Unlike a metropolis such as Toronto, it is relatively quick and easy to get from one point to another by car because the distances aren't far, and the traffic isn't too busy. Looking at a map of Kitchener-Waterloo, one of the first things visitors from other parts of Ontario will notice is that, far from forming a grid pattern, the streets are not straight, curving and wiggling in surprising patterns. For example, there are two streets, King and Weber, which are parallel for most of their length, but cross each other 3 times in K-W. The irregular road pattern dates to the earliest settlement in K-W; unlike most Ontario townships, whose roads were laid out in a grid pattern, Waterloo Township was laid out without road allowances, allowing settlers to build roads where they were needed.
King Street is the main street that travels roughly North-South through the downtown of Kitchener and Waterloo. In Waterloo, it is labelled King St. North and South, with the transition at Erb Street (in Kitchener, it is labelled King St. East and West).
Grand River Transit is the transit authority for the Region of Waterloo. Students at the two universities have a GRT bus pass included in their student fees and so, many of the bus riders in Waterloo are students. Therefore, the main routes in Waterloo are those that run near the universities, namely the 7, 8, 12, and iXpress, described above, and the route 9, which travels between Conestoga Mall and the two universities via the Lakeshore subdivision. These routes offer 15 minute service during the day, at least at peak times, and 30 minute service on evenings until around 1:00AM and on Saturdays and Sundays. These routes are probably the only ones a casual traveller needs to take, as together they run near most of the city's attractions, hotels, shopping centres, etc. There are several other routes, which generally serve outlying subdivisions, but most of them have 30 minute service on weekdays, reduced evening and Saturday service, no Sunday service, and not-always-convenient connections. Bus schedules are available at ; alternatively, you can acquire them piecemeal on buses, or all at once at either of the universities.
There are three taxi companies that serve Waterloo and the surrounding area:
Waterloo Taxi (519-886-1200)
United Taxi (519-888-9999)
City Cabs (519-747-7777)
Waterloo is reasonably bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly, so travelling by bicycle or on foot is reasonable for shorter trips. Uptown Waterloo and the two universities are within walking distance of each other.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Waterloo (Ontario)
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Waterloo (Ontario) - updated May 2024
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Waterloo (Ontario) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
