My godmother is from a place called La Scie, Newfoundland. I can remember when I was growing up hearing her talk about it. To me as a child, it was like some faraway place that you heard about but never visited. So of course you dreamed up what it looked like.
As part of our Newfoundland road trip this past summer we decided to add Burlington to the list. Mostly because of the recently developed glamping tents that everyone was talking about, but a little because I’ve always had curiosity to visit this area of the island. Burlington is located on the Baie Vert Peninsula, the same as La Scie.
Journey To Burlington
Driving to Burlington was a big moment for me. When we left Twillingate we decided to stop in Gander, where we visited Scudrunner Brewing. As a side note this place has great beer that is not too heavy, definitely recommend it!
We headed towards Grand Falls. Where I would officially cross an imaginary line of the furthest I had every traveled from “town” in my home province. I was so excited I took a video and relished the moment of officially heading towards the west coast. A place I had always imagined visiting, where hiking trails and an abundance of sunshine awaited.
But before we could officially reach the other coast we spent a magical night in the ‘ome tents in Burlington. A note on the name, in certain parts of Newfoundland people drop their H’s, hence ‘ome. I am not actually sure which particular parts but I remember as a child often hearing the saying: “E drops ‘is h in ‘Olyrood and picks en up in H‘Avondale.” If you can translate that you are officially a Newfoundlander.
One Night In Burlington
We arrived rather late in the day and we’re greeted at the main office by their friendly staff who were nice enough to give us a lay of the land. Apparently there is a lot to do in Burlington – hiking, swimming, restaurants, craft shops, you name it they have it. We had already decided though after a busy day of driving and a busy few says ahead of us in Gros Morne that we were going to get settled away and just enjoy relaxing.
After we walked our stuff to our tent, dragging along our cooler and overnight bags, we got settled away. Then we walked down to the near by beach and snapped some pictures and sat by the water a while.
The Tents
There are two areas of tents, so I can only speak to our particular area. We booked our tent on AirBnb (use this link to save $45 on your first trip). We stayed in the Whale Tent which was right next to the barbecue and overlooked the other 5 tents in the area. The view was stunning of the open ocean. Each of the tents was lovely, however, I liked that ours was a little further away from the others and had such a spectacular view. Though everyone had to walk by ours to get to theirs it was nice to get to say hello to each of our neighbours.
We had to bring along with us everything we needed to cook, which because we were on a cross island adventure we had anyways. They have a communal BBQ which we used to barbecue dinner. There are tons of great camping recipes that can be found here. We made the breakfast burritos, spinach dip, and campfire potatoes.
Each tent has its own fire pit and you can buy wood from the main office for your fire. Other then that there is a full size bed in the tent so no need for sleeping bags. There is a communal washroom just down over the hill. Also, there are communal showers in the community centre down the road. They have a suggested packing list on their website.
We spent the night in front of the fire under the stars overlooking the water. Let me tell you this place is pure magic. I slept like a log in our canvas tent, the bed was so comfy. Glamping totally suits me just fine!
We woke up and cooked breakfast on the BBQ, packed up then took a quick drive around Burlington before heading on to our next destination: Gros Morne. My only regret is not booking two nights in Burlington, we would have liked to spend a little more time exploring the area. We will definitely return here, perhaps to experience The Gathering!
The Baie Verte Peninsula was stunning and everything I had always imagined it would be. It was friendly, quaint, quiet, breathtaking and while you were there you felt as if you were experiencing a little bit of magic.
Check out all our Newfoundland content here.
Any tips of places to visit in Newfoundland?
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