St. John's (always abbreviated, never spelled out) is a world apart from the rest of Newfoundland. The island's small fishing villages and long empty roads through spruce and bog are imbued with loneliness, quietude, and wildness. St. John's, on the other hand, is surprisingly vibrant, cultured, and bustling. Coming into this port city of more than 100,000 after traveling the hinterlands is like stepping from Kansas into Oz -- the picture suddenly seems to burst with color and life.
Like Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Saint John, New Brunswick, St. John's also serves as a magnet for youth culture throughout the entire province, and the clubs and restaurants tend to have a more cosmopolitan feel and sharper edge than you might expect from such a provincial, conservative island. The presence of Memorial University -- the province's premier institution of higher learning, less than 2 miles west of the harbor -- gives the city yet another shot in the cultural arm.
St. John's harbor is impressive, protected from the open seas by stony hills and accessible only through a pinched gap called The Narrows, a rocky defile of the sort you'd expect to see Atlas straddling. The Narrows sits at the north end of the harbor, hidden from view from much of the downtown, so first-time visitors may think they've stumbled upon a small lake -- albeit one with tankers and other oceangoing ships in it.
This is still very much a working harbor today, the hub of much of the province's commerce; as such, don't expect the place to be very quaint. Across the way are charmless oil-tank farms and offloading facilities for tankers, a major container-ship wharf occupies the head of the harbor, and along the water's edge on Harbour Street downtown you'll often find hulking ships tied up. Pedestrians are welcome to stroll and gawk -- but wholesale commerce remains the focus here, not boutiques and fine dining.
If you can arrange for it, come to St. John's after you've explored the more remote parts of Newfoundland. At that point -- after a couple of days or weeks days eating endless seafood, staying in simple motel rooms, and camping beneath the stars -- you'll truly appreciate the city's urban attitude, its diversity of culture, the wide choice of hotels and motels here, and the varied cuisine in its restaurants.
