Canada Guide
Newfoundland and Labrador
L'Anse aux Meadows
L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site (mid-June to early Sept daily 9am–6pm; also early June & early Sept to early Oct daily 9am–5pm; $10.40) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising the scant remains of the earliest verified European settlement in the Americas. It's also a tribute to the obsessive drive of Helge Ingstad, a Norwegian writer and explorer who from 1960 onwards hunted high and low to find Norse settlements on the North Atlantic seaboard. His efforts were inspired by two medieval Icelandic sagas, which detailed the establishment of the colony of Vinland somewhere along this coast in about 1000 AD.
The tourists visiting L'Anse aux Meadows have fuelled a mini-boom in local B&Bs and inns. There are two star turns, kicking off with the 
Tickle Inn ( 
709/452-4321, off-season 709/739-5503, 
www.tickleinn.net ; Price: $61-80; June– Sept), whose four, infinitely cosy guest rooms share an attractive 1890s house in a superb location on the shores of a secluded cove at remote Cape Onion. Reservations are essential and evening meals – as well as boat trips along the rugged coast nearby – need to be booked in advance. The Cape is about 45km from L'Anse aux Meadows – backtrack along Route 436, turn down Route 437 and keep going.
Perhaps even better, and certainly closer to L'Anse aux Meadows, is the Quirpon Lighthouse Inn ( 709/634-2285 or 1-877/254-6586, www.linkumtours.com ; Price: $241 and over; May– Oct), where eleven rooms in the two old lighthouse keeper's houses have been intelligently upgraded. The inn boasts a spectacular location, standing on its own islet next to the lighthouse with the cliffs jagging down below. A double room costs $325 per night, but this does include the forty-five minute boat trip over and all meals; the islet is 8km from L'Anse aux Meadows along a short gravel turning off Route 436.
One other possibility is the all-year, four-room Viking Nest B&B ( 709/623-2238 or 1-877/858-2238, www.bbcanada.com/vikingnest ; Price: $41-60), in a modern brick chalet in Hay Cove, just 1km from L'Anse aux Meadows.