Driving Mississauga to Windsor Boarder

[SandraC]

Hi all! Next Sunday we leave for Ohio/Kentucky trip. I planned to drive thru Fort Erie instead of Detriot. I am now second guessing myself. Fort Erie way is about 30 minutes longer. I've grown this odd psychologically feeling that the longer we drive in Canada the shorter the trip will seem ~ weird eh? So now I'm thinking Detriot. What's the 401 westbound like? Where can we stop for coffee (Timmy's PLEASE). I'm thinking get up at 4am, start driving at 5am, London rest stop, Windsor rest stop, lunch after Toledo and drive right to Cincinnati. Anyone else done this? THX S

 

[PoohBWV]

Hi Sandra: I drive 401 between London and Windsor quite a bit (especiallly Chatham to Windsor). This is a really boring stretch of the 401. There are rest stops about 15-20 minutes past London and just past the Tilbury exit heading towards Windsor. The one at Tilbury definitely has a Tim's and the one outside of London is a McDonald's. Eastbound 401 near London has a Tim's but I don't know for sure if there is a Tim's at the Mickey D's stop.

The Tilbury exit is about 30 minutes before you reach Windsor. Truck traffic at the Windsor border has been really bad lately but since you are going on a Sunday morning perhaps it won't be too bad. There have been several recent articles in local newspapers about the truck congestion at the border as this is a very congested area of Windsor already since the University is located right next to the border. Again, going through on Sunday morning will probably help.

Perhaps MikeJ can help with the 401 between London and Mississauga?

 

[disneyvacationmom]

Sandra we always cross at Windsor-we have relatives there so spend the night with them and then cross in the morning. It is a boring stretch of road but then that stretch south of Buffalo isn't great either. I'm waiting for your return so I can hear about the hotel. In Aug. we plan to cross at Windsor going but coming back up 71 and crossing at Niagara. I've got the outlet malls staked out coming up 71. Have fun. Kathy

 

[MikeJ]

Geez, when I get to be an expert on the 401 it's time to force my kids to stop playing hockey.

On westbound 401 Toronto to London there are two rest stops - one near Cambridge and one outside Woodstock, just after the 403 merges with the 401. Since it's been a while since I've driven that stretch neither stop is fresh in my mind, but I believe the Cambridge stop is just a McDonalds, but the one outside Woodstock was renovated a year or two ago and has a couple of food vendors, including a Timmy's, IIRC. At London there is nothing on the highway (although you could exit onto Wellington Road southbound - Mickey D's and Timmy are both there) until you get to the stop at West Lorne.

My suggestion - stop at Woodstock; it's not quite halfway between Toronto and Windsor but it's close. And it is quite nice since the upgrade.

Now, I'll throw another wrench into the works. When we drive to Detroit from London, we never cross at Windsor - always at Sarnia. I've timed both drives from our house to DTW (the airport) and it's about 2.5 hours regardless of the route chosen. I've never seen more than a 15 minute wait at the Bluewater Bridge - and the drive along 402 (although boring) is very straightforward. Just pick up I-94 once you've crossed into Michigan and take it to I-75 south. This is our preferred route and avoids much of the nastiness you can encounter crossing at Windsor.

- Mike

 

[Susan-Ontario]

Hi Sandra,

I agree with crossing at Sarnia because it is usually less traffic and once you're in Michigan you can drive faster than in Ontario. However, when we went to Florida in May, I-94 was closed in Detroit and we had to detour a bit. They take you across a 600 highway and then you connect to I-75. When we came home we crossed at Windsor to avoid the construction. By the way, Cincinnati is six hours from London. It's my favorite city to drive through. Everytime we say that we should go there sometime for a visit. There is a Cracker Barrel in Monroe, MI. It's about 15 minutes from the Ohio border. That would break up your travel nicely. We always stop at Cracker Barrel whenever we go over the river.

Have fun.

 

[SandraC]

WOW, only 6 hours from London! From calculations I did, Mississauga to Cinicinnati is about 8.5 hours of driving. I figured with stops (about 4 short rest stops and one long lunch break) and time at the border, the total time to Cincinnati would be about 10-11 hours. London is about 160km from my house, so this trip might be shorter than I thought! YIPPY!

Thank you for all the 401 westbound info. dd is 8 years old and needs to stop a lot ~ bathroom breaks!

Any info about the Mississauga to Cincinnati drive would be greatly appreciated! THANKS Sandra

 

[MikeJ]

Sandra,

Do you have a copy of Along I-75 by Dave Hunter? That book will tell you everything you need to know about the drive from Detroit to Cincinnati. You might be able to pick up a copy of it at your local library.

- Mike

 

[MikeJ]

I grabbed our copy of Along I-75 last night, and here's some information on the Detroit-Cincinnati drive:

Distance from Detroit-Cincinnati: 407 km

Susan's Cracker Barrel at Monroe is at exit 15 (to the right of the highway). We stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Georgia on our last drive to WDW - they are a lot of fun and the food was very good.

There are rest areas on I-75 just past exit 179 (south of Bowling Green), past exit 156 (south of Findlay), just before exit 113 (north of Wapakoneta, hometown of Neil Armstrong ), past exit 82 (south of Piqua), plus a Welcome Area past exit 29, a few miles north of Cincinnati. For the most part, these are the US-style Interstate rest stops - no restaurants, but washroom facilities and likely vending machines.

If you were to cross at Sarnia, there are no rest stops I can recall along I-94 between Port Huron and Detroit, so if your daughter has a bladder capacity less than 2 hours you either need to (a) be prepared to exit the highway at some point to find a washroom at a Denny's or similar establishment, (b) cut back her fluid intake after you pass London, as there's literally nowhere to stop on the 402 either, or (c) cross at Windsor.

I'm sure all this has done is muddied the waters. Glad to have been of service.

- Mike

 

[SandraC]

Thanks a bunch Mike! I'm printing out our post! I had taken out Along I75 from the library before. I just reordered it, hope it get it before Saturday. It was in another branch so they just have to transport it to my branch, shouldn't take long. I'm all prepared for those unscheduled stops at the side of the road with TP and baby wipes. Just bought a TV/VCR combo for the car. We can't decide which car to take. Mine is a 1992 Tempo, 146,000km. Looks horrid, but runs well and has AC. dh's car is 1993 or 1994 Sable, AC broke and he won't fix it. Other than AC, dh's car is a better car, but I can't see us driving 10 hours with the windows roled down and the TV blasting in the back of the car. We fit the TV in both cars and it's tight in the Tempo but beautiful in the Sable. I'm going grocery shopping today or tomorrow for the trip. I'm looking forward to the trip. It will really be a great test for WDW driving. If it's successful, I can see a WDW sooner than I thought! THANKS! S