A chauffeured black car from London, Ontario to Hamilton with LondonLimo.net is 125 km east on the 401 and Highway 403 in about eighty-five minutes off-peak, at a fixed rate shown before you confirm - a planning figure of $245-295 plus HST for a business sedan, $295-345 for an SUV, $470-560 for a Sprinter. McMaster University and its medical centre, Hamilton Health Sciences' Juravinski and General hospitals, St. Joseph's Healthcare, FirstOntario Centre and Tim Hortons Field, the James Street North arts district, the harbour, the escarpment's waterfalls, Ancaster, Dundas, Waterdown and Stoney Creek are the addresses the chauffeurs know, and Hamilton International Airport on the mountain at Mount Hope is twenty minutes beyond downtown.
Why Londoners go to Hamilton
McMaster draws London's students and its medical centre draws London's patients - the cancer programme at the Juravinski, the pediatric specialties at McMaster Children's, the cardiac and stroke centres - and the referral run from London's hospitals to Hamilton's is a weekly booking for families. The companies along the 403 and the QEW, the port, the steel and the new life-sciences firms draw the business travel; the Tiger-Cats, the Bulldogs and the concerts at FirstOntario Centre draw the evenings; the waterfalls, the Royal Botanical Gardens and Dundas's main street draw the Saturdays; and the airport at Mount Hope draws the sun-flight families who find Hamilton closer and calmer than Pearson.
| From downtown London to | Sedan | SUV | Sprinter | Off-peak time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McMaster, Westdale, the university hospitals | $245-295 | $295-345 | $470-560 | 1 h 20 |
| Downtown, James Street North, FirstOntario Centre, the harbour | $245-295 | $295-345 | $470-560 | 1 h 25 |
| Ancaster, Dundas, Waterdown | $235-285 | $285-335 | $460-550 | 1 h 15 |
| Stoney Creek, the QEW east | $260-310 | $310-360 | $490-580 | 1 h 35 |
| Hamilton International Airport (YHM) | $240-290 | $290-340 | $470-560 | 1 h 20 |
| Hamilton day, hourly, chauffeur waiting | $95-115 / h | $115-135 / h | $145-175 / h | 3 h minimum plus the run |
LondonLimo.net planning ranges before HST, one way; the engine quotes the exact addresses and date.
The drive: the 401, the 403 and the mountain
East on the 401 to Woodstock, then Highway 403 southeast through Brantford and past Ancaster to Hamilton: the 403 descends the escarpment at the Ancaster hill into the city's west end, Main Street West and McMaster; the Lincoln Alexander Parkway across the mountain serves the Juravinski and the airport; the QEW and the Red Hill Valley Parkway serve Stoney Creek. Eighty-five minutes off-peak to downtown; the 403 is rarely congested west of the city and the chauffeur allows for the Main Street lights. Winter closes the 401 west of Woodstock, not the 403; Ontario 511 is read before every run.
McMaster and the hospitals: the referral run
McMaster University Medical Centre, McMaster Children's, the Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre on the mountain, Hamilton General's cardiac and stroke programmes, St. Joseph's on the mountain: patients from London and Southwestern Ontario are referred to Hamilton for treatment the London hospitals do not offer, and the family's day is a chauffeured run with the chauffeur waiting at the entrance, booked by the hour or as two fixed runs on a household account that a relative anywhere can manage.
McMaster the university
Students from London at McMaster, the September move and the April return, the parents' weekend, convocation at the campus in June: an SUV or a van with the boxes, a fixed rate, and a household account. Western and McMaster play each other, and a Mustangs team to Ron Joyce Stadium is a Sprinter on the group transportation page.
FirstOntario Centre, Tim Hortons Field and the arena night
The Bulldogs and the concerts at FirstOntario Centre on York Boulevard, the Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton Place and the FirstOntario Concert Hall: the chauffeur drops at the door and waits in the city on an hourly booking or returns for a fixed-rate pickup moved by text, and a Sprinter of fourteen at $470-560 one way is $35 a head. The concerts, sports and events page has the detail.
James Street North, the harbour and the Saturday
The arts district on James North with its galleries and restaurants, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the harbour's Bayfront Park and Pier 4, the Royal Botanical Gardens between Hamilton and Burlington, Dundas's main street and its valley, the waterfalls - Webster's, Tews, Albion, the Devil's Punchbowl - along the Bruce Trail on the escarpment: a family's or a couple's Hamilton Saturday is a car by the hour with the chauffeur parked nearby and a table booked by the travel desk.
Business Hamilton: the port, the 403 corridor and the life sciences
The steel companies and the port, the manufacturers along the QEW and the 403, McMaster's innovation park and the life-sciences firms, the head offices downtown and in Ancaster's business park: a London company's Hamilton day is an hourly booking with the chauffeur waiting, on the corporate account, often ending at the airport for a WestJet flight west.
Hamilton airport, and Niagara beyond
The airport at Mount Hope is twenty minutes from downtown over the mountain, and a Hamilton run that ends at a sun flight is the YHM page's booking; Niagara's wineries and the Falls are fifty minutes further along the QEW on the Niagara page, and a London-Hamilton-Niagara day by the hour is a common weekend.
Brantford, Paris and Ancaster on the way
The 403 passes Brantford, Paris and Ancaster, and a passenger in any of them is collected as a stop or booked as their own shorter fixed rate; the destinations hub has the figures.
Winter and the escarpment
The Ancaster hill and the mountain accesses ice in freezing rain and the city closes them briefly; the chauffeur knows the alternatives, the vehicle has winter tires from November to April, and the fixed rate does not change. The 401 between London and Woodstock is the squall risk, routed around by Highway 7/8 and the 401 at Kitchener, then the 8 to the 403.
The honest alternatives
GO Transit reaches Hamilton from Toronto but not from London; VIA Rail does not serve Hamilton from the west; the intercity bus is slow. For the hospital day, the McMaster move, the arena night, the business day and the airport, the chauffeured fixed rate is the answer.
Three Hamilton bookings, as they actually ran
A Juravinski appointment, Monday. An executive SUV from Byron at 7 a.m. for a 9:30 appointment on the mountain, the chauffeur at the entrance until 1, and home by 2:45. Booked by a daughter in Vancouver on the household account.
A McMaster move, September. A luxury van from Old South with a student, two parents and the room in boxes, residence in Westdale by 10, and the parents home by 1. One fixed rate.
A Bulldogs game, Friday. A Sprinter for twelve from a London office at 4:30, FirstOntario Centre at 6:30, a bar on James North after, and home at midnight. By the hour; the company's night out on the account.
Planning figures. Rates are LondonLimo.net planning ranges before HST, one way from downtown London; the engine quotes the exact addresses, date and vehicle. University, hospital and venue names describe where we drive and imply no affiliation.
Burlington, Oakville and the QEW west
Burlington's waterfront and its office parks, the Joseph Brant Hospital, Oakville's Sheridan College and Ford's assembly plant, and the QEW corridor's head offices are twenty to forty minutes east of Hamilton and are booked from London as Hamilton-band or Mississauga-band fixed rates; the chauffeur reaches them by the 403 and the QEW, and a Burlington passenger joining a Hamilton booking is a stop. The Hamilton city site and Tourism Hamilton cover the city; Burlington and Oakville have their own.
The Hamilton hotels, from the chauffeur's seat
The Sheraton beside FirstOntario Centre and Hamilton Place, the Staybridge and the Homewood downtown, the Hilton Garden Inn and the Courtyard at the airport's Mount Hope end, the Ancaster hotels on the 403, and the Royal Botanical Gardens' neighbour hotels in Burlington: the travel desk books the room with the chauffeurs for a two-day medical visit or a weekend with the Bulldogs and the waterfalls.
Weddings and events in the Hamilton area
The Royal Botanical Gardens, the Ancaster Mill, the escarpment's vineyards toward Grimsby, the Liuna Station banquet hall on James Street, Dundas's heritage venues: a London wedding party heads there by Sprinter and the guests by coach, quoted as the wedding page describes; a company's event at the Art Gallery of Hamilton or the convention centre is a Sprinter on the corporate account.
Booking it
Two addresses on the reservation engine, the date and time, the vehicle class; the fixed rate appears; add the airport at Mount Hope if the day ends there, or book the Hamilton day by the hour. Standing hospital runs and corporate lines are set up by the desk in one call; the rates page has the figures for Hamilton beside the other cities.
Three questions the desk is asked about Hamilton
Can the chauffeur wait all day at the Juravinski? Yes - by the hour, at the entrance the hospital designates, for as long as the appointment takes. Is Hamilton airport cheaper than Pearson from London? The run is fifty to sixty dollars less and forty minutes shorter; the fares depend on the week, and the YHM page makes the comparison. Can we do the waterfalls and a Bulldogs game in one day? Yes, by the hour: the escarpment in the afternoon, dinner on James North, the arena at 7, home at 11.
What Hamilton looks like from the car
The 403 comes down the escarpment at Ancaster with the city and the harbour spread out below, the steel mills' stacks on the bay, McMaster's campus in the trees of Westdale, the towers of downtown and the mountain's edge behind them. The chauffeur knows the mountain accesses - the Jolley Cut, the Claremont, the Sherman - that ice first in freezing rain, and the Hamilton city site publishes their closures.
Hamilton for the London student and the visiting parent
McMaster's residences in Westdale and the student houses along Main West and Sterling, the parents' hotels downtown, the September move and the April return, the Homecoming weekend, convocation at the campus: the household account holds the year, and the group transportation page covers a Western team travelling to play the Marauders.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Grey Cup and the football Saturday
Tim Hortons Field in the east end hosts the Tiger-Cats from June to November and the Forge FC soccer season, and a London group's football Saturday is a Sprinter with the tailgate in the back, a drop at the Cannon Street gate, and the drive home after the game; the Hamilton city site publishes the game-day street closures around the stadium and the chauffeur plans the return around them.
Booking checklist
The London address and the Hamilton address; the date and time; the vehicle class; whether the day is by the hour; whether it ends at Mount Hope; any patient needs; and the account or card. The desk confirms in one email.
