How do you travel to Labrador City, Canada from Washington,DC?

Question

I know there's tons of ways but I need the fastest or most affordable. I want to take my mother there for her birthday which is November. It's a cool place and it's a different place from what my friend tells me so I wish to know the steps besides taking a flight to Quebec or Toronto.

Answer 1

It is not simple to travel to Labrador City by driving as the previous poster suggested.  And there aren't tons of ways to get to Labrador City.  Most of them are somewhat expensive - there is no easy and inexpensive route.  The fastest route is definitely to fly.  To drive to Labrador City from Washington DC is certanly doable, but will take several days because there are ferry crossings and dirt roads to consider.

One way certainly is to drive.  No matter which route you use if you drive, you will have to drive hundreds of miles over unpaved and desolate roads, with few or no services.  If you drive you may want to cross the border in Quebec and head to Baie Comeau, which is where you pick up the road that heads into the interior of Labrador, and will take you to Labrador City.  The drive from Baie Comeau will take several hours, most of a day, and is almost all dirt road.  What you have to watch out for on that road is the big trucks which will leave you in a cloud of dust for several seconds after you pass them.  Your speed on that road will be mostly around 60 to 70 kilometres per hour - about 45 mph.  Depending on the time of year, the road may be quite rough, and there will be a lot of gravel on it.

Another route is to cross the border at Calais/St. Stephen, drive across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, take the car ferry from North Sydney to Newfoundland, drive from Port aux Basques to St. Barbe on the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland (several hours of driving - paved road), take the car ferry across from St. Barbe to Blanc Sablon in Labrador (about an hour or so), drive from Blanc Sablon to Cartwright (several hours on mostly unpaved roads - lots of stones and gravel, but a fairly good dirt road), take another car ferry from Cartwright to Goose Bay (about 36 hours on the ferry), and then drive several more hours on another dirt road from Goose Bay to Labrador City.  This route will take more time than the Quebec route.

Alternatively you can fly to Labrador City (the airport is called Wabush, not Labrador City).  Several airlines have daily, or almost daily flights - Air Canada, Provincial Airlines, and Air Labrador.  Generally people fly to Labrador City from Montreal, St. John's or Halifax.  Your best route would probably be to fly to Toronto from Washington, and book flights to Labrador City from Toronto, which will take you through either Montreal or Quebec City.  These flights tend to be expensive, and there aren't usually any seat sales or special deals.  However, the cost of driving will most likely be almost as much as flying, when you consider your time, the wear and tear on your vehicle (rental companies will  not rent you a vehicle to drive into Labrador because of the dirt roads), hotels, etc.

Here is the mapquest link that describes the route through Quebec, which is the most sensible route to use if driving.  Flying will be much faster, and probably not much more expensive.

Answer 2

go to main, cross the river on a bridge then drive up into newfoundland and go to the city of you choice!

By the way where is washington D.C

Answer 3

I'm just curious why you're interested in going to Lab City from Washington. Lab City isn't much in the way of a tourist destination. Almost exclusively a mining town, with some ancillary services to mining ... anyway, I'm glad to know people from outside of Newfoundland actually visit the place. The nature outside of the town is astounding. Untouched wilderness for hundreds of miles around; Lab City really is in the middle of nowhere. Not counting a couple of small towns, you're about two hundred miles from the next sizable town, and right in the middle of the vast wilderness that comprises the Labrador peninsula.

Anyway, the advice from Imaka is the best advice here. There is only one way to drive into Lab City from the rest of Canada, and that's Quebec provincial highway 389 north from Sept-Iles. It's long (VERY LONG), it's narrow, poorly-maintained, there are few populated villages along the road, and it's very potholed and twisty. The joke goes that you'll round some turns and see your own taillights.

Flying into Wabush airport is the cheapest way, because driving will incur heavy, heavy fuel costs. Gas is more expensive in Canada, particularly so in rural semi-northern Quebec and in Labrador. I believe the current price in Labrador is in the $1.40/litre (or roughly 6 dollars per gallon) range. The airport is in the neighbouring city of Wabush (the "twin cities" of Labrador City/Wabush collectively form one city area, but are separate municipalities. Lab City is home to about 8000 people, Wabush to about 2000), and it's an easy trip to LC. There are regular flights from St. John's, Montreal and Quebec City. Your best bet is probably Washington-Montreal-Wabush. It'll be significantly faster, safer and more convenient, but for the two of you might be be cheaper to drive. But probably not by much ...

Anyway. Best of luck and enjoy your trip!

Answer 4

You could fly to St. John's, NL and then to Lab City from there.