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Historic St. John's Newfoundland and Cape Spear Tour

Recommended by 98% of travelers
St John's, Canada
High interest
Booked 2 times today.
  • 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
  • Pickup offered
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.9
·
· L_S ·
May 2026
We had a great time. Awesome stories and sing along songs. Awesome stops. Got a taste of everything and great timing at each spot. Perfect tour to get familiar with the area.
· Marilyn_B ·
Jun 2026
It was an excellent tour! I love the fact that it brought us to all the Main highlights just outside of St. John’s Which allowed me to Focus on the walks within town on my own time . Cliff our guide was very knowledgable about the history and area. He explained everything in detail and even a good location for lunch after the tour. I highly recommend this Tour.

Overview

    What's Included

    • Air-conditioned vehicle

      Meeting and Pickup

      Pickup points

      Select a pickup point

      Pickup details

      PICKUP TIMES START PRIOR TO TOUR START TIME. PLEASE LOOK FOR YOUR PICKUP TIME BELOW AND SELECT YOUR PICKUP LOCATION. OTHERWISE WE WILL NOT PICK YOU UP PLEASE NOTE WE ARE IN NEWFOUNDLAND NOT NEW BRUNSWICK. St. John New Brunswick is a different town which is roughly 1000 KM away. If you are travelling on a cruise ship and wish to be picked up at the pier, feel free to check out our Cape Spear, Signal Hill in St. Johns Newfoundland Shore Excursion. Pickup time depends on the location of pickup. We pick up prior to the listed departure time, a set amount of time- see list below. As an example of how this works, for a 9:30 tour, if the hotel listed says "30 minutes prior to departure," that means we should be there to pick you up right around 9:00 am. We will pick you up just outside of the lobby of each of the hotels unless otherwise specified. ALT Hotel – 15 minutes prior to tour departure Bannerman Park Suites – 20 minutes prior to tour departure Best Western – 45 minutes prior to tour departure Capital Hotel - 45 minutes prior to tour departure Courtyard by Marriott - 20 minutes prior to tour departure Delta - 10 minutes prior to tour departure *Pickup from Lower Lobby* DoubleTree - 20 minutes prior to tour departure *Pickup from Lower Lobby* Duckworth Hotel – 15 minutes prior to tour departure Extended Stay - 5 minutes prior to tour departure Fairfield Inn - 45 minutes prior to tour departure Franklin Hotel - 15 minutes prior to tour departure Gower Guest House – 15 minutes prior to tour departure Hampton Inn and Suites - 45 minutes prior to tour departure Hilton Garden Inn - 10 minutes prior to tour departure Holiday Inn Express - 45 minutes prior to tour departure Holiday Inn Portugal Cove Road - 40 minutes prior to tour departure Jag Hotel - 10 minutes prior to tour departure Leaside Manor - 5 minutes prior to tour departure Mallard Cottage – 25 minutes prior to tour departure Memorial University (MacPherson College) - 30 minutes prior to tour departure Monastery Spa and Suites – 5 minutes prior to tour departure Murray Premises - 15 minutes prior to tour departure Narrows B&B - 15 minutes prior to tour departure Pippy Park (Main Entrance) - 30 minutes prior to tour departure Ramada - 45 minutes prior to tour departure Sandman Signature – 45 minutes prior to tour departure Sheraton Hotel - 20 minutes prior to tour departure Super 8 Hotel - 40 minutes prior to tour departure The Roses B&B - 20 minutes prior to tour departure The Rooms - 30 minutes prior to tour departure Visitor Information Centre - 15 minutes prior to tour departure

      Itinerary

      1

      Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic Site

      15 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

      2

      Petty Harbour

      15 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

      3

      Jellybean Row Houses

      10 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

      4

      Signal Hill

      15 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

      5

      Quidi Vidi

      10 minutesAdmission Ticket Free

      Additional Info

      • Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 day of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
      • Not wheelchair accessible
      • Service animals allowed
      • Near public transportation
      • Most travelers can participate
      • We require a minimum of four people total booked on a tour in order for it to proceed, and we reserve the right to cancel the tour if we do not receive sufficient people
      • This tour is located in St. John's Newfoundland, not Saint John New Brunswick- they are different towns in different provinces and not close to one another
      • Passengers may have to go up and down a couple of steps. We do stop and walk around at the different sites, however if desired they can stay in the vehicle.
      • The tour lasts 3.5 hours, which includes the driving time to get to the different sites, as well as pickups. We generally spend around 15 minutes at each stop but the driving time to get to each place adds a significant amount of time to the tour
      • The closest pickup to the Cruise Terminal is the Alt Hotel, roughly 300 Meters Away
      • Pickup starts prior to tour departure time- please check in the list to see how long before the start time of the tour you should be ready for pickup
      • Please ensure that you will be in Newfoundland and not New Brunswick
      • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

      Cancellation Policy

      You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

      Traveler Photos

      Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
      Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
      Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
      Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
      Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

      Reviews

      4.9
      based on 305 reviews
      Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
      Sort by: Most insightful

      2 newbies

      Looloo_D, Jul 2026
      Brian was very knowledgeable and helpful with information, a very pleasant tour. I highly recommend it.

      St. John's bus tour

      James_D, Jul 2026
      Great tour with friendly and knowledgeable tour guide. Got to see a lot of the sights in and around St. John's.

      Wonderful tour! Our tour...

      Anne_S, Jul 2026
      Wonderful tour! Our tour guide Mark did a great job. Our tour was very informative and we were able to stop and see so many great sights. This was exactly what we were looking for.

      Enjoyable history for all.

      LoisandGreg_T, Jul 2026
      Very knowledgeable guide. Lots of interesting information shared about local and provincial history. We really enjoyed the tour.

      Wish it could be longer

      Hanna_L, Jul 2026
      Everything was great, except I wish the duration can be longer. We had about 20 min in each stop. Would be great if it can be 30 min.

      Loved this tour

      Edward_S, Jul 2026
      Overall an excellent tour and good value for the money We were picked up at the Alt hotel which was visible from our ship and a quick 5-10 minute walk depending on your pace. Hotel has a nice 1st floor lobby with a coffee bar, restrooms and seating. Front desk staff were very friendly and helpful. Bus pickup is at the main entrance of the hotel on Water St. Tour was operated by McCarthy so look for a bus with that name. Our tour had 20 people and bus could hold maybe 24 max so nice size group. Pickup time was a little confusing as it said 30 minutes before tour time but it actually was the tour time so I recommend confirming actual pickup time. Generally speaking the amount of time spent at each site was appropriate and the drive between each site was no more than 15 or 20 minutes. Petty Harbor was a very nice 1st stop. Good overview of the towns history and good picture spots. Easy walking. Cape Spear was beautiful. A good walk up and down some hills and stairs but you can stay on the path if "hiking" is not for you. Restrooms and a coffee shop are available. Signal hill/John Cabot's lookout. Beautiful view of St John's harbor with a slight uphill walk. A local man had his Newfoundland dog with him and you can take a picture too. A small tip is a nice gesture but not mandatory. The lighthouse was interesting to see and go up top for pictures. Note the stairs are quite narrow. Quidi Vidi was our final official stop. Beautiful picture spots with a few small shops and Iceberg beer at the brewery is a good option, time permitting. Level ground for walking and restrooms available in the art building. Drove down Jelly bean row on the way back to our dropoff. Ellis our tour guide was fantastic. Informative, witty, punctual and communications were clear and easy to understand. We really preferred this tour compared to the hop on-hop off busses. When we were in St John's there were 2 cruise ships in port and the busses had more volume of people than they could handle. Granted this is feedback from only 2 fellow passengers but at some locations they waited for up to an hour for a bus that wasn't full and that limited the number of sites they could see.

      Excellent

      Donna_S, Jun 2026
      It was a great way to see st.john’s and surrounding coves . The guide was very knowledgeable and answered all questions asked

      Highlight of our trip to St. John’s

      Cindy_B, Jun 2026
      What a fantastic tour!! Comfortable van and an amazing, knowledgeable guide!! We were very fortunate to have a sunny day and Shawn gave us lots of time to get out and enjoy exploring the sights. He is clearly proud of his home and gave a detailed account of the history of this area, interspersed with wonderful stories about the locals and personal memories from his childhood. Thanks so much Shawn!! We highly recommend this tour.

      A must do when visiting St. John's

      Chantal_D, Jun 2026
      We had a great time, Sean was very knowledgeable and we greatly appreciated and enjoyed his story telling, the spots to view the beautiful city and surrounding areas. 10 out of 10 a must do if visiting St. John's.

      Excellent tour of St John’s

      Donna_D, Jun 2026
      Steve was very knowledgeable about Newfoundland and made this tour very enjoyable! His ongoing dialogue was extremely interesting.

      Nice Little Tour

      Guy_T, Jun 2026
      Comfortable transportation and very nice tour guide, Leslie Ann(?) - she even sang to us!. Four stops during the tour which was adequate and a good description of each location.

      St Johns on a foggy day

      Brenda_D, Jun 2026
      A lot of walking up steep hills. A challenge if you have mobility concerns, but going to the top is optional views are incredible

      First Trip To St. John’s

      Cindy_R, Jun 2026
      This trip hit all the highlights and history of the area. Would highly recommend if this is your first time to St. John’s.

      Brian wasn’t a...

      Roger_B, Jun 2026
      Brian wasn’t a particularly good driver and we had to turn around to get passengers that missed the initial pick up. That added extra time onto our tour which was an inconvenience.

      Wonderful, friendly...

      Doyle_S, Jun 2026
      Wonderful, friendly knowledgeable guide. The experience was a good one from start to finish! Learned a lot and had fun!

      Our driver Mark was...

      Marie_W, Jun 2026
      Our driver Mark was excellent Really knew his stuff. Enjoyed seeing all the sites Van rode eas great

      We had the BEST time! We...

      Rebecca_S, Jun 2026
      We had the BEST time! We debated just taking an Uber and exploring around St Johns but we are so glad we decided to book this tour!! Our tour guide, Mark, was so knowledgeable, kind, and made the tour enjoyable. There was enough time at each stop, and we were able to see all we wanted to during the 3.5 hour tour. We didn’t even know about Petty Harbour, and when we arrived we watched the fishermen unloading the crabs, it was so cool!! We would highly recommend, you will not be disappointed!!

      Excellent Guided Tour

      Michael_L, Jun 2026
      Excellent guided tour. Mark was very knowledgeable about the History and Uniqueness of St John's. ,,,

      Great tour, informative, historical, and photographic

      Marilyn_B, Jun 2026
      It was an excellent tour! I love the fact that it brought us to all the Main highlights just outside of St. John’s Which allowed me to Focus on the walks within town on my own time . Cliff our guide was very knowledgable about the history and area. He explained everything in detail and even a good location for lunch after the tour. I highly recommend this Tour.

      Comfortable and high yield.

      John_S, Jun 2026
      Comfortable mini bus tour that efficiently hit all the sights to see in St. John’s that are just outside the downtown area. It was high yield for my limited amount of time in NL

      Great historical tour of St John's

      Marc_R, Jun 2026
      Our tour guide Phil was very knowledgeable on the history of St John's. We got to see the main highlights of the city. Highly recommend tour.

      Cape spear and Signal Hill

      John_F, Jun 2026
      Guide was very knowledgeable and funny. Well worth the money vs cruise ship. He gave us some history on the area.

      St John's Newfoundland

      Barry_K, Jun 2026
      Fabulous tour, just need more time at stops. Amazing City and Small Towns. Wonderful people. Tour guide was excellent

      Fantastic and fun...

      Pauline_C, Jun 2026
      Fantastic and fun overview of St. John’s.! Our driver/guide Steve was excellent. His information was helpful and interesting. We got to see an iceberg as a bonus!

      Worth doing but tour company very disorganized

      Lynn_Y, May 2026
      We enjoyed seeing the highlights of St. John's and our driver/guide Bill was knowledgeable and friendly. We were on a mini bus that held 15 but was not full. My only complaint was with the tour company kept phoning t he guide to add on several more last minute guests which then involved him driving to more hotels after he had already started our tour. Thus the tour was an hour late starting and finishing as we road from hotel to hotel for additional pick ups. This company needs to get it's act together. I felt bad for the guide.

      Tour

      Sandi_A, May 2026
      Great way to see main highlights of St John’s and hear history. Steve the guide was delightful. Only wish we could have had tea with him.

      Recommended

      Afroza_S, May 2026
      The guide was knowledgeable and active. We explored a lot within three hours. We really enjoyed the tour.

      Cape spear

      Lesllie_G, May 2026
      It was great our driver Steve Was Great loved seeing cape spear was Foggy but a nice walk signal Jill hard to see but still nice

      St Johns Highlights

      L_S, May 2026
      We had a great time. Awesome stories and sing along songs. Awesome stops. Got a taste of everything and great timing at each spot. Perfect tour to get familiar with the area.

      We really appreciated it,...

      Valerie_B, May 2026
      We really appreciated it, it covers most of the important attraction to visit. The driver was really nice and knowledgeable

      From $64.92

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      up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

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