Gander International Airport (YQX) → Cape Bonavista Lighthouse
Gander Airport (YQX) to the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse
- Drive time
- 3h 45m
- Distance
- 247.8 km
Conservative model estimate, Gander International Airport (YQX) to Cape Bonavista Lighthouse — no stops, dry roads. Many of Newfoundland's provincial routes carry no speed limit in the open map data, so the router assumes a slow default: a driver who knows the road will beat this. Source: OSRM driving profile, terminal door to the lighthouse, checked 2026-09-04.
Drive it with your own nav:Organic Maps →OsmAnd →Apple →Google →Waze →The first two run on OpenStreetMap and don't track you — the same map this site is built from.
Or take the whole route with you: Download the GPX → — the measured drive plus every stop as a waypoint, for Organic Maps, OsmAnd or any Garmin, no account and no signal needed once it's on the device.
No one has sent a recording of this drive yet.Be the first — send the track →
The terminal side — parking, arrivals, ground transport — is the airport's own information: Gander International Airport →
Every road on the Bonavista Peninsula is really about its ending: the cape where the 1843 lighthouse still stands over the spot tradition names for Cabot’s landfall, with the Dungeon’s collapsed sea cave in a sheep pasture just before it and Elliston’s puffin colony a measured spur east. This page runs the whole argument door to lighthouse — 247.8 km, about 3h45 — and lets the peninsula’s five centuries of shore do the talking through the stops.
Honest geography: St. John’s serves this peninsula faster, and when that airport joins this site the comparison will be measured, not implied. From central Newfoundland’s doors, Gander wins by hours, and the drive itself — the long 230, then the slow reveal of the shore towns — is the kind the site exists to time truthfully.
Faded on the map: the other measured drives from Gander International into this same region, each its own page — Salvage (1h 21m), Trinity (2h 50m). Where a faded line leaves the solid one is where that drive forks from this one.
Worth stopping for
Lockston Path Provincial ParkDetour
The peninsula's ParksNL campground, just off Route 236 near Port Rexton — the campground on this route, and the natural overnight for anyone doing the cape properly instead of at a run. Season and sites are ParksNL's.
Stopping here adds about 12 min and 0.7 km to the drive.
navigate: Organic · OsmAnd · Apple · Google · WazeRyan Premises National Historic Site
The mapped Parks Canada site on Bonavista's waterfront — the five-century salt-fish story told in the merchant premises where it actually ran. Hours and season are Parks Canada's; the buildings are on the way to the cape regardless.
Stopping here adds about 2 min and 0.5 km to the drive.
navigate: Organic · OsmAnd · Apple · Google · WazeDungeon Provincial ParkDetour
A ParksNL day-use park around a collapsed sea cave — two ocean windows in a sheep pasture, minutes before the cape. The name undersells it less than most.
Stopping here adds about 5 min and 2.1 km to the drive.
navigate: Organic · OsmAnd · Apple · Google · WazeElliston Puffin Viewing PointDetour
The mapped viewpoint facing the Elliston puffin colony — land-viewing distance in season, which is the colony's own calendar and not this page's promise. The spur adds real minutes; most berg-and-bird days spend them gladly.
Stopping here adds about 15 min and 9.1 km to the drive.
navigate: Organic · OsmAnd · Apple · Google · Waze
What has been recorded near here
Species reported within 50 km of Cape Bonavista Lighthouse and shared to GBIF, the international record of species occurrences. The useful column is when — the months the reports cluster in.
- Atlantic puffinseabirdFratercula arcticaReports cluster in July, August, June2,390 reports on record
- Humpback whalewhaleMegaptera novaeangliaeReports cluster in July, August, June1,096 reports on record
- Northern gannetseabirdMorus bassanusReports cluster in August, July, June967 reports on record
- Fin whalewhaleBalaenoptera physalusReports cluster in June, July, August357 reports on record
- Minke whalewhaleBalaenoptera acutorostrataReports cluster in June, August, May28 reports on record
What this is not
- Not how many there are. A report means somebody looked, saw and wrote it down. A busy harbour with tour boats reports more than an empty coast with the same animals in it.
- Not a sighting you are promised. Nothing here says you will see one.
- Not complete. Only species we ask GBIF about appear, and only where somebody reported them.
From GBIF, queried 2026-09-14 — their record, not a copy of it.
When you get to Cape Bonavista Lighthouse
- Where to eat in Cape Bonavista Lighthouse → — 16 places the open map records, alphabetically, with addresses and phone numbers.
Doing it electric
- Fast chargers on this drive
- Gander km 3, Glowertown km 68, Port Blandford km 116, Port Rexton km 198, Bonavista km 240
- Longest stretch without one
- 82 km
- Port Blandford → Port Rexton, of 247 km driven
- Nearest fast charger to Cape Bonavista Lighthouse
- 7.9 km
- 14 min by road, at Bonavista
NL Hydro lists an ultra-fast site coming in 2026 at Gander (km 2) — not counted above until it opens.
Source: NL Hydro's published fast-charging network map, exported 2026-09-13 — sites within 3 km of this route's measured line, the km read along it, the drive to the nearest site priced by OSRM. NL Hydro lists these as 62.5 kW DC with CCS and CHAdeMO plugs on a ChargePoint account; whether one is free or working right now is the app's to say. Level 2 chargers in towns are not counted.
Paved or not, per the map
- Mapped as unpaved
- none
- Mapped as paved
- 59%
- 132.3 km of 247.8 km driven
- No surface tag on the map
- 41%
- 92.2 km the map does not describe either way
Why it matters: Hertz Canada’s published rental terms — the one set of Canadian rental terms we could read in full, quoted not recommended — list “use off paved roads or on roads which are not regularly maintained” as misconduct that voids the damage waiver. Read the agreement you sign before leaving the lot. The terms themselves. Source for these figures: OSRM driving profile, stored route query, with node annotations; OpenStreetMap surface tags via Overpass, checked 2026-09-06. A road with no tag is unknown, not paved; what any road is like today is on 511.
Eating on the way — measured, not recommended
53 places to eat that the open map data records within 2 km of this drive, in the order you would pass them. No stars, no prices, no opinions, and no opening hours — distance along the road is the one thing measured here that a directory cannot give you.
The longest stretch with nothing mapped on it is 41.4 km — after Dunrovin, until The Galley. That is the figure worth planning around.
- The Newfoundland Tea Co. Restaurant & Shoprestaurantkm 1.8 · 782 m off the road
- Rosie's Restaurant & Bakeryrestaurantkm 1.8 · 898 m off the road
- Jumping Bean Coffee Companycafékm 2 · 661 m off the road
- Lilly's Landing Family Restaurantrestaurantkm 2 · 619 m off the road
- KFCfast foodkm 2 · 248 m off the road
- Subwayfast foodkm 2
- McDonald'sfast foodkm 2
- Ches's Fish & Chipsrestaurantkm 2 · 518 m off the road
- A&Wfast foodkm 2 · 1553 m off the road
- Little Caesarsfast foodkm 2 · 894 m off the road
- Wing 'n Itrestaurantkm 2 · 704 m off the road
- The Shawarma Stationrestaurantkm 2 · 349 m off the road
- Tim Hortonscafékm 2 · 418 m off the road
- Louis Geesfast foodkm 2 · 743 m off the road
- Jade Garden Restaurantrestaurantkm 2 · 676 m off the road
- New Highlight Restaurantrestaurantkm 2 · 668 m off the road
- Pizza Housefast foodkm 2 · 664 m off the road
- East Ocean Restaurantfast foodkm 2 · 665 m off the road
- Grecofast foodkm 2 · 672 m off the road
- Tim Hortonscafékm 2 · 290 m off the road
- Subwayfast foodkm 2.1 · 1526 m off the road
- Mystic Roomrestaurantkm 2.1 · 417 m off the road
- Pizza Delightrestaurantkm 2.2 · 276 m off the road
- Mary Brown'sfast foodkm 2.2 · 1377 m off the road
- Swiss Chaletrestaurantkm 2.2
- Robin's Donutsfast foodkm 2.2
- Tim Hortonscafékm 2.4 · 1265 m off the road
- DQ Grill & Chillfast foodkm 2.5 · 1054 m off the road
- Copper Kettle Restaurantrestaurantkm 31.9
- Family Pizzarestaurantkm 38.7 · 1870 m off the road
- Mary Brown'srestaurantkm 68.3
- Happy Adventure Cafecafékm 76.4 · 1229 m off the road
- Snack shack.fast foodkm 115 · 624 m off the road
- Robin's Donutsfast foodkm 153.7 · 152 m off the road
- Dunrovinrestaurantkm 155 · 173 m off the road
- The Galleyrestaurantkm 196.4
- Port Rexton Brewerypubkm 197.7 · 714 m off the road
- Oh my Cheesesfast foodkm 197.7 · 726 m off the road
- 2 Whales cafecafékm 198.1
- Robin's Donutsfast foodkm 239
- Neil's Yardcafékm 240.7 · 1196 m off the road
- Mifflin's Tea Roomcafékm 240.7 · 515 m off the road
- PK's Restaurant and Take-Outrestaurantkm 240.7 · 686 m off the road
- Bonavista Bicycle Picnics and Cafecafékm 240.7 · 1142 m off the road
- The Quintal Cafécafékm 240.7 · 561 m off the road
- Ragged Rocks Gastropubpubkm 240.7 · 619 m off the road
- The Boreal Dinerrestaurantkm 240.7 · 547 m off the road
- Walkham's Gate Pub & Cafepubkm 240.7 · 618 m off the road
- Mifflin's Tea Roomcafékm 240.7 · 516 m off the road
- Bonavista Brewing Taproompubkm 240.7 · 516 m off the road
- Marsh's Snack Barrestaurantkm 240.7 · 439 m off the road
- Oceanview Restaurantrestaurantkm 242.9
- Restaurant glace take outrestaurantkm 245.2
What this list is not
- Not a recommendation. Nothing here is endorsed, reviewed or rated. It is in the order you drive past it.
- Not complete. Somewhere unmapped does not appear. This is never "all of them".
- Not open hours. We publish none, because the open data holds none. Never assume a kitchen is serving.
- Not necessarily still trading. A place that closed stays in the data until somebody removes it.
- Not for sale. No one can pay to appear here, to rank higher, or to have a rival removed.
Open map data is incomplete — somewhere unmapped does not appear here, and this is never "all of them" or "the good ones". A place that closed is also still on the map until somebody removes it, which is why no hours are shown and nothing here says a kitchen is open. From OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps (which includes data from Meta, Foursquare and AllThePlaces); swept 2026-09-12. Map the one that is missing → and every site built on the open map gains it, this one included.
Before you go
These change. We link the people who keep them current rather than copying numbers that go stale here.
WhalesMay–September, the province's stated window
Cape Bonavista is on the province's own named list of shore spots for whales — the lighthouse headland is the seat. Their window, the sea's schedule.
Check it now →Puffins and icebergsRoughly late spring into summer — the colony's and the ice's call, not ours
Elliston's birds and Bonavista's bergs both run on calendars this page refuses to print. The live strip above tells you the day; the town's and province's pages carry the season.
Check it now →MooseYear round, worst between dusk and dawn
The province states that the likelihood of injury in a moose collision is twice as high between dusk and dawn as in daytime. Route 230 down the peninsula is long, fast and wooded — the classic profile.
Check it now →Road conditionsYear round, matters most November–April
The Bonavista Peninsula takes weather from two bays at once. Check before committing to the 230, and again before the drive back.
Check it now →
Arriving without a car
Every distance and time on this page is a drive. If you are not renting, here is what Gander International Airport Authority lists at this door — operators and numbers, not fares: a tariff is theirs to change, so it is linked and not copied.
No rideshare here.
No rideshare service is named anywhere on the Airport Authority's transport page. That is an absence read off the page on 2026-09-15, not an assumption — but it is the Authority's page, not a licensing register, so it says what the airport lists rather than what is legal.
Taxi
Busy Bee Cabs, which the Airport Authority says runs a 24-hour service available curbside in the Domestic Arrivals area.
Coach
DRL Coachlines runs a scheduled coach service across Newfoundland. The Airport Authority says a wheelchair-accessible bus needs 48 hours' notice.
Limousine
Nobel Limousines, listed by the Airport Authority.
Avis, Budget, National and Enterprise are listed at the airport. The Authority says accessible vehicles with wheelchair accommodation or hand controls are limited and need 48 hours' notice.
Gander International Airport Authority, read 2026-09-15 — the authority on what operates at this kerb, and the only place a current fare or timetable should come from.
Questions people actually ask
Should I fly into Gander or Deer Lake for Bonavista?＋
Gander, by hours: about 3h45 against 7h33 from Deer Lake. St. John's is nearer still — but if central Newfoundland is where you land, this page is the measured answer.
Why does the route end at the lighthouse and not the town?＋
Because the road genuinely ends there: the cape is where Cabot's landfall is commemorated, where the 1843 light stands, and where the pavement stops at the sea. The town is a stop on the way to its own cape.
What is the drive actually like?＋
Trans-Canada west briefly, then the long 230 down the peninsula's spine — an hour and a half of woods and barrens — until the shore towns begin and the last half hour turns into the good part: Bonavista town, the Dungeon's sheep pasture, and the light at the end.
Is Trinity on this route?＋
Its turnoff is — the famous saltbox town sits a short spur off Route 230 about two-thirds of the way down, measured on its own page now — YQX to Trinity, on this site. This page measures the cape; Trinity is the detour everyone tells you to take anyway.
Put this map on your site
If you run a place to stay, a tour, or a town page along this drive, this map answers the question your guests already email you: how far are you from the airport? Free, no account, and the measured figures stay current because they are ours to maintain.
<iframe src="https://fromtheairport.xyz/embed/yqx-bonavista"
width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"
title="Driving route: Gander International Airport (YQX) to Cape Bonavista Lighthouse"></iframe>?lat=&lon=&label= to the URL to pin your own property on the map.Every distance, drive time and coordinate on this page was checked against its source on September 4, 2026. Origin: OpenStreetMap way/154350645 — passenger terminal. Destination: OpenStreetMap node/1446757242 — man_made=lighthouse.