Destinations & day trips · 2026-09-21 · 9-minute read
Cross-border from London, Ontario by chauffeured car - to Detroit and Michigan over the Ambassador Bridge, the Gordie Howe International Bridge or the tunnel, to Port Huron over the Blue Water Bridge, and to Buffalo and New York over the Peace Bridge - needs, on LondonLimo.net's cross-border page, every passenger's valid passport or NEXUS card, a permanent resident's PR card with their passport, a visa or the right status for a passenger who is neither a Canadian nor an American citizen, a consent letter for a child travelling with one parent or neither, the vehicle's registration and insurance and the chauffeur's own passport and the operating authority a commercial vehicle carries, all sent to the desk the week before; the CBP asks its questions going over and the CBSA its coming back, the duty-free limits run by the hours away, and the fares - $420-520 to Detroit Metro, $460-560 to Buffalo, $290-350 to Port Huron, $420-500 to the stadiums - include the crossing and a normal wait. This article is the documents, the crossing and the honest list of who cannot cross.
The documents, passenger by passenger
| Passenger | What the CBP needs going over | What the CBSA needs coming back | The desk's note |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Canadian citizen | A valid passport, or a NEXUS card at a NEXUS lane | The same | The passport's validity is the trip's length; six months is the safe rule |
| A Canadian child under 16 | A passport, or a birth certificate with a parent; a consent letter if one parent or neither travels | The same | The consent letter is the most common omission |
| A permanent resident of Canada | The PR card and the passport of citizenship; a US visa or ESTA-exempt status by that passport | The PR card and the passport | The visa question is the passport's, not Canada's |
| A visitor to Canada on a visa or an eTA | The passport, the US visa or the ESTA, and the Canadian visa or eTA for the return | The Canadian visa or eTA | A single-entry Canadian visa does not come back |
| An American citizen | A US passport, or a passport card at the land border | The same | The passport card works at the land crossings only |
| A NEXUS holder | The card at the NEXUS lane; every passenger must hold one for the lane | The same | One passenger without the card puts the car in the regular lane |
The Government of Canada's travel site is the reference; the desk checks the list the week before and says what is missing.
The vehicle's and the chauffeur's documents
The vehicle's registration and its commercial insurance with US coverage, the chauffeur's own passport and any record that would bar them, the commercial operating authority and the US Department of Transportation's requirements for a for-hire vehicle carrying passengers across the border; not every chauffeur is licensed to cross, the desk rosters the ones who are, and the chauffeurs page has the standard.
The CBP's questions, going over
Citizenship, the purpose of the visit, the length, the address, whether anything is being brought for sale or left behind, any food, alcohol or tobacco, any cash over $10,000; the chauffeur answers for the vehicle and each passenger for themselves, plainly and briefly, and the CBP's site has the rules; a passenger with a past refusal or a record tells the desk at booking and the desk says honestly whether the crossing is likely.
The CBSA's questions, coming back
The same, plus the goods bought and their value, the duty-free limits by the hours away - the CBSA's personal exemptions for under 24 hours, 24 to 48 and over 48 - and the alcohol and tobacco limits; the receipts in one envelope, the goods declared, and the chauffeur's trunk open if asked.
The crossings, and their waits
| Crossing | From London | The plaza | Typical wait | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Ambassador Bridge | 2 h | Huron Church Road, Windsor | 10-30 min for cars; longer behind the trucks | The oldest and the busiest |
| The Gordie Howe International Bridge | 2 h | The E.C. Row's western end | 5-20 min | The new plazas and the NEXUS lanes |
| The Detroit-Windsor tunnel | 2 h | Goyeau Street, downtown Windsor | 10-30 min | Downtown to downtown; cars only |
| The Blue Water Bridge | 1 h 05 | Point Edward, Sarnia | 10-30 min | The I-94 to Detroit's north side and Chicago |
| The Peace Bridge | 2 h 30 | Fort Erie | 10-40 min | Buffalo's airport, the Bills, the I-90 |
The CBSA's and the CBP's sites post the live waits; the desk checks the morning of and the chauffeur picks the shorter plaza.
The fares, with the crossing inside
$420-520 for a sedan to Detroit Metro, $420-500 to Ford Field, Comerica and Little Caesars Arena, $440-530 to Dearborn, $470-570 to Ann Arbor's Michigan Medicine, $290-350 to Port Huron, $460-560 to Buffalo's airport, each with the tolls and a normal wait inside and the SUV and the Sprinter scaled; the Detroit page, the Detroit Metro airport page and the Buffalo airport page have the tables, and the American side's day by the hour is $95-115 for the sedan.
The medical run
Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, the Detroit Medical Center's hospitals in Midtown, the Cleveland Clinic six hours on: a London patient's referral or a second opinion with the appointment's letter for the CBP and the return held open; the medical page has London's hospitals and the Detroit page Ann Arbor's fare.
The airport run
Detroit Metro's cheaper US fares and its Delta hub for a London family's Florida flight, Buffalo's for the Southwest and JetBlue fares to the sun; the Detroit Metro article and the Buffalo article do the arithmetic against Pearson with the crossing's hour added.
Who cannot cross, honestly
A passenger without a valid passport or an equivalent; a child without the consent letter; a permanent resident without the PR card; a visitor whose Canadian visa is single-entry; a passenger with a record the CBP refuses; and a passenger who will not answer the booth's questions; the desk says so at booking, and a vehicle turned back at the plaza is billed as the run to the plaza and home. The FAQ has the questions passengers ask.
Three crossings, as they went
A Florida flight from Detroit Metro, a family of four, March. The passports and the children's birth certificates to the desk on the Monday, the SUV at 5 a.m. on Saturday, the Gordie Howe's plaza in eight minutes, the terminal at 7:45. One cross-border fare.
A Michigan Medicine second opinion, a Masonville patient and a companion, a Tuesday. The appointment's letter and the passports the week before, the sedan at 6, the Ambassador at 8:10, Ann Arbor's entrance at 9:20, the return held open, home at 6:30. Two fares with the wait.
A Bills game, six friends, a Sunday in October. The passports on the Wednesday, the SUV at 8, the Peace Bridge at 10:40, Orchard Park at 11:30, the corner at 4:30, home at 9:15. Twelve hours by the hour with the crossing.
Booking it
The crossing is one email or call to the desk with the date, the destination, the numbers and every passenger's documents the week before; a written quote and the desk's checklist follow; the cross-border page has the service.
Three questions the desk is asked about the crossing
Do we need an ESTA? Not a Canadian citizen at a land border; a visitor whose passport is on the visa-waiver list needs the ESTA for a land entry's fee, and a visitor whose passport is not needs the US visa; the CBP's site has the list.
Can we bring food? Most packaged food, yes; fresh produce, meat and some plants, no, in either direction; the CBSA's site has the list and the chauffeur says what to leave at home.
What about a NEXUS card for one passenger only? The car goes in the regular lane; the NEXUS lane needs every passenger's card; the FAQ has the rest.
The passport, in detail
A Canadian passport valid for the trip's length at least and six months beyond by the safe rule, undamaged, in the passenger's current name or with the marriage certificate for a name that changed; a child's passport, or a birth certificate with a parent at the land border; the Government of Canada's site has the rules and the desk checks the expiry against the return date.
The NEXUS card, in detail
The trusted-traveller card for Canadians and Americans with the NEXUS lanes at the Ambassador, the Gordie Howe, the tunnel, the Blue Water and the Peace bridges, and the lane usable only when every passenger in the vehicle holds a card; a family with three cards and a visiting grandparent without goes in the regular lane; the NEXUS site has the programme.
The child's consent letter, in detail
A child under eighteen travelling with one parent needs the other parent's signed consent letter with the parent's contact details, or the court order or the death certificate that explains the absence; a child with grandparents or a friend's family needs both parents' letter; the CBP and the CBSA ask, and the desk's checklist has the letter's form.
The permanent resident, in detail
The PR card with the passport of citizenship, the US visa or the visa-waiver status that passport carries, and the PR card's validity for the return; a permanent resident whose PR card has expired does not cross, and the desk says so.
The visitor, in detail
A visitor to Canada on a visa or an eTA crossing to the US needs the US visa or the ESTA by their passport and a multiple-entry Canadian visa or a valid eTA for the return; a single-entry Canadian visa does not come back, and a visiting relative on one is the crossing the desk refuses most.
The vehicle and the chauffeur, in detail
The registration, the commercial insurance with US coverage, the operating authority and the US Department of Transportation's registration for a for-hire vehicle carrying passengers across the border, and the chauffeur's own passport and clear record; a chauffeur with a past refusal or a record does not cross, the desk rosters the ones who do, and the chauffeurs page has the standard.
The booth, in detail
The chauffeur lowers every window, hands the documents across in one bundle in the passengers' seat order, answers for the vehicle, and each passenger answers for themselves plainly - citizenship, purpose, length, address, goods; a passenger who jokes, argues or volunteers is the passenger who is sent to secondary, and the desk says so at booking.
The duty-free limits, in detail
The CBSA's personal exemptions coming back run by the hours away - a small allowance under 24 hours, a larger one from 24 to 48 and the full one over 48 - with the alcohol and tobacco limits by category; the CBSA's site has the current figures, the receipts go in one envelope, and the goods are declared without being asked.
The plazas, in detail
The Ambassador's Huron Church plaza with the duty-free and the trucks' lanes, the Gordie Howe's new plazas at Ojibway and Delray with the NEXUS lanes, the tunnel's Goyeau Street plaza with the cars only, the Blue Water's Point Edward plaza with the I-94's trucks, and the Peace Bridge's Fort Erie plaza with Buffalo's; the Windsor article has the Windsor crossings and the Sarnia article the Blue Water.
Booking checklist for the crossing
The date and the destination; the numbers; every passenger's document type and expiry; the children's letters; the PR cards and the visas; the goods coming back; the vehicle; the card. Eight lines to the desk the week before and the checklist comes back the same day.
The honest summary
Every passenger's passport, the children's letters, the PR cards and the visas, the vehicle's papers and a chauffeur licensed to cross, all the week before; the cross-border page has the service and the Detroit page the fares.
