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Irish Loop Tour: Coastal Drive and History
4.8
17 Ratings
Bay Bulls
Explore Newfoundland’s Irish Loop, meet locals, and discover luxury at the Colony of Avalon. A coastal drive rich in history and charm.
Explore Newfoundland’s Irish Loop, meet locals, and discover luxury at the Colony of Avalon. A coastal drive rich in history and charm.
Duration:
7 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
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Bay Bulls - Discover the natural splendor of Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, a charming fishing village celebrated for its scenic harbor, captivating boat tours, and its closeness to the stunning Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, home to puffins and other seabirds. Enjoy the history and scenery of the same place explored from the sea the previous day.
-…
- Bay Bulls - Discover the natural splendor of Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, a charming fishing village celebrated for its scenic harbor, captivating boat tours, and its closeness to the stunning Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, home to puffins and other seabirds. Enjoy the history and scenery of the same place explored from the sea the previous day.
- Bauline East - Retreat to the serene allure of Bauline East, Newfoundland, a picturesque village offering breathtaking coastal views, scenic hiking trails, and a perfect blend of natural beauty and local heritage.
- Colony of Avalon - Uncover the rich history of the Colony of Avalon, a 17th-century English settlement on Newfoundland’s southern tip. Explore well-preserved archaeological sites, learn about early colonial life, and experience the stunning beauty of this unique coastal destination.
- Renews - After a delightful lunch in Ferryland, continue “Up” the southern shore to Renews, where a local storyteller will welcome visitors to his hometown and entertain with tales from his time there. He will also invite guests in for a proper “Mug Up.”
What's Included
- Pickup and dropoff at listed major hotels and B&Bs
- All Fees and Taxes
- Lunch Pan fried Cod lunch unless notified of dietary restrictions
- Guide: English
- Pickup and dropoff at listed major hotels and B&Bs
- All Fees and Taxes
- Lunch Pan fried Cod lunch unless notified of dietary restrictions
- Guide: English
What's Not Included
- Gratuity
- Gratuity
Additional Information
Embark on a journey ‘Up’ the Southern Shore, meandering through the charming coastal roads that link the outport fishing villages along Newfoundland’s Irish Loop. This scenic drive showcases coastal beauty with architecture and development that mirror an era of opulence once deemed unimaginable for this time in North American history. Encounter…
Embark on a journey ‘Up’ the Southern Shore, meandering through the charming coastal roads that link the outport fishing villages along Newfoundland’s Irish Loop. This scenic drive showcases coastal beauty with architecture and development that mirror an era of opulence once deemed unimaginable for this time in North American history. Encounter intriguing personalities, explore quaint fishing communities, and marvel at the luxurious artifacts unearthed at the Colony of Avalon archaeological site.
- 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
- 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 7.5 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
Location
Bay Bulls
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(17 Ratings)
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Koom888
Oct 17, 2025
Interesting and scenic - Very scenic drive thru the loop and Ferryland with several stops including a craft market. Dave our guide was very knowledgeable and made a couple more stops as we were a small group and ahead of schedule.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sharronf85
Oct 5, 2025
FANTASTIC & THANK YOU, DAVE WELSHMAN & MCCARTHY’S PARTY DAY TOURS - My husband & I were greatly impressed with McCarthy's Party Day Tours. On both of our Day Tours, our Guide, Dave Welshman, kindly shared his extensive knowledge of the culture and history of Newfoundland and we loved the stories that he provided as a foundation to the various locales that we toured. He went beyond our expectations by introducing us to people who lived in various communities. When we visited Renews, NL, Dave along with his friend, John Chidley, entertained us by playing music which further added to the pleasure of our NL experiences. The weather was perfect, the local food delicious and the scenery at every place on both Tours, was absolutely stunning. We definitely would recommend ‘the Irish Loop to Ferryland’ (Witless Bay, Tors Cover, Brigus, Ferryland, Renews) & ‘Excursion Around the Bay’ (Holyrood, Cupids, Brigus, Conception Harbour). FANTASTIC & THANK YOU, DAVE WELSHMAN & MCCARTHY’S PARTY DAY TOURS 10/10
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sheilapl1973il
Sep 28, 2025
Wonderful day trip, with a great driver who really knew his stuff! - My visit to St. John's was a last minute thing and I wanted to do a trip, or two, to get to know a bit about the area.
The first trip I did was the Irish Loop day trip.
From when I made the booking, right up to the end of the trip, everything was very well organised and I'm really glad I chose McCarthy's Party to go with.
Our driver, Steve, was brilliant! Very relaxed and was a fountain of great information, throughout the trip.
Saw some beautiful scenery and quaint villages. A wonderful lunch was provided too.
I'd highly recommend this trip and the company!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
R261ggchristinef
Sep 21, 2025
A great day visiting new Newfoundland friends! - Dave guided our small group of 8 on a fine tour of the Irish Loop. He was excellent - like travelling with a local friend. He gave us access to great local perspectives, places and people including having his friend at the Bay Bulls cathedral open it for us, sharing partridge berry muffins and a village tour with a fine local story teller and taking us to a spot on the shore that was perfect to watch the water rolling in on the rocks, The excellent tour of the Colony of Avalon site in Ferryland was super.
This was our third tour with McCarthy’s and I recommend them all very highly!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Irene_f
Sep 12, 2025
St. John - Our tour guide Billy was fantastic for eight hours. What a wonderful host. Feel like we know everything about St. John’s
Review provided by Viator
Christina_k
Sep 1, 2025
Nice trip through the Irish loop - This was a small group tour. The trip itself was very nice. Unfortunately for us it was raining most of the time so couldn't get out in a lot of places. But the sights are amazing. The guide Billy was very friendly and was sharing a lot of information about NL. The food was pan fried cod and veg.. it was nice..over all no complaints would defining recommend it
Review provided by Viator
N8106pmrichards
Aug 16, 2025
Great tour guide, lovely tour - Dave Welshman was a terrific guide. As a teacher on the off season, he knows his stuff and acted as a terrific and knowledgeable host and guide. The minibus was very comfortable and we had a smooth ride. The scenery breath taking. The Ferryland Archaeological site is quite a jewel, we had no idea of the depth of colonial history of the Irish on the Island. We would consider further tours on a further visit to the island. Sts-Peter and Paul Church tour was special. To think there is a fully functional Casavant pipe organ there. Wow! This is big league stuff.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mark
Aug 10, 2025
Highly Recommend. - Excellent tour and very informative! Our guide, Dave Welshman, teaches Newfoundland culture in high school and spends his summers leading tours — and it shows. He was incredibly knowledgeable about all things Newfoundland. We stopped in Ferryland for a delicious lunch of cod, potatoes, turnip, and carrots, along with tea. Later, we visited the small settlement of Renews, where we browsed homemade crafts and sampled local desserts. Dave’s passion for what he does really shines through. I even got to play the “ugly stick” while Dave played the accordion! Highly recommended — a wonderful way to spend the day and explore areas outside of St. John’s.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Agnes_l
Aug 6, 2025
Breath Taking Day - This is a great day trip, it is a packed full day, great information. Lots of beautiful scenery. Billy was our quide, very knowledgable of the area. We had one person who doesn’t eat fish and so he made his own arrangements at lunch time, but Billy checked a few times with our person to make sure he was fine. Definitely would recommend this trip and if you are lucky you will have Billy as your quide.
Review provided by Viator
Voula
Jul 26, 2025
Unforgettable tour of Newfoundland. - Great 5 day tour full of stories and songs by our amazing tour guide Steve Gotte to go along the spectacular vistas of the Avonlea Peninsula and St John’s. We’ll be back!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
