Toronto to Kingston and the Thousand Islands by chauffeur

Kingston, and why the drive is the way

Kingston sits where Lake Ontario becomes the St. Lawrence, two hundred and sixty-five kilometres east of Toronto on the 401, and it is three things to a Toronto car service: a university town with Queen's, the Royal Military College and St. Lawrence College and their move-in, convocation and parents' weekends; the gateway to the Thousand Islands and their cruises from Kingston and Gananoque; and the halfway point to Montreal and Ottawa, with a limestone old town, a waterfront and a Pen tour worth a night. There is no useful flight; the train takes two and a half hours and leaves you at a station a taxi ride from anywhere; the drive in a chauffeured car is two hours fifty with the passenger working or sleeping. A Kingston day is a twelve-hour hourly booking; a Kingston weekend or a one-way is a flat fare each way; and the city-to-city page explains when each is the better number.

The drive

The 401 east through Oshawa, Port Hope, Cobourg, Belleville and Napanee to Kingston's Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard or Division Street exits: two hours fifty off-peak, three and a half on a Friday afternoon leaving the city, with the stretch between Cobourg and Belleville under permanent construction and the Oshawa stretch at 5 pm on a Sunday the reason to leave Kingston by 2. No tolls; the 407 across the top of the city is optional and, from Vaughan or Markham, worth it to reach the 401 east. In winter the 401 east of Cobourg is the stretch that closes in a squall off the lake; the dispatcher watches Ontario 511 and the SUV goes.

Queen's, RMC and the university calendar

Queen's University brings Toronto families to Kingston four times a year: move-in in early September, when University Avenue is a wall of SUVs and a chauffeured SUV with the student's things in the boot and a parent in the back is the calm version; Homecoming in October; parents' weekend; and convocation in May and June at Grant Hall and the ARC, when the family books a Sprinter for the grandparents and a dinner at Chez Piggy. RMC's convocation, the Queen's Gaels' football at Richardson Stadium, a recruiting visit to Queen's Law or Smith, and a first-year's Thanksgiving trip home are all one-way flat fares or twelve-hour days. The multi-day page covers the weekend with the chauffeur staying, and the Queen's academic calendar sets the dates.

The Thousand Islands

The St. Lawrence below Kingston is 1,864 islands, and the cruises from Kingston's Crawford Wharf and from Gananoque, twenty-five minutes east, are the day: one to three hours among the islands, Boldt Castle on the American side (passports if the cruise lands there), the Thousand Islands Parkway along the shore to Rockport and Brockville, and the 1000 Islands Tower on Hill Island. A Thousand Islands day from Toronto is twelve hours - the drive, a morning in Kingston, the cruise from Gananoque at 1, the Parkway to Rockport, dinner in Kingston, home by 10 - and the Kingston 1000 Islands Cruises and Gananoque Boat Line schedules set the middle of it. The car waits at the wharf.

Kingston itself

The old town's limestone: City Hall, Market Square with the Saturday farmers' market, Princess Street's shops and restaurants, the Confederation Basin waterfront, the Kingston Penitentiary's guided tour (the most-booked attraction in the city since it closed as a prison), Fort Henry on the hill across the causeway with the sunset ceremony in summer, Bellevue House, the Wolfe Island ferry from the foot of Barrack Street for a free hour on the water, and dinner at Chez Piggy, Aqua Terra or the Grizzly Grill. The chauffeur waits on Ontario Street or in the Chown lot; Princess Street's parking is not your problem.

A Kingston day, timed (book 12)

7:30 the Beaches, the SUV, a couple and their parents. 10:20 Kingston, coffee on Market Square. 10:45 the Kingston Penitentiary tour, ninety minutes, the car on King Street. 12:30 lunch on Princess Street. 1:45 the Thousand Islands Parkway to Gananoque; 2:30 the three-hour cruise, the car at the wharf. 5:45 Rockport and the Parkway back with the sun on the islands. 6:45 dinner at Chez Piggy. 8:15 the 401. 11:00 the Beaches. Twelve hours and thirty minutes; thirteen billed; the parents talked about the islands for a month.

The halfway house to Montreal and Ottawa

Kingston is where a Toronto-to-Montreal or Toronto-to-Ottawa drive stops for lunch, and a one-way Montreal or Ottawa flat fare includes the comfort stop; an hourly version stops for the Pen tour and the market and is the better day if the passenger has the hours. The city-to-city page explains.

Weekends and overnights

The Delta by the water, the Frontenac Club, the Rosemount, the Secret Garden and the Queen's guest houses: a Kingston weekend is a one-way flat fare each way from Toronto or Pearson, or the multi-day booking with the chauffeur staying for a weekend that includes Gananoque, Prince Edward County an hour west and the islands. For most weekends the two flat fares are cheaper and the desk says so.

The car

The Luxury SUV for a student's move-in (the boot takes the desk lamp, the duvet and the box of books), for a family's islands day and for winter on the 401. The Executive Sprinter for a convocation party of grandparents and cousins, or a team to Richardson Stadium. The Mercedes S-Class for the couple's weekend or the executive's one-way to a meeting at the base. The Executive Sedan for the recruiting visit. The fleet page has capacities.

Kingston in winter

Feb Fest on the frozen Market Square, the Pen tour with nobody in the queue, Fort Henry's winter events, the islands under ice from the Parkway, and the 401 east of Cobourg in a squall: the SUV, the winter tyres, the dispatcher watching 511, and a drive that leaves early or waits. The fare does not change with the weather.

Corporate Kingston

The base at CFB Kingston, the university's research contracts, the hospitals, the Novelis plant and the tech firms at Innovation Park bring executives east; a one-way flat fare from Toronto or Pearson and a local chauffeur of the same standard for the hourly day there, on the corporate account. The Ottawa city page covers the capital's version; Kingston's hourly day is arranged through the network.

Kingston and the islands, in a table

Booking Kingston

By the hour, twelve hours, a 7:30 start, with the cruise time and the Pen tour booked; or Route each way for a move-in, a convocation or a weekend, with the student's residence and the parking rules in the notes. Move-in weekend and convocation book a month ahead - every Toronto SUV is on the 401 - and the cruises sell out on summer weekends; book the boat, then the car.

Kingston's stops, and where the car waits

The Rideau Canal and the Kingston Mills locks

Kingston is the southern end of the Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Kingston Mills locks fifteen minutes north on the 15 are a half-hour stop that a visitor will not forget - the lockmaster's hand-cranked gates, the blockhouse, the boats stepping up toward Ottawa. The chauffeur adds it to an hourly day on the way home; Parks Canada publishes the lock hours.

Convocation, in detail

Queen's convocations run over two weeks in May and June at Grant Hall and the Athletics and Recreation Centre, with a ceremony every few hours and a family of six to ten arriving for each; the Sprinter from Toronto on the morning, the ceremony, the photographs on University Avenue, lunch at Chez Piggy or Aqua Terra booked weeks ahead, and home by evening is twelve hours. Grandparents ride in the SUV's higher seats; the desk books the lunch if asked; and the campus's parking rules are the chauffeur's problem.

Booking, in one line

By the hour, twelve hours, a 7:30 start, the cruise and the Pen tour in the notes; or Route each way for a move-in, a convocation or a weekend, with the residence and the ceremony time in the notes - and a month's notice for September and June.

From our network: VWD - attractions in Canada · VWD - luxury resorts and hotels in Canada · HotelsWorldwide.Directory - resorts in Canada · VWD - adventure travel in Canada · BookingWorldwide.net - Toronto hotels, flights and activities.