Vaughan to Barrie: the city on the bay, an hour up the 400

Barrie, close enough to be routine

Barrie is the city Vaughan drives through on the way to everywhere north and, once in a while, stops in: a hundred and fifty thousand people on the western end of Kempenfelt Bay, Lake Simcoe's long arm, with a downtown that runs down to a waterfront of parks, a beach, a marina and a boardwalk that loops the bay for eight kilometres. It has the region's hospital, the region's college, two ski hills within twenty minutes, a summer of waterfront festivals and a winter of ice on the bay. For Vaughan it is the trip that is too short for a chauffeur until there is a reason — a family beach day with a stroller, a student with a residence load, a concert with drinks, a hospital appointment that a parent cannot drive to — and then it is the easiest booking on this site.

Centennial Beach and the waterfront

Centennial Park's beach is the reason for the summer bookings: a sand beach at the foot of the downtown, with the splash pad, the playground, the Spirit Catcher sculpture on the point, the boardwalk east to the marina and west to Tyndale Park, and the Lakeshore Drive lots that are full by eleven on a July Saturday. A family of four from Maple books a Luxury SUV for the day — pickup at nine, the beach by ten, the chauffeur dropping at the boardwalk with the chairs, the cooler and the stroller and taking the vehicle to a lot the family never sees, a walk up Dunlop Street for lunch, the splash pad at two, collection at four, home by five — an hourly hire that is as much about the drop at the sand as the drive. The Barrie waterfront's summer calendar — Kempenfest on the Civic Holiday weekend, the Canada Day fireworks, the Jazz and Blues festival — is on the Tourism Barrie site.

The Georgian College move-in

Georgian College's Barrie campus on Georgian Drive is where a good number of Vaughan's students go, and the September move-in is the Sprinter booking described in the Kingston post at one-third the distance: the family, the student, the residence bins, the fridge, the bicycle, one trip, the unloading window, the parents home in an hour. Families whose student commutes daily do not need us; families whose student lives in residence book the September and April runs, and the corporate account structure works for the eight runs of a two-year programme.

Snow Valley, Horseshoe and the ski day

Snow Valley Ski Resort, fifteen minutes west of the city on Snow Valley Road, and Horseshoe Resort, twenty minutes north on Horseshoe Valley Road, are the ski hills closest to Vaughan that are proper hills — Snow Valley for families and tubing, Horseshoe for the bigger runs, night skiing and the resort's lodge and spa. A Vaughan family books a ski day as an SUV hourly hire: the skis in the cargo area, the hill by nine, the chauffeur in the lodge lot, collection at three, home by four with the children asleep. A group of friends from Woodbridge books a Sprinter for a Horseshoe day with the après at the resort and nobody driving Highway 400 in the dark afterwards. Neither hill has a parking problem; the value here is the winter road and the après.

Sadlon Arena and the concert night

The Sadlon Arena on Bayview Drive is the Barrie Colts' rink and the city's concert venue, and a Vaughan group books the night as a Sprinter or a party bus hourly hire: up the 400 at six, the arena lot's drop at seven, the show, and the ride home with the group together — the same shape as a downtown Toronto concert night with a shorter drive. The Five Points Theatre downtown and the Mady Centre are the smaller venues; the Barrie Molson Centre's name is gone but the building is the same.

RVH, the hospital run

The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre is the region's hospital and the one Vaughan families with a parent in Simcoe County, or a specialist appointment referred north, drive to; a Premium Sedan or an SUV on a return with waiting time — the chauffeur at the entrance, the appointment, the drive home — is the booking, and the corporate-style account suits a family that makes the run monthly. The chauffeur drops at the main entrance's loop and waits in the visitor lot.

The route

Highway 400 north from Vaughan to Barrie's exits — Mapleview for the south end and the RVH, Dunlop Street for downtown and the beach, Bayfield for the north end and Georgian College — fifty minutes from the VMC or Maple, which are on the 400, and an hour from Thornhill or Kleinburg, which join it. On a Friday afternoon in July the 400 north of Vaughan is the cottage exodus and the same hour is two; the chauffeur says so at booking and leaves before three or after seven.

Which vehicle

An SUV for the beach day and the ski day with boosters at $25 each; a Sprinter for the move-in, the concert group and two families at the beach; a Premium Sedan for the hospital run and a couple's Horseshoe spa day; a party bus for a group's Sadlon night. A stretch limousine is booked for a Barrie wedding at the waterfront's venues, and the wedding page covers the run.

What the fare replaces, honestly

Not the drive — an hour of the 400 is not the argument here. The beach drop with a stroller and a cooler; the residence load in one vehicle; the winter road home from a ski hill at dusk; the concert night with drinks; the parent who cannot drive to the hospital appointment. The fare is one number in the booking engine, and for a single family it is a convenience purchase that the site prices plainly; for a Sprinter of eight or a move-in it is a saving against two cars.

Seasons

Summer for the beach and Kempenfest; winter for the hills and the ice on the bay — the Barrie Winterfest in February, the ice fishing huts on Kempenfelt; September and April for the college; all year for the hospital and the arena. The autumn drive north through Barrie on the way to Muskoka is the reason most Vaughan families see the city at all.

Pairing it

Barrie is the first stop on the Muskoka, Huntsville and Parry Sound runs, the turn for Wasaga Beach and Collingwood on Highway 26, and the gateway to Orillia and Casino Rama on Highway 11; a chauffeured northern trip with a Barrie lunch or a Barrie beach hour is the version families with young children book.

A beach day, in order

A family of four from Concord: the Luxury SUV at 9 a.m. with two boosters and the cargo area holding the chairs, the umbrella, the cooler and the stroller; Highway 400 from the Jane on-ramp, fifty minutes; the Dunlop Street exit and Lakeshore Drive at ten; the drop at Centennial Park's boardwalk with the chauffeur carrying the kit to the sand; the vehicle to the Bayfield Street lots. The splash pad at eleven for the youngest, a walk up Dunlop Street at noon for lunch on a patio, the beach until three, the Spirit Catcher for the photograph, and the collection at the boardwalk at four; home by five. Eight hours of hourly hire, one number in the booking engine, and no Lakeshore Drive lot in the family's day.

The waterfront loop and the Barrie Marina

The waterfront trail loops Kempenfelt Bay for eight kilometres from Centennial Park past the marina and Heritage Park, across the head of the bay and along the north shore to Johnson's Beach — a walk or a cycle that a chauffeured family does in pieces, with the vehicle meeting them at the far end. The Barrie Marina at the foot of the downtown is where the summer's boat tours of the bay leave; the Southshore Community Centre beside it is the Saturday farmers' market's summer home on the water.

Horseshoe Resort as a weekend

Horseshoe is more than a ski hill: a resort with a lodge, a spa, a golf course, an adventure park in summer with treetop trekking and a mountain coaster, and a Nordic ski centre in winter with the region's longest groomed trails. A Vaughan family books a Horseshoe weekend as a return pair to the lodge — a Luxury SUV with the skis inside — or with the vehicle staying for a Barrie dinner and the Snow Valley tubing hill on the second day; the resort's site has the seasons. Couples book the spa and the lodge in a Premium Sedan and let the vehicle go.

Georgian College, worked through

A first-year student from Thornhill to a Georgian residence on the Barrie campus: the family of four, the bins, the fridge, the desk lamp, the bicycle. The Sprinter at 8 a.m., the load in the bay, the residence's unloading zone at nine in the assigned window, the family's coffee on campus, the parents home by the same Sprinter at eleven — a morning's booking. Move-out in April is the reverse; the two-year programme is eight runs and a corporate-style account keeps them on one invoice.

The hospital run, and what it costs

A parent in Kleinburg with a monthly specialist appointment at RVH: a Premium Sedan at 8:30, the hospital's main entrance at 9:30, the chauffeur in the visitor lot through the ninety-minute appointment, and home by noon. The fare is a return with waiting, one number in the booking engine, and for a family whose alternative is a day off work and a drive that a parent cannot make it is the least expensive thing on this site relative to what it replaces. The Ontario Health pages cover the province's hospital network; the chauffeur covers the door.

Pickup notes

Highway 400 for every Vaughan community — Maple and the VMC are on it, Woodbridge and Kleinburg join at Major Mackenzie or Rutherford, Thornhill and Concord come across on Highway 7 or the 407 to the 400. Give us the beach or hill, the seats, the skis, the residence window if it is a move-in, the appointment time if it is the hospital, and the arena show if it is a concert; the chauffeur confirms the plan the evening before.

Booking it

Book an hourly day from your Vaughan address for the beach, the hill or the arena, a Sprinter for the move-in with the residence window, or a return with waiting for the hospital; tell us the seats, the loads and the skis, and the chauffeur confirms the plan the evening before.

Book the Barrie run