Muskoka limousine, black car and airport transfers, from the dock to the departures curb

Cottage country, driven properly

Muskoka is not a city with a taxi rank on every corner. It is three big lakes, dozens of small ones, two highways, a long list of private lanes marked only by a fire number, and a lot of people who need to be at Pearson for a 7 am flight. MuskokaLimousineServices.com exists for that geography. Every trip is pre-booked, every fare is fixed before you pay, and every chauffeur knows the difference between Highway 118 East and Muskoka Road 118 West.

The work falls into three parts, the same three our clients ask for most:

• Airport transfers. Muskoka to Toronto Pearson and back is the trip we drive most: about 170 km to Gravenhurst, a little over two hours off-peak, far longer on a summer Friday. We also cover Billy Bishop, Muskoka Airport in Gravenhurst, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Ottawa, North Bay, Sudbury, Oshawa, Peterborough, Lake Simcoe Regional, Montreal and Buffalo. Flights are tracked, and the meet and greet service puts the chauffeur inside arrivals with a name board.
• Local and intercity travel. Dinner at the wharf, a day at the brewery, a medical appointment in Huntsville, a run to Barrie, Orillia, Toronto or Ottawa. Point to point, with extra stops, or by the hour.
• Corporate accounts. Executive airport runs, retreat groups at Deerhurst, the JW Marriott, Taboo or Touchstone, monthly invoicing and traveller profiles. See corporate accounts and corporate retreat transportation.

Where we drive

Every town in the District of Muskoka has its own page, written around its own roads, docks and landmarks: Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Huntsville, Port Carling, Bala, Rosseau and Minett, Baysville and Lake of Bays, Dorset and Port Sydney. The gateways around the district are covered too: Barrie, Orillia, Washago and Severn, Parry Sound, Honey Harbour and MacTier. If the cottage is on Lake Muskoka, Lake Rosseau or Lake Joseph, start with the guide to the Big Three lakes: which road reaches which shore, and where a car hands over to a boat.

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Resorts, weddings and the long weekend

The busiest searches in Muskoka are not for cars at all; they are for the resorts. People look up Deerhurst Resort, Windermere House, JW Marriott The Rosseau, Touchstone, Taboo and Rocky Crest, then work out how to get there. Each resort page answers that question: the distance from Pearson and Billy Bishop, the usual drive time and the slow hours, the entrance and the arrival routine, and which vehicle suits a couple, a family or a wedding party.

Weddings are their own discipline here. A Muskoka wedding often means a ceremony on a point, photos at a waterfall, guests staying at three different resorts and a reception that ends after the last taxi has gone home. The wedding limo page and the wedding planning guide set out how many vehicles a guest list needs and how to schedule them.

The calendar matters as much as the map. Victoria Day opens the cottage season, Canada Day and the August long weekend fill Highway 400, and Thanksgiving closes it. The Highway 400 and 11 traffic guide and the long-weekend guide explain when to leave and when to book.

The fleet, chosen by luggage

The booker offers ten vehicle classes. For one to three people with two suitcases an Executive Sedan is right, and a Mercedes E / S-Class suits two who want the finer cabin. A family of five with a cooler, a stroller and a week of cottage bags needs a Business SUV or an Executive First Class SUV. Wedding guests and golf groups travel together in an Executive Sprinter for up to 12, or a Jet Sprinter Executive for up to 7 in lounge seats. For the occasion itself there are the Stretch Limousine, the Stretch SUV Limousine for up to 14, the Party Bus and the Mercedes-Maybach; a Rolls-Royce is available on request through the reservations desk. The fleet page shows each one.

How the fare works

You enter the pickup and the drop-off, the booker returns the all-in fare for every vehicle class, and that is the price, with HST included. There is no meter and no surge, and the fare does not change because Highway 11 slowed down on the way. The guide to how private car fares work explains what drives a fare.

Cancellation is counted back from the pickup time: more than 72 hours' notice, no charge; 72 hours or less, 10%; 48 hours or less, 50%; 24 hours or less or a no-show, 100%.

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When the bus or the train is the better choice

We would rather you book the right trip than the most expensive one. A solo traveller with a backpack, no fixed arrival time and a free afternoon can take the Ontario Northland coach from Toronto to Gravenhurst, Bracebridge or Huntsville. Air Canada customers can use the Landline coach between Pearson and Muskoka Airport. The Northlander passenger train is planned to return to Muskoka, and our Northlander guide tracks its status and how to cover the last kilometres from the station. The full comparison is on the Toronto to Muskoka page.

A private car wins when there are three or more of you, when the luggage includes groceries and a dog, when the flight lands at 11 pm, when the last bus has gone, when a wedding schedule cannot slip, or when the destination is a lane the bus has never heard of.

Flying in from further away

Guests fly in from all over Canada. If you are coming from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax or Quebec City, the airport pages explain the connections into Pearson and Billy Bishop and how the same reservations desk can arrange the car at your end through a vetted partner from the LimousineWorldwide.Directory network. Private flyers should read the page on private jet and floatplane transfers and the guide to flying to Muskoka.