You can get to St. John’s either by air or by ferry from Nova Scotia. The cost of travel will depend on how many are traveling, and where you are coming from. A travel subsidy will be available for those participating as performers in our Concert Series. We will also be discussing block booking options with our two air carriers, Westjet and Air Canada, to see if we can obtain discounted rates for conference participants. Check this site for information about possible discounted air tickets in coming months.

For those ready to book travel to the conference, here are your options:

Air Travel  

Westjet and Air Canada fly into the St. John’s International Airport. The two carriers fly into St. John’s from Toronto, Halifax, Moncton and another carrier flies direct from New Jersey, with those hubs providing connection to other destinations. Your travel agent or online reservation service can help you with your booking. If further assistance is needed, please contact us.

Ferry Service  

Our provincial ferry service runs to Newfoundland on a regular basis from North Sydney, Nova Scotia, which is on the eastern shore of Cape Breton Island. The drive through Nova Scotia, across the causeway to Cape Breton and then north to North Sydney is very picturesque. Options for stopping along the way include Rita McNeil’s Tearoom in Big Pond, and the town of Baddeck, home of the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. Once you arrive in North Sydney, you may have to spend the night while waiting for the ferry. There is a good selection of motels and bed and breakfast establishments there. We would be happy to help you locate one, if needed. Some of the more affordable motels have pools and North Sydney is also an interesting town to explore.

There are two possible ferry runs to consider:

The shorter is a 6-7 hour crossing to Port-aux-Basques. You will then be driving 10-12 hours (through Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Winsor and Stephenville) to get to St. John’s. Some prefer to drive straight through, after rolling off the ferry, but a stopover along the way or a visit to Gros Morne National Park is also a wonderful option to consider, en route.

The longer ferry run is the overnight 14-16 hour run to Argentia, following which you are approximately 1 hour and 44 minutes drive from St. John’s. Those taking the overnight ferry may book a stateroom for sleeping onboard. If you take this route, it is customary to stop in Goobies to buy a belt buckle at the local Irving Big Stop. Seriously, the Argentia route, though shorter, is also interesting, and possible detours en route to St. John’s would include the bird sanctuary at Cape St. Mary’s as well as Salmonier Nature Park. Placentia, just the other side of Argentia, has Castle Hill, an old fortification.

Ferries may be booked online at the Marine Atlantic website: www.marine-atlantic.ca. Ferry reservations fill quickly in the summer, so book well ahead, if you come by way of the ferry.

Maps and travel tools from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador are here.

Vehicle Rental

Rental vehicles are limited, so book well ahead if you will need one