Lewisporte

Lewisporte is a town and seaport on Notre Dame Bay in Central Newfoundland.

Understand

Lewisporte (population 3483, founded 1876) is a deep-water port and shipping centre on Notre Dame Bay which has served as a fishing, farming and boat-building settlement, a shipping port and sawmill, and until recently a distribution point for supplies destined to Cartwright and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador by coastal ferry. Due to its proximity to Gander's once-bustling international airport, Lewisporte accommodated more than 700 of the 6500 trans-Atlantic airline passengers diverted to Gander during the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US. A 10th anniversary reunion for Delta 15's passengers and the people of Lewisporte was held by Canada's Atlanta consulate in 2011.

Lewisporte is host to a community college and the Marine Institute (82 Premier Dr, [phone]), an ocean research facility backed by Memorial University, St. John's.

Get in

By car

Lewisporte is on Route 341.

By ship

Lewisporte is the southern terminus of a seasonal coastal ferry service to Labrador.

• Nunatsiavut Marine (MV Northern Ranger), Lewisporte Main Dock, 123 Main St., ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. Cargo is no longer accepted for Goose Bay and Cartwright as the Trans-Labrador Highway reaches those communities, but Black Tickle, Rigolet, Makkovik, Postville, Hopedale, Natuashish and Nain are still accessible only by outport ferry. 

Get around

• Lewisporte Marina and Yacht Club, 152 A Main Street, Lewisporte, ☎ [phone]. 
• Lewisporte Taxi, 7 Mill St., ☎ [phone]. 

See

Lewisporte Town Hall

• 🌍 Lewisporte Heritage Centre, 235 Main Road, ☎ [phone]. Jun 15-Aug 30. By the Bay Museum. Logging and carpentry tools, photographs, paintings, books, household and children's items. Photography equipment. World War I and II artefacts, medical equipment collection and a 28-foot hooked rug depicting history of the town. 
• 🌍 Lewisporte Train Park, 152 Main St., ☎ [phone]. end June-end Aug. Railway museum on the east side of Lewisporte; a narrow-gauge (3.5') Newfie Bullet once ran from Port aux Basques to St. Johns but all rails were removed from the island in the 1980s. Hiking & walking trail, authentic Newfoundland trains, picnic area, cultural & historic information. Donations welcome. 

Do

• 🌍 Notre Dame Provincial Park, 1km E of Notre Dame Junction on Trans-Canada Highway. Former Abitibi-Price logging site, donated as a park in 1960. Picnic area, two playgrounds, 100-site camp ground, toilets, RV dump station, unsupervised sandy beach for swimming, cross-country ski trails, convenience store, boat rental. 

Events

• Mussel Bed Soirée. Aug. Live music and entertainment, one weekend. 
• Boat and Outdoor Show, ☎ [phone]. May. 
• Trade and Craft Show. mid-Sep. $6/weekend. 

Buy

• 🌍 Rossy, Lewisporte Mall, 465 Main St (Near Tim Horton's.), ☎ [phone]. 9:30AM-5:30PM daily, Su noon-5PM, Th & F 9:30AM-9PM. Discount store in former Bargain Giant. 

Eat

• 🌍 Country Garden Restaurant, 465 Main St, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Greco Pizza & Donair, 510 Main St, ☎ [phone]. Italian food. 

Drink

• 🌍 Blue Finn Lounge, 140 Main St, ☎ [phone]. 

Sleep

• 🌍 Brittany Inn, 373 Main St, ☎ [phone]. Hotel with dining room, lounge, meeting room. 
• 🌍 Ocean View, 210 Main St, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. Four-bedroom B&B overlooking Lewisporte harbour and marina. $100-125. 
• 🌍 Islands Villa, 203 Main St, ☎ [phone]. Eight-room high-end motel with four-and-a-half star rating. Centrally located with a view of the marina. (updated Sep 2018)

Connect

• 🌍 Lewisporte Memorial Public Library, 152 Main Street (in the Town Hall), ☎ [phone]. Local library with free Internet and wi-fi. 

Go next

• Gander
• Twillingate
• Fogo Island and Change Islands