London, Ontario's neighbourhoods ring a compact downtown along the Thames: the core and Richmond Row; Old North and the campus streets to the north; Old South and Wortley Village across the river; Byron and Boler Mountain to the west; Masonville and Sunningdale to the north; Westmount, Oakridge and Hyde Park to the northwest; White Oaks and Wellington Road to the south; Stoney Creek and Huron Heights to the northeast; Argyle and the east side; and Lambeth and Riverbend at the southwest edge - a city of 422,000 that the City of London divides into planning districts and the chauffeurs into drive times. LondonLimo.net's fixed in-city rate for a black car is a planning figure of $40-70 plus HST between any two of them, the YXU run is $45-65 from most, and the Pearson run $295-345; this page is the map by neighbourhood, with the household account that turns a family's year into standing bookings.
The city's shape
London sits on the Thames where the north and south branches meet at the forks west of downtown, with the 401 across its southern edge, the 402 leaving west for Sarnia, and Highway 4, Wonderland Road, Wellington Road, Oxford Street and Dundas Street as its arterials; the airport is in the northeast, the hospitals north (University), south (Victoria, Parkwood) and centre-north (St. Joseph's), the campus northwest, the arena downtown and the plants east. No neighbourhood is more than twenty-five minutes from another in normal traffic, and the winter morning on Wonderland Road or the Friday afternoon on Wellington Road adds ten. The attractions, hotels and venues pages describe the destinations; this one the origins.
| Neighbourhood | To YXU | To Canada Life Place / downtown | To University Hospital | To Victoria Hospital | Sedan in-city, planning figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downtown and Richmond Row | 20 min | in the core | 12 min | 12 min | $40-50 |
| Old North and the campus streets | 18 min | 8 min | 6 min | 18 min | $40-55 |
| Old South and Wortley Village | 22 min | 6 min | 15 min | 10 min | $40-55 |
| Byron and Boler Mountain | 28 min | 15 min | 18 min | 18 min | $45-65 |
| Masonville and Sunningdale | 18 min | 15 min | 8 min | 22 min | $45-60 |
| Westmount, Oakridge and Hyde Park | 25 min | 15 min | 15 min | 18 min | $45-65 |
| White Oaks and Wellington Road | 22 min | 12 min | 20 min | 5 min | $40-60 |
| Stoney Creek and Huron Heights | 10 min | 15 min | 12 min | 22 min | $40-60 |
| Argyle and the east side | 10 min | 12 min | 18 min | 15 min | $40-55 |
| Lambeth and Riverbend | 30 min | 18 min | 22 min | 15 min | $50-70 |
LondonLimo.net planning ranges before HST; the engine quotes the exact addresses and date, and the rates page has the airport and destination figures.
Downtown and Richmond Row
The core between the forks and Victoria Park holds the condominium towers, the offices, the market, the arena, the theatre and the hotels, with Richmond Row north of Oxford as the bars-and-restaurants strip; a resident's bookings are the airport runs, the Pearson flights and the destination days, and a visitor's are covered on the hotels and venues pages. The core's one-way streets and the arena-night closures are the chauffeur's knowledge.
Old North and the campus streets
Old North between Oxford Street, Richmond Street, the river and the campus is the Victorian and Edwardian neighbourhood of the professors, the doctors from St. Joseph's and University Hospital, and the students in the streets nearest the gates; a household's bookings are the airport runs, the convocation days on the universities page, the Grand and the Knights on the venues page, and the hospital runs; St. Joseph's is inside the neighbourhood and University Hospital six minutes north.
Old South and Wortley Village
Old South across the Thames from downtown, with Wortley Village at its heart - the cafes, the shops, the Sunday brunch, the Idlewyld Inn - is the neighbourhood the city votes its favourite; the Victorian houses on the streets off Wortley Road and Ridout Street, the Grand Avenue mansions, the parks along the river. Six minutes from downtown, ten from Victoria Hospital, and a household's standing bookings are the Pearson runs, the theatre nights and the wine tours that start with brunch in the village.
Byron and Boler Mountain
Byron in the city's west along Commissioners Road, with Boler Mountain's ski hill at its edge and Springbank Park along its river frontage, is the family neighbourhood of newer houses and the older village core; the attractions page has the hill and the park, and a household's bookings are the airport runs for the family's holidays, the prom in June and the Knights on a Friday.
Masonville and Sunningdale
Masonville around the mall at Richmond and Fanshawe Park Road, and Sunningdale's newer subdivisions north of it toward the city's edge, are the executive neighbourhoods nearest Western and University Hospital, with Masonville Place as the shopping centre and the north's hotels beside it; the bookings are the corporate executives' Pearson runs, the University Hospital consultants' airport meets and the families' YXU holidays, eighteen minutes to the airport.
Westmount, Oakridge and Hyde Park
Westmount's streets around Wonderland Road and Viscount Road, Oakridge along Oxford Street West, and Hyde Park's new subdivisions at the northwest edge are the city's growth side; the Wonderland Road corridor's shopping and offices are between them, and a household's bookings are the YXU and Pearson runs, the Grand Bend summers and the Stratford evenings that leave from the city's northwest.
White Oaks and Wellington Road
White Oaks in the south around the mall and Wellington Road's hotel and restaurant strip, with Victoria Hospital and Parkwood five minutes away and the 401 interchange at its foot, is the neighbourhood the hospital families and the road-trip travellers know; a resident's Pearson run leaves the 401 before the rest of the city has reached it.
Stoney Creek, Huron Heights and the northeast
Stoney Creek's and Huron Heights' subdivisions in the northeast are ten minutes from YXU, fifteen from Fanshawe and the Fanshawe Conservation Area, and the nearest neighbourhoods to the 3M, General Dynamics and Diamond Aircraft plants; the bookings are the plant executives' airport meets, Fanshawe's convocation and the families' YXU holidays at the city's shortest airport rate.
Argyle and the east side
Argyle along Dundas Street East, with the Western Fair District at its west end and the airport and the plants to the north, is the east side's older neighbourhood of post-war houses, the fairgrounds, the Agriplex and the market; ten minutes to YXU and twelve to the arena, and a household's bookings are the fair in September, the Knights and the airport.
Lambeth and Riverbend
Lambeth, the former village at the city's southwest corner where Highway 4 meets the 402 and the 401, and Riverbend's new subdivisions along the Thames west of Byron, are the neighbourhoods of the golf clubs, the newer executive houses and the Highway 4 corridor to St. Thomas and Port Stanley; thirty minutes to YXU, but the closest to the 402 for Sarnia and the 401 west for Windsor and Detroit.
The household account: a family's year in standing bookings
A household account holds the addresses - the house, the cottage, the parents', the student's residence - the family's preferences and the payment, so that a member books the airport run for the March break, the prom in June, the convocation, the Knights on a Friday, the wine tour for a birthday and the Christmas flight home in a minute each, with the same chauffeurs where the desk can arrange it and one monthly statement. The black car service page describes it.
The neighbourhoods from the car, in winter
London's winters are lake-effect winters - the squalls off Huron reach the city's west side first, Wonderland Road and Oxford Street West ice before the core, the 401 at the city's south closes in the worst of them - and the chauffeurs plan the winter airport run with the Environment Canada forecast and the Ontario 511 cameras, leaving earlier from Byron, Riverbend and Hyde Park than from Argyle and Stoney Creek on a squall morning. The YXU page has the winter timing rules.
Three neighbourhood bookings, as they actually ran
A Byron family, March break. An executive SUV at 4:40 a.m. to YXU for the 6:30 to Orlando via Toronto, the return ten days later at 11 p.m., and the same chauffeur both ways. Two fixed rates on a household account.
An Old North doctor, weekly. A standing Monday 5:15 a.m. sedan to Pearson for the flight to a Halifax clinic and a Thursday 9 p.m. collection, on a corporate account, for a year.
A Lambeth couple, Saturday. A luxury sedan to a Wortley Village brunch, the Grand's matinee, dinner on Richmond Row and home at 10, by the hour. Eight hours.
Booking it
Any journey from any London address is priced on the reservation engine in seconds; a household account is opened by the desk in a phone call. The rates page has the airport and destination figures; the FAQ the questions about waiting, car seats, pets and luggage.
Planning figures. Rates are LondonLimo.net planning ranges before HST and drive times are normal-traffic figures; the engine quotes the exact addresses, date and vehicle. Neighbourhood names follow common London usage and the City of London's planning districts, and imply nothing about any resident or property.
Three questions the desk is asked about in-city journeys
Is there a minimum fare? The in-city fixed rate is the minimum - a planning figure of $40 for a sedan - and it covers any journey inside the city's limits; there is no per-kilometre meter and no surge. Can the chauffeur wait while I run an errand? A stop of up to fifteen minutes is included on a fixed-rate journey; a morning of errands is an hourly booking at $95-115 an hour with a three-hour minimum. Do you do the school run or a standing weekly journey? Yes - a household account holds a standing booking at the same time each week, with the same chauffeur where the desk can arrange it and the fixed in-city rate.
The neighbourhoods from the car
The core's towers and the Row's neon, Old North's brick under the canopy on the way to the campus gates, Wortley Road's storefronts and the river bridges into Old South, Byron's village core and the ski hill's slopes, Masonville's mall and Sunningdale's new streets, Wonderland Road's long commercial strip through Westmount and Oakridge to Hyde Park's cranes, Wellington Road's hotels and the hospital's campus in White Oaks, the northeast's subdivisions with the airport's approach lights over them, Dundas East's post-war streets and the fairgrounds, and Lambeth's village at the highways' meeting: the chauffeurs drive the whole city every day, and the City of London's site publishes the planning districts and the road work.
Booking checklist for an in-city journey
The pickup address and the destination; the date and time; the passengers and any car seat; a stop on the way; whether the chauffeur waits or returns on a text; the household account or the card; and a phone number for the texts. The desk confirms in one email; the engine confirms in seconds.
The neighbouring towns
The city's edges run into the towns on the destinations hub - Lambeth toward St. Thomas, Hyde Park toward the Huron shore, the northeast toward Stratford, the east toward Woodstock and the 401 - and a journey from a London neighbourhood to any of them is a fixed rate on the destination's page.
