Irish Loop Self-Guided Smartphone Audio Driving Tour
- 4–8 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
Follow Newfoundland’s Irish Loop on a self-guided GPS audio drive filled with ocean scenery, fishing villages and local stories. Commentary plays automatically as you travel from St. John’s past Cape Spear, Petty Harbour, Bay Bulls, Witless Bay, La Manche, Ferryland, Cape Race, Mistaken Point, St. Vincent’s Beach, Salmonier Nature Park and Butter Pot. This tour is designed to be driven in one direction around the loop—follow the route shown in the app for the commentary to play in sequence. Stop whenever you like and return to St. John’s at your own pace. Download before departure; no signal is required during the tour. Transportation, parking, optional attraction admission, a smartphone and an in-person guide are not included. Mistaken Point fossil access requires a separate seasonal guided-tour reservation.
Inclusions
What's included
- Flexible dates - tour is yours to keep and enjoy anytime on the Tripvia Tours app
- No time constraints, take as long as you like to complete the tour
- Only 1 tour booking needed per vehicle
- No signal required or data used during tour
- Good mobile or WiFi connection needed for the initial download
What's not
- Smartphone or tablet
- Transportation (use your own vehicle)
- Attraction admission
- Parking fees
- In-person tour guide
Itinerary
IRISH LOOP AND SHEA HEIGHTS LOOKOUT. Begin a one-direction drive from St. John’s into coastal scenery, fishing communities and layered Indigenous, Irish and Newfoundland history.
DEADMAN’S BAY PATH. Follow the coast past a trail whose ominous name recalls pirates, peril and early Atlantic travel.
BLACKHEAD. Pass a traditional fishing village where rugged ocean views meet Newfoundland’s seafaring heritage.
CAPE SPEAR. Visit Canada’s easternmost point, where historic lighthouses, wartime defences and vast Atlantic views await; the grounds remain open year-round.
MADDOX COVE. Discover a quiet harbour community shaped by raids, legendary storms, innovation and local folklore.
PETTY HARBOUR AND VIKINGS ON THE SHORE. Pass colourful fishing stages while exploring the harbour’s long seafaring story and Norse-era context.
FIRST POND, SECOND POND AND FOREST POND. Travel through a landscape where even large inland waters keep Newfoundland’s familiar pond name.
DOYLES. Pass a small community whose local voices preserve firsthand memories of life along the route.
BAY BULLS, BIG PONDS AND IRISH ROOTS. See a historic harbour framed by freshwater ponds, pirate stories and enduring Irish-settler traditions.
WITLESS BAY AND ECOLOGICAL RESERVE. Look offshore toward protected seabird islands famous for puffins, whales and rich marine life.
MOBILE. Pass a lively summer bay where whales, puffins, eagles and other Avalon wildlife often animate the coast.
TORS COVE AND VIEWPOINT. Pause for island-dotted ocean scenery and a community history marked by dramatic Atlantic storms.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
4.4
- 514
- 410
- 31
- 20
- 11
Ratings come from 26 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- The tour begins and ends on Southside/Fort Amherst Road in St. John’s, Newfoundland, showcasing the breathtaking coastline near the Irish Loop.
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Operated by
- Tripvia Tours
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
How it compares in St John's
- Its from-price is 85% below the median of the 39 experiences we list in St John's.
- It is longer than most of them.
- By number of reviews it ranks 18 of 39.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About St John's
St John's is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, a steep harbour city of painted row houses, lively pubs, sea cliffs and Atlantic icebergs.
St John's clings to the hills around a deep harbour on the Avalon Peninsula, entered through a narrow gap in the cliffs known as The Narrows. Fishing fleets from Europe used the harbour from the 1500s. Rows of brightly painted wooden houses climb the slopes, and Signal Hill above the entrance carries Cabot Tower, close to where Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in 1901.
Top-ranked sights in St John's: Johnson GEO CENTRE.
