbor.
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Suggested clothing for our tour:
A waterproof jacket.
A good pair of shoes.
Wool hat and gloves.
Warm jacket.
Some guests like to use hiking sticks.
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WALKING PREPARATION
In order to enjoy the tour you need to be able to walk at least a mile or two a day. Guests who like to hike can take the time before breakfast or when we arrive at our destination each evening.
In July there is plenty of light from early morning until around 10pm.
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ELECTRICITY
Electricity runs on the same system as the US.
MEDICAL INSURANCE
We do recommend that you buy travel insurance.
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PHONES AND INTERNET​
If you have an iPhone you can call your provider and make arrangements for your phone to work in Canada for a small fee. You will be able to call and receive calls from home, send emails and text. It works very well, automatically going into effect when your airplane touches down. All of our accommodations will have Internet, as well the sites, restaurants and cafes we will be visiting.
The best source for cash will be ATM’s which are present in most places where we will be visiting and staying.
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Hywel Taff Roberts the Director of Wild Wales Tours & Walkabouts will be leading the tour along with other local guides along the way. Taff’s first visit to Newfoundland was twenty years ago, when two of his dearest friends moved from New Jersey to the province. It did not take him long to find out why they moved, and he fell in love with its people, culture and traditions. Taff bought a home on the island, is passionate about the people and visits yearly.
Come join us!
Taff
hyweltroberts@gmail.com
Cell: 507 458 8637
Wild Wales Tours & Walkabouts
Director
www.wildwalestours.com
wildwalestours@gmail.com
Sandbar Storytelling Festival
Board of Directors, Artistic Director
www.sandbarstorytellingfestival.org
info@sandbarstorytellingfestival.org
Bluebells at Tal Y Llyn
