Best Things to Photograph in St. John’s and the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland

St. John’s makes a great base for photographing Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula.

Within relatively short drives of the city, we photographed colorful streets, working fishing harbours, rugged Atlantic coastline, lighthouses, fishing villages and northern gannets diving for fish.

This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive guide to every photography location on the Avalon Peninsula. These are the places we photographed during our trip. 

I’ll also include the practical things that matter to photographers: parking, walking, timing, what to photograph and which locations proved more worthwhile than I expected.

If puffins are part of your Newfoundland photography plans, I covered that trip separately in Photographing the Elliston Puffins from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Back.

Photographing St. John’s

You don’t need to leave St. John’s to find a good variety of photography.

Downtown gives you colorful architecture and street photography, Signal Hill provides cityscapes and coastline, and nearby Quidi Vidi, Petty Harbour and Cape Spear add fishing villages, lighthouses and wildlife.

Downtown St. John’s and the Jelly Bean Houses

The colorful houses are one of the obvious subjects in St. John’s, but there isn’t one single Jelly Bean Row you need to find.

They are scattered throughout downtown, with a good concentration around Victoria Street and the surrounding streets.

Parked cars and utility wires were the biggest challenges when photographing the colorful houses, so I often looked for tighter compositions that simplified the scene.

Look for:

• Windows and doors
• Repeating colors and patterns
• Architectural details
• Telephoto compositions that eliminate the parked cars and utility wires
• People framed against colorful buildings

Downtown was also busy with restaurants, shopping and tourists, creating plenty of street-photography opportunities.

Some streets were closed to vehicles during our visit, which made them especially easy to explore with a camera.

We stayed at the ALT Hotel and could walk throughout downtown, although walking around St. John’s often means walking uphill.

Parking can also be difficult, especially on weekends. Once we found a good legal spot, it usually made more sense to leave the vehicle there and explore on foot.

We also walked along the waterfront, where there were docked military, commercial and cruise ships. I found it less productive than the downtown streets because fencing limited many compositions.

Signal Hill

Signal Hill is one of the strongest photography locations in St. John’s.

From the top you can photograph the city, harbour, The Narrows, Atlantic coastline and Fort Amherst Lighthouse across the water.

Sunrise and sunset both have potential, and the location also works well through blue hour and into the night as the city lights come on. Car light trails can add another element after dark.

During the middle of the day, the light on St. John’s itself can be harsh.

Subjects include:

• St. John’s cityscape
• The harbour
• The Narrows
• Fort Amherst Lighthouse
• Cabot Tower
• Queen’s Battery
• Ships entering and leaving the harbour
• Atlantic coastline
• Panoramas
• Blue-hour and night photography
• Car light trails

Signal Hill can get crowded, especially around sunset and on weekends, so arriving early helps.

There are also several trails around Signal Hill if you want perspectives beyond the main overlooks.

The Battery

The Battery is the colorful neighborhood clustered along the steep slope below Signal Hill near The Narrows.

Parking in the neighborhood is restricted, so it is better explored on foot. It can also be incorporated into a longer walk around the Signal Hill and North Head area.

Photography opportunities include:

• Colorful houses stacked along the hillside
• The Narrows
• Fort Amherst across the water
• Boats and ships entering the harbour
• Tighter compositions of the houses against the cliffs

The Battery can also be photographed from Signal Hill with a telephoto lens, which gives you a more compressed view of the houses climbing the hillside.

Quidi Vidi Village

Quidi Vidi was my favorite small fishing-village location near St. John’s.

The harbour is compact and easy to explore, with colorful buildings, fishing boats and working-harbour details packed into a small area.

We photographed Quidi Vidi both in the morning and later in the day.

Morning can be especially good because the water may be calmer for reflections, and you may be able to photograph fishing boats leaving the harbour through The Gut, the narrow entrance connecting Quidi Vidi Harbour with the ocean.

Look for:

• Fishing boats
• Reflections
• Colorful buildings around the harbour
• Ropes, buoys and other working-harbour details
• Boats entering or leaving through The Gut
• Tighter compositions of boats, buildings and reflections
• Blue-hour photography

Parking in the village can be limited at busy times, but we were able to find parking on both of our visits.

Petty Harbour

Petty Harbour was very different from Quidi Vidi.  Quidi Vidi is more picturesque. Petty Harbour feels more like an active working fishery.

During our visit, fishermen were returning with their catch, which attracted gulls looking for scraps.

Subjects included:

• Fishing boats
• Fishermen unloading catches
• Crab and lobster traps
• Buoys and ropes
• Fishing equipment
• Gulls feeding and fighting
• Tight compositions of harbour details

Parking close to the harbour can be difficult, so you may need to park farther away and walk in.

Cape Spear

Cape Spear is one of the obvious photography destinations near St. John’s, but our visit came with heavy fog.

The white lighthouse nearly disappeared into the sky, so I treated the conditions as a high-key photography opportunity instead of trying to force a more traditional lighthouse image.

Cape Spear also offers much more than the lighthouse.

You can photograph:

• The lighthouse
• Rugged Atlantic coastline
• Waves
• Grasses and foregrounds
• Fog and high-key scenes
• World War II coastal-defense structures
• Seabirds

We saw northern gannets diving for fish offshore, so a long lens was useful here too.

There is a large parking area and a restroom with plumbing, making Cape Spear one of the easier stops to access.

Photographing North of St. John’s

One of our most productive outings was a counterclockwise loop north from St. John’s:

St. John’s → Middle Cove → Flatrock → Pouch Cove → Bauline → St. John’s

The locations are close enough together that you can cover several different subjects in one day.

Middle Cove

Middle Cove gives you two perspectives on essentially the same coastline.

The roadside lookout provides an elevated view with almost no walking.

GPS — Middle Cove Lookout: 47.651529, -52.691207

A short distance away, Middle Cove Beach puts you at water level, where you can use the rocks along the beach as foreground elements and photograph waves, cliffs and the surrounding headlands. People on the beach can also provide scale and a sense of place.

GPS — Middle Cove Beach parking: 47.650254, -52.696637

The strength of Middle Cove is that you can photograph the coastline from above and below without spending much time.

Flatrock

Flatrock turned out to be one of the stronger stops on the north Avalon loop because it offered three very different photo opportunities in a small area.

Flatrock Harbour & Cove

From the elevated area above the harbour, you can photograph the boats, and surrounding coastline.

GPS — Harbour View / Parking: 47.705044, -52.710314

This was also where we parked for the nearby Grotto.

Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto

Across the road from the harbour overlook is the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto.

It provides a completely different subject from the harbour and coastline, with religious statues and architectural details set into the rock.

Hickey’s Lane Shoreline

A short walk down Hickey’s Lane toward the coast gave us one of the better long-exposure opportunities on the northern loop. The lower viewpoint puts you close to the rocks and surf, with waves breaking across the rocky shoreline.

Keep in mind that the walk back is uphill from the coast toward Hickey’s Lane and the harbour area.

Bring a tripod if long exposures are part of the plan.

Pouch Cove

Pouch Cove turned into one of the surprises of the day.

We picked up fish and chips from the Water Witch and ate at the park next to William Tuff Lookout overlooking the coast.

GPS William Tuff Lookout: 47.766795, -52.764664

The fish and chips were fantastic, but the photography was better than expected.

I photographed long exposures of the Atlantic and found northern gannets flying offshore. Several began plunge-diving for fish, and I was able to photograph one of the diving sequences.

Bauline Harbour

Bauline is a very small working harbour, but there was plenty to photograph.

GPS — Bauline Harbour:  47.723448, -52.833134

Subjects included:

• Fishing boats
• Colorful sheds
• Buoys
• Traps and fishing gear
• Flags
• A small lighthouse
• Layered views up the hillside

We also met the people involved with The Sheds on the Bank and were invited to see the property.

Unexpected interactions like that are one of the reasons I enjoy photographing working communities rather than simply moving from scenic overlook to scenic overlook.

Photographing the Irish Loop

The Irish Loop south of St. John’s combined coastal landscapes, working harbours and some of the longer hikes of the trip.

Several of the better photography locations required more time on foot, so it was important not to treat every stop as a quick roadside visit.

Tors Cove and Tinkers Point Path

The Cribbies were one of the locations I expected to like more than I did.

One house was under construction, a large red truck was parked next to another, and the roadside viewpoint was too close for the composition I had imagined.

The better angle appeared to require climbing an overgrown hill that looked like private property.

I wouldn’t make a special trip just for the classic roadside Cribbies composition based on what we found.

The better photography was nearby on Tinkers Point Path.

There is a small designated gravel parking area at:

GPS: 47.214570, -52.845724

The trailhead is across the road.

We walked for roughly 15 minutes toward the Cribbies and beach area. That is only a small portion of the complete trail.

The natural coastal trail gave us better viewpoints, beach access and side angles on the Cribbies. I also found it particularly good for infrared photography.

This was a good example of why photography trips rarely go exactly as planned. The famous composition disappointed me, but the nearby trail became one of the better stops.

La Manche Village Trail

La Manche was one of the more substantial walks we did on the Avalon Peninsula.

The trail to the former village is approximately 2 km each way, with natural terrain, uneven footing and elevation changes. I’d rate it as moderate when carrying photography equipment.

GPS — La Manche Village Trail parking: 47.162665, -52.880432

The parking area is relatively small and can fill up, especially on weekends.

Near the end you reach a valley with a small lake and a waterfall, and the suspension bridge.

Photographic subjects include:

• Suspension bridge
• Waterfall and lake
• Forest
• Valley views
• Remnants of the old settlement
• Details along the trail

The wooded environment was a nice change after spending so much time photographing open coastline. Allow enough time for photography along the trail rather than treating La Manche as a quick stop.

Cape Broyle

Cape Broyle is a small working harbour along the Irish Loop and works well as a quick photography stop.

GPS — Cape Broyle Harbour: 47.095541, -52.945866

Around the harbour you can photograph fishing boats, docks and other working-harbour details. The town also has some older storefronts and buildings that add a different type of subject from the coastal stops.

It isn’t a place I would build the day around, but if you’re already driving the Irish Loop, it is worth a short stop to photograph the harbour and town before continuing south.

Ferryland Head Lighthouse

Ferryland Head Lighthouse is one of the more scenic photography stops on the Irish Loop, but it requires more time than a quick roadside visit.

The lighthouse is approximately 2 km from the beginning of Lighthouse Road, with a walk of roughly 30–40 minutes each way. If you are carrying camera gear and stopping for photographs along the route, allow more time.

Photography opportunities include:

• The red-and-white lighthouse
• Atlantic coastline and cliffs
• Wildflowers
• Seabirds
• Possible whale sightings
• Wider coastal landscapes along the walk

Because of the walking involved, I would treat Ferryland Head as one of the main stops of the day rather than trying to squeeze it in between several other locations.

If you are also planning to hike the La Manche Village Trail, keep in mind that both stops involve a fair amount of walking. It is better to budget enough time and energy for each rather than treating them as quick stops.

Practical Photography Tips for the Avalon Peninsula

Bring a Long Lens

Even when the plan was mostly landscape photography, wildlife opportunities kept appearing. We encountered gannets at Cape Spear and Pouch Cove, distant boats, harbour activity and Fort Amherst Lighthouse across The Narrows.  A telephoto lens earned its place in my bag repeatedly.

Photograph the Weather You Get

Fog didn’t ruin Cape Spear.  It changed the photograph.  Newfoundland weather can shift quickly, so I wouldn’t abandon a location simply because the light isn’t what you expected.

Fog, rain and overcast conditions can work well for:

• High-key photographs
• Long exposures
• Moody harbour scenes
• Details and tighter compositions

Expect More Walking Than You Might Think

Several locations involve natural trails rather than paved viewpoints.

Wet rocks, roots and uneven ground become more significant when carrying camera equipment. Tinkers Point was relatively easy for the portion we walked. La Manche was a more substantial hike.  Ferryland requires enough walking that I would plan it as an activity rather than an incidental stop.

Parking in St. John’s Can Be Difficult

Downtown parking was limited, particularly on busy weekends. Once you find a good legal spot, walking may be easier than repeatedly moving the vehicle. Just remember the hills.

Make Restaurant Reservations

Restaurants could become busy during our visit. If you have a specific restaurant or dining time in mind, making a reservation can prevent dinner logistics from interfering with sunrise or sunset plans.

Final Thoughts

The Avalon Peninsula isn’t just one kind of photography destination.

Within relatively short drives of St. John’s, we went from colorful urban streets and working fishing harbours to rugged Atlantic landscapes, woodland trails, long exposures and diving northern gannets.

The places that looked best during planning weren’t always the ones that produced my favorite photographs.

The Cribbies disappointed me. Tinkers Point Path didn’t.  Pouch Cove started as a lunch stop and became a wildlife-photography opportunity. Fog changed Cape Spear instead of ruining it.

That unpredictability was one of the things I enjoyed most about photographing Newfoundland.

Want to Learn More

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