Where You Will Go

St. John's 

 

Where San Francisco meets Dublin 

St. John's, the province's capital and largest centre, is a city that manages to feel like a town. A modern city with its fishing roots showing. Its fantastic geographical location together with its tumultuous, romantic history make St. John's one of the best destinations in Canada.    The oldest city in North America and Britain's first overseas colony, St. John's has sometimes been called the birthplace of the British Empire.

"St. John's is the most entertaining city in North America", Travel Writer, Jan Morris  

In 1497 John Cabot became the first European to find the unique protected harbour that led to the development of the city.   Given that Newfoundland is the closest point to Europe, and because of the abundance of fish in the Grand Banks, a European settlement emerged in 1528.   From the beginning the settlement was the scene of battles, raids, fires, pirating and celebration.   The Dutch attacked in 1665, the French ruled on three occasions, but each time the English prevailed.   The Ireland-Newfoundland link is everywhere in this 500-year-old town. The main streets are intersected by steep crossroads and lined by painted wood-frame buildings, serving to create a patchwork of colours rising up from the sea. Populated by 125,000 - a quarter of the province's population - it is the heart of commerce, administration, politics, and art.    Thousands of Irish came here to work the summer fishery, beginning in the mid-seventeenth century.  Today about one-third of the Newfoundland population has Irish roots, and their heritage can be seen, and heard, everywhere.

"With a long history of setlement from Ireland, Scottland, Wales and England, the proud, quirky, talkative people of St. John's have always loved good, old-fshioned merrymaking", Esquire Magazine.

The physical attributes of St. John's location have inspired many initiatives, including the first transatlantic wireless telegraph message, forty pioneering airplane crossings (including Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh) and also was the touchdown site for Pan Am's first transatlantic flight.   The wharves have hosted ships for hundreds of years.   As a port city, St. John's was rumbustious.  Over eighty taverns were in use as long ago as 1775, and rum was imported at a rate of one million liters annually.  

Today the city claims to have the most bars per capita in Canada.

You won't be disappointed with the arts community in St. John's.     As a result of on-going support for the arts in the schools, the theatre and traditional music are exceptional.   The dinner theatres are well worth while, as is the music that c an be found in the local pubs.  

Finally, there is excellent hiking within, and around St. John's.