Toronto sightseeing chauffeur: a private car and a local at the wheel

Toronto by private car

Toronto is not a city you see from a bus. It is a city of neighbourhoods twenty minutes apart - the Distillery's cobbles, Kensington's chaos, the Bluffs' cliffs, Yorkville's money, the Danforth's tavernas, the Islands' beaches - and the way to see it in a day is a car that goes where you point it, waits while you walk, and has someone at the wheel who has lived here. A sightseeing chauffeur is an hourly booking, four to eight hours in a sedan or SUV, with a chauffeur who knows the city and says so only when asked, and a clock that runs while you linger at the market or the museum.

It is the booking for parents visiting, a partner's first trip, a client with a free afternoon, a cruise passenger with a day in port, a conference delegate with the Saturday, and a Torontonian showing the city to someone. The hire-a-driver page explains the product for first-timers; this page is the itineraries.

Itinerary one: the classic day (8 hours)

10:00 pickup at the hotel. 10:20 St. Lawrence Market, the car on Front - an hour among the cheese and the peameal bacon sandwiches. 11:30 the Distillery District, the car on Mill Street - the Victorian industrial lanes, the galleries, a coffee. 12:45 the waterfront - a walk along Queens Quay, or the ferry to Ward's Island for an hour with the skyline behind you, the car meeting the return ferry. 2:15 Casa Loma, the car in the lot - the castle, the tunnels, the towers. 3:45 the Annex and Yorkville by car, a stop at the ROM or a walk on Bloor. 5:00 Kensington Market and Chinatown, the car on Augusta - the strangest and best hour in the city. 6:00 dinner on Ossington or in Little Italy, or back to the hotel. Eight hours; the SUV for a family, the sedan for two.

Itinerary two: the lake and the edges (6 hours)

11:00 pickup. 11:30 the Scarborough Bluffs via Kingston Road, the car at Bluffer's Park - the cliffs and the beach that nobody expects. 12:45 the Beaches and Queen Street East, lunch on the boardwalk. 2:00 Leslieville and the Distillery by car. 2:45 the Harbourfront and the CN Tower if you must, or Ripley's for the children. 4:00 High Park via the Gardiner and Lake Shore, the car at Grenadier Pond - the cherry trees in April, the zoo, the oaks. 5:00 the hotel via Roncesvalles and Queen West so you have seen the west end. Six hours.

Itinerary three: the neighbourhoods (5 hours)

The day for someone who has already done the sights: Cabbagetown's Victorian streets, Riverdale Farm, the Danforth for lunch at a taverna, Little India on Gerrard, Leslieville's shops, the Junction and its breweries, Roncesvalles and its Polish bakeries, Parkdale, Trinity Bellwoods and the shops of Queen West and Ossington. Five hours, mostly in the car with short walks, a chauffeur who grew up in one of them and will say which.

The museums, the tower and the tickets

The ROM on Bloor at Queen's Park, the AGO on Dundas, the Gardiner for ceramics, the Bata Shoe Museum, the Aga Khan Museum in Don Mills (worth the drive), the Hockey Hall of Fame at Yonge and Front, Ripley's Aquarium and the CN Tower at the base of the tower: the chauffeur drops at the door and waits, and the City of Toronto's visitor pages and the museums' own sites are the place to pre-book timed tickets, which the CN Tower and the aquarium require on busy days. The travel desk covers hotels and activities through BookingWorldwide.net.

Out of the city for the day

The classic out-of-town day for a visitor is Niagara Falls - the Falls, the Hornblower boat, Niagara-on-the-Lake's main street and a winery on the way home - as a ten-hour booking, and it is the most-booked day on this site. The Muskoka lakes in autumn, Blue Mountain village, the Stratford Festival matinee and the Kawarthas are the others; the day-trip board has the drive and the block for each.

The right car for a sightseeing day

The Executive Sedan for a couple. The Luxury SUV for a family of four to six, for grandparents who want the seat height, or for a day that ends at Yorkdale with bags. The Executive Sprinter for a family reunion, a conference group or a cruise party of up to twelve, from five hours. Child seats are fitted free; a folded wheelchair or a stroller goes in the boot of the SUV. The fleet page has the detail.

The chauffeur as a local

Every chauffeur is Toronto-based and most grew up here. Asked, they will tell you where the best dumplings in Chinatown are, why the Bluffs are better than the Tower, which Islands ferry to take, where the cherry blossoms are, and how the city voted. Not asked, they drive. Languages on request: Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Hindi, Arabic, Farsi, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French and more, subject to availability - say so at booking and a family from Guangzhou or São Paulo has a chauffeur who can explain the market in their own language.

Cruise passengers and conference delegates

Great Lakes cruise ships dock at the Port of Toronto's Cruise Terminal on Cherry Street with six to eight hours ashore; a chauffeur meeting the ship for a six-hour block covers itinerary two or a Niagara sprint. Conference delegates at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre with a free Saturday book itinerary one from their hotel; the events page has the convention-centre detail. Both are booked with the ship's or the conference's dates in the notes so the pickup is timed to the gangway or the last session.

What it costs, and booking it

The class hourly rate for the date, times the hours, plus HST and gratuity, shown before you confirm; parking only where a venue charges it - Casa Loma's lot, some museum garages - and the chauffeur avoids it where the car can wait on the street. The rates page explains the number. Against a hop-on bus for a family of four plus taxis between the things the bus does not reach, the SUV for eight hours is comparable in cost and incomparable as a day; the comparison page says why. Choose By the hour, the class, the hotel, the date and time, and the hours; put "sightseeing", the itinerary number or your own list, and the languages in the notes, and a chauffeur who enjoys showing the city is assigned.

A visitor's day, timed

10:00 the Fairmont Royal York, Executive Sedan, a couple from Edinburgh. 10:15 St. Lawrence Market, the car on Front; peameal sandwiches. 11:30 the Distillery, the car on Mill. 12:45 the ferry from Jack Layton Terminal to Ward's Island; the chauffeur parks and meets the 2:15 return. 2:45 Casa Loma. 4:15 Kensington, the car on Augusta; the chauffeur's dumpling recommendation taken. 5:30 a drive up Yonge and back down Spadina so they have seen it. 6:00 the hotel. Eight hours; eight billed; the couple booked Niagara for Thursday before they got out of the car.

Toronto in a table: the stops, the streets, the time to allow

Seasons, and what changes

April is cherry blossoms at High Park and the Islands ferry restarting; June is Pride and the Distillery's patios; July and August are the Islands, the Beaches and Budweiser Stage; September is TIFF and the CNE's last days; October is the Bluffs and High Park in colour; December is the Distillery's Christmas market, when the car waits on Parliament because Mill Street is closed, and the Cavalcade of Lights at Nathan Phillips Square. The Ontario tourism site and Destination Toronto carry the calendar; the chauffeur carries the umbrella.

Two more days worth booking

The architecture day. The Aga Khan Museum and the Ismaili Centre in Don Mills, the ROM's crystal, the AGO's Gehry staircase, the Sharp Centre on McCaul, the new Toronto courthouse, the Gooderham flatiron, Union Station's Great Hall and the Rogers Centre's roof from the CN Tower - a six-hour loop for the visitor who came for the buildings. The food day. Dim sum in Markham at 11, Little India at 1, the Danforth at 3, Kensington at 5 and Ossington at 7 - eight hours, an SUV, and a chauffeur who eats too, separately, and knows where. Both are directed from the back seat like every other day on this page, and both end wherever dinner is.

From our network: LWD article - TIFF black car service · LAI article - five years with TIFF · HotelsWorldwide.Directory - luxury hotels in Canada · VWD - approved limousine affiliates in Toronto · BookingWorldwide.net - Toronto hotels, flights and activities.

Official sources for planning: Ontario 511 - road conditions.