St. John's Airport (YYT) to Placentia and Castle Hill
- Distance
- 132.4 km
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Apple Maps · Google Maps · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
Places to stay in Placentia
No place to stay in Placentia is listed on Best Kind Stays yet. Every place it lists →
A place listed in Placentia shows on 10 pages here: the ferry terminal page, 6 drives to Placentia and 3 arenas and stages.
Own a place in Placentia? List it, free →
Guests book with you directly. Nothing paid changes the order.
Stop 1: Fitzgerald's Pond Provincial Park Reserve
A Provincial Park Reserve beside Route 100, on the driven line. ParksNL classes reserves as former camping parks whose campground was privatised before 1997, the rest kept to protect natural features, with no visitor services. This one protects a rare lichen, Erioderma pedicellatum (boreal felt lichen), in the Maritime Barrens, Southeastern Barrens subregion. The privately owned Fitzgerald's Pond Park next door is separate from the reserve.
Directions →Show on map: Fitzgerald's Pond Provincial Park Reserve ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 2: O'Reilly House Museum
A house museum run by the Placentia Area Historical Society, a nonprofit and registered charity. The Society dates the area's occupation to the 1500s and records Placentia as the French capital in Newfoundland from 1662 to 1713, and later an English capital too. It says the museum opens for the summer tourist season and sometimes longer, so check with them before planning around a date.
Stopping here adds 0.2 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: O'Reilly House Museum ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeStop 3: Castle Hill National Historic SiteDetour
Parks Canada sets this site in the 18th century, when British and French forces battled on the shores of Newfoundland for control of a lucrative fishery, and describes what stands there now as the remnants of a stone fort. The visitor centre is seasonal; check Parks Canada's page for dates and passes before you plan a day around it.
Stopping here adds 3 km to the drive.
Directions →Show on map: Castle Hill National Historic Site ↑Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
Scan with your phone to open this page there. Then tap Keep for offline before you lose signal.
⛽ Fuel and gravel, road by road ▾
- Route 40 →Whole road: 6 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 5.7 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 28% has no surface tag, so unknown.
- Route 1 →Whole road: 54 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 119 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 68% has no surface tag, so unknown.
- Route 100 →Whole road: 3 fuel stations mapped, longest gap 63 km. Unpaved mapped: none; 0% has no surface tag, so unknown.
Drive measured Sep 5, 2026, St. John's International Airport (YYT) to Placentia. Your maps app gives the time on the day. How we measure
Add to a trip →Staying here? Days out ↓Keep for offline ↓Download GPX (offline, Garmin)Airport info: St. John's International Airport →
132 km. St. John’s airport on Route 40, a short stretch of the Trans-Canada, then Route 100 south down the bay: mostly a quiet two-lane highway with long stretches between communities.
Why people come. History you can walk through: the fort remains at Castle Hill National Historic Site and the O’Reilly House Museum. The Placentia Area Historical Society records the town as the French capital in Newfoundland from 1662 to 1713, and an English capital too.
When you get to Placentia
- Where to eat near Placentia → 3 places, A to Z, with addresses and phone numbers.
- Jeff Jones Memorial Soccer Pitch → · Unity PARC Arena → · Willard Hatfield Memorial Ball Field → — the venues here, with what you can reach and be back from between games.
Sunrise and sunset at Placentia, by month
| The 15th | First light | Sunrise | Sunset | Last light |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7:13 am | 7:48 am | 4:41 pm | 5:15 pm |
| Feb | 6:40 am | 7:11 am | 5:28 pm | 6:00 pm |
| Mar | 6:49 am | 7:20 am | 7:10 pm | 7:41 pm |
| Apr | 5:46 am | 6:18 am | 7:53 pm | 8:25 pm |
| May | 4:53 am | 5:29 am | 8:33 pm | 9:10 pm |
| Jun | 4:28 am | 5:08 am | 9:03 pm | 9:43 pm |
| Jul | 4:46 am | 5:24 am | 8:58 pm | 9:37 pm |
| Aug | 5:28 am | 6:02 am | 8:19 pm | 8:52 pm |
| Sep | 6:11 am | 6:42 am | 7:19 pm | 7:50 pm |
| Oct | 6:52 am | 7:23 am | 6:19 pm | 6:50 pm |
| Nov | 6:36 am | 7:09 am | 4:31 pm | 5:05 pm |
| Dec | 7:10 am | 7:45 am | 4:16 pm | 4:52 pm |
Worked out for the 15th of each month at this spot, in local time. First and last light are when the sun is 6° below the horizon: light enough to see and shoot by. The weather line at the top has today's.
Places to eat on the way
Near either end, the places are on the town's own list: where to eat in St. John's → · where to eat near Placentia →
61 places to eat within 2 km of this drive, in the order you pass them. The longest stretch with none is 71.4 km, after Costco Food Court.
Show all 61
- Breezewaypubkm 5 · 1246 m off the road
- Jumping Beancafékm 5 · 1435 m off the road
- Mary Brown'sfast foodkm 5 · 1275 m off the road
- Booster Juicefast foodkm 5 · 1282 m off the road
- Manchu Wokfast foodkm 5 · 1290 m off the road
- Pizza Delightrestaurantkm 5 · 1304 m off the road
- Just Friesfast foodkm 5 · 1309 m off the road
- Tim Hortonscafékm 5.1 · 1539 m off the road
- The Pantry (Autism Society Foundation Room)restaurantkm 5.2 · 764 m off the road
- McDonald'sfast foodkm 5.3 · 1855 m off the road
- The Guv'nor Pubpubkm 5.3 · 1851 m off the road
- Domino'sfast foodkm 5.4 · 1922 m off the road
- The Bigs Ultimate Sports Grillrestaurantkm 5.5 · 1892 m off the road
- Old Town Pizzafast foodkm 5.6 · 1911 m off the road
- Mary Brown'sfast foodkm 5.6 · 1920 m off the road
- Subwayfast foodkm 6.1 · 1819 m off the road
- Mary Brown'sfast foodkm 6.1 · 1784 m off the road
- A&Wfast foodkm 6.1 · 1803 m off the road
- Dairy Queenfast foodkm 6.1 · 1831 m off the road
- Tim Hortonscafékm 6.1 · 1797 m off the road
- Mr. Souvlakifast foodkm 6.1 · 1790 m off the road
- Peters Pizzarestaurantkm 6.1 · 1740 m off the road
- Burger Kingfast foodkm 6.1 · 1998 m off the road
- Tim Hortonscafékm 6.9 · 1231 m off the road
- Red Pepper Restaurantrestaurantkm 6.9 · 1894 m off the road
- Cora'srestaurantkm 6.9 · 1961 m off the road
- Scamper's Snack Barrestaurantkm 6.9 · 1806 m off the road
- Tim Hortonscafékm 6.9 · 1236 m off the road
- Montana'srestaurantkm 6.9 · 1975 m off the road
- McDonald'sfast foodkm 8.2 · 1855 m off the road
- Dairy Queenfast foodkm 14.7 · 254 m off the road
- Kozy Kitchenrestaurantkm 14.7
- Mary Brown'sfast foodkm 14.7 · 206 m off the road
- Mr. G's Loungepubkm 14.7 · 338 m off the road
- Ocean Sushirestaurantkm 14.7 · 331 m off the road
- Peter's Pizzafast foodkm 14.7 · 345 m off the road
- Tim Hortonscafékm 14.7 · 285 m off the road
- Tiny's Bar and Grillrestaurantkm 14.7 · 329 m off the road
- McDonald'sfast foodkm 14.8 · 536 m off the road
- Ye's Wokrestaurantkm 14.9 · 654 m off the road
- A&Wfast foodkm 14.9 · 727 m off the road
- Coffee Matters Paradisecafékm 15 · 726 m off the road
- Domino'sfast foodkm 15.2 · 1097 m off the road
- Subwayfast foodkm 15.2 · 1173 m off the road
- Cojonesrestaurantkm 15.2 · 1069 m off the road
- Pizza Housefast foodkm 15.3 · 1855 m off the road
- Subwayfast foodkm 15.3 · 535 m off the road
- Robin's Donutsfast foodkm 15.7 · 450 m off the road
- Donovan's Irvingrestaurantkm 15.9 · 622 m off the road
- A&Wfast foodkm 16.5 · 1700 m off the road
- A&Wfast foodkm 16.5 · 1700 m off the road
- Canteenrestaurantkm 16.9 · 1756 m off the road
- Starbuckscafékm 17.1 · 1642 m off the road
- Pizza Hutrestaurantkm 17.1 · 1773 m off the road
- Tim Hortonscafékm 17.1 · 1941 m off the road
- A&Wfast foodkm 17.1 · 1885 m off the road
- Costco Food Courtfast foodkm 17.2 · 1456 m off the road
- Mary Brown'srestaurantkm 88.6
- Tim Hortonscafékm 89.2
- Subwayfast foodkm 89.2
- A&Wfast foodkm 89.5
Not ranked or complete, and nobody pays to be here. No opening hours: phone ahead. Open map data, read 2026-09-12 (how we measure). Missing one? Add it to the map or email us the details.
Short drives from Placentia
Or any of these: nearest first, measured by road from Placentia. Each one's page has directions.
- Castle Hill National Historic Sitestop3.2 km
A Parks Canada site on the hill above Placentia, early in the drive.
- Argentia ferry terminalstop7.8 km
Where the Marine Atlantic ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia comes in.
- Gooseberry Cove Provincial Parkstop24 km
A provincial park on the Cape Shore, about halfway down and barely off the road.
- St. Bride'sstop47 km
The town on Route 100 just before the turn for Cape St. Mary's.
- Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reservetown64 km
- Bellevue Beachstop73 km
A sandy beach on Route 201, in what the province's tourism site calls a popular summer cottage area.
- Shag Rock lookoutstop76 km
A viewpoint OpenStreetMap records beside Route 80, close enough to the driven line that stopping costs nothing.
- Chance Cove Coastal Trailstop78 km
A trail through the forest to the far end of Chance Cove Beach, then uphill along the coast to hidden sandy beaches, lookouts and sea caves, per the province's tourism site.
Distances by road from Placentia, measured on OpenStreetMap November 7, 2026. Your maps app gives the time on the day. How we measure
More about this drive
What has been recorded near here
Wildlife people have reported within 10 km of Placentia, and the months they saw it. Tap a name for everywhere else on our drives it turns up.
- Northern gannetseabirdMorus bassanusReports cluster in May, July, June114 reports on record
Reports, not counts: busy harbours report more. No sighting is promised, and the list covers only the species we look up. Source: GBIF, the international record of wildlife sightings, checked 2026-10-07.
Doing it electric
- Fast chargers on this drive
- Paradise km 16, St. John’s km 17
- Longest stretch without one
- 115 km
- St. John’s → Placentia, of 132 km driven
- Nearest fast charger to Placentia
- 48 km
- by road, at Whitbourne
No fast charger at Placentia. From the last fast charger, in St. John’s, it is 115 km there and the same back: plan on about 230 km on one charge, more in cold weather or with the heat on. Or charge at Whitbourne, 48 km from Placentia by road, off this drive's own road.
The chargers
Paradise km 16 of the drive, 1.9 km off it
Paradise Town Hall 28 McNamara Dr, Paradise, NL A1L 1Y5
CCS and CHAdeMO plugs · 62.5 kW DC fast charger
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeSt. John’s km 17 of the drive, 1.8 km off it
The Shoppes at Galway 42 Danny Drive, St. John’s
CCS and CHAdeMO plugs · 62.5 kW DC fast charger
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · WazeWhitbourne 48 km from Placentia by road
Irving Oil 679 Whitbourne Road
CCS and CHAdeMO plugs · 62.5 kW DC fast charger
Directions →Other map apps
Apple · Google · Organic Maps · OsmAnd (both work offline, no tracking) · Waze
Charging: about 100 km of range every 15 minutes, and most EVs to 80% in less than an hour. You start it with a free ChargePoint account, with the ChargePoint app or card. NL Hydro, read November 1, 2026.
Coming in 2026 (NL Hydro, October 22, 2026): St. John’s, a second site in the same town (km 17; CCS and CHAdeMO plugs · ultra-fast, up to 175 kW to one car, 350 kW where a site has two or more chargers) and Whitbourne (km 89; CCS and CHAdeMO plugs · ultra-fast, up to 175 kW to one car, 350 kW where a site has two or more chargers). Not counted until it opens.
NL Hydro fast chargers within 3 km of the drive. Check the app for one that's working. Exported October 22, 2026. How we measure
Paved or not, per the map
- Mapped as unpaved
- none
- Not proof it is all paved: 35% has no surface tag.
- Mapped as paved
- 65%
- 80.9 km of 132.4 km driven
- No surface tag on the map
- 35%
- 42.9 km: surface not recorded
In a rental car: Hertz Canada’s terms say “use off paved roads or on roads which are not regularly maintained” voids the damage waiver. Check your own agreement. Hertz’s terms ↗. Source for these figures: OSRM driving profile, stored route query, with node annotations; OpenStreetMap surface tags via Overpass, checked 2026-09-13. Today's road conditions: 511.
Before you go
These change, so we link to the people who keep them up to date.
MooseYear round, worst between dusk and dawn
The province states the likelihood of injury in a moose collision runs about twice as high between dusk and dawn as in daytime. Route 40 and the Trans-Canada out of St. John's are busy main roads, but most of this drive is Route 100, a two-lane highway down the Placentia arm of the Avalon with long unlit stretches between communities. That is where the risk is.
gov.nl.ca →Road conditionsYear round, matters most November–April
Route 100 has long gaps between communities. Check conditions before you leave the airport, especially in winter.
511nl.ca →
Renting a car? Book the car when you book the flight.
Summer rentals sell out, says NL Tourism, and in June 2026 BNN Bloomberg reported St. John's airport agencies booked for nearly all of summer.
Both checked October 7, 2026.
Rental counters at St. John's, with numbers →Arriving without a car
Not renting? Here's who St. John's International Airport Authority lists at the terminal.
Rideshare: it depends who you ask.
The Airport Authority's own ground-transportation pages name City Wide Taxi as “the exclusive provider of ground transportation services for the public” and do not mention rideshare anywhere. Uber publishes pickup instructions for YYT, and the Airport's own account welcomed Uber in 2024. Both are true. The Authority's pages govern the kerb, so check them on the day.
Taxi
City Wide Taxi, which the Airport Authority names as the exclusive provider for the public. Cabs queue outside the Arrivals area and a dispatcher is there to help. The Authority publishes preset fares to named hotels and a meter-plus-surcharge rate everywhere else.
Public transit
Metrobus route 14 runs between the airport and the St. John's metro region, including Memorial University. There are two stops at the airport: one near the arrivals area, and one on World Parkway by the Holiday Inn Express. The Authority says Metrobus has committed to a wheelchair-accessible service on this route and can take large, non-folding mobility aids. Schedule and fares are Metrobus's.
Source: St. John's International Airport Authority,2026-09-15. Check there for fares and times.
The drive back
Placentia back to St. John's measures 134 km — 1.2 km longer than the drive out.
Plan back from your check-in time. Give the planner your flight time and it tells you when to set off.
How early to arrive depends on the carrier and the season: check St. John's International Airport →
Return measured 2026-09-29, the same way as the drive out. How we measure
Questions
How far is the drive from St. John's Airport to Placentia?＋
About 132 km, on Routes 40, 1 and 100. Terminal to Placentia.
Should I fly into St. John's, Gander or Deer Lake for Placentia?＋
St. John's, by a wide margin. It's 132 km from St. John's, versus 290 km from Gander and 593 km from Deer Lake.
What's in Placentia worth the drive?＋
Two things. Castle Hill National Historic Site, with the remnants of a stone fort from the 18th-century British-French fight over the Newfoundland fishery; and the O'Reilly House Museum, run by the Placentia Area Historical Society. The Society traces the town's occupation to the 1500s and records it as a French and later an English capital.
Is it a hard drive?＋
No. Route 40 and the short Trans-Canada stretch are busy main roads, and Route 100 is a quieter two-lane highway. Plan around moose once you're clear of the city; see the note above.
No recorded track yet.Drove it? Send yours →
Put this map on your site
Run a place to stay, a tour or a town page on this drive? Add this map to your site. It shows your guests the drive and its distance. It is free, needs no account, and we keep the figures current.
<iframe src="https://fromtheairport.xyz/embed/yyt-placentia"
width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"
title="Driving route: St. John's International Airport (YYT) to Placentia"></iframe>?lat=&lon=&label= to the URL to pin your own property on the map.Every distance and coordinate on this page was checked against its source on September 5, 2026. Origin: OpenStreetMap way/279110348 — St. John's International Airport. Destination: OpenStreetMap node/4209548504 — Placentia. Planning only: not live and not for navigation; roads and conditions change. Terms