Underrated Saint John, New Brunswick

When road tripping to Canada’s East Coast, many people use Saint John as a quick stop after exploring the Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy, but if this new generation of entrepreneurs have something to say about it, people will soon start making Saint John their home base when exploring the province of New Brunswick. During our road trip we decide to do just that. Choosing to rent a car from Enterprise at the Saint John airport lets us enjoy the freedom of road tripping without having to endure the long 14-hour drive form Toronto. We hop on a short two-hour flight and feel refreshed and ready to explore the province when we arrive.

It was a chance encounter that initially brought my husband Dave and I to Saint John. Business owner and young hotelier Ingrid Woodhouse sent us an email. She found our website online and saw that we travel to the east coast a lot. She had just opened a new luxury hostel The Bunkhaus and thought we may be able to help spread the word. It’s the first and only luxury hostel in Saint John and we were intrigued.
It just so happened we were in the midst of planning another road trip out east, and with this new idea fresh in our mind, we planned our visit around our stay at her hostel.

What we experienced next surprised us. As Canadians, it is embarrassing to admit we knew little of the area before arriving in our rental car but soon discovered the coastal drive from the United States Border to the Hopewell Rocks is one of Canada’s greatest road tripping destinations. Saint John is in the middle of a route filled with undeveloped wilderness, remarkable coastal views, a national park and scenic villages.
The city itself has enough to keep visitors busy for a few days. It is one of Canada’s oldest cities, dating back to 1604 when Samuel de Champlain landed in the harbour proclaiming the river be named Saint John.

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