Markham sits at the far end of the region from Pearson, and that single fact shapes everything about serving it. From Unionville, Cornell, Berczy or Box Grove the airport is a forty to fifty five minute drive on a good day, and considerably worse on a bad one. This is not a town where you can leave twenty minutes before you need to. The run has to be planned, and the route has to be chosen on the morning rather than assumed the night before.
The route decision, made honestly
There are two ways west from Markham and they fail in different ways. The 407 is reliable and tolled. The 401 is free and unpredictable, particularly through the middle of the day when the truck traffic builds. We agree in advance which route you want, so nothing appears on the invoice that you did not know about when you booked.
For an early morning departure the 401 is usually fine. For a mid afternoon flight with a check in deadline that cannot move, the toll is generally the cheaper of the two once you price the alternative properly.
Airport transfers and long haul travel
Markham travels long haul more than most of the region, and long haul brings its own logistics. Departures to Asia and Europe cluster in the afternoon and evening, which means leaving Markham in the worst possible traffic window. Arrivals land with a full flight's worth of luggage and passengers who have been awake for eighteen hours.
We size the vehicle to the bags, not just to the seats. Two people returning from a three week trip need more room than two people going out for a weekend, and a Sprinter or a full size SUV costs less trouble than discovering the trunk will not close.
For relatives arriving from overseas, we can meet inside at the carousel with a name board rather than at the curb. That matters when the traveller does not have a working phone, does not know the city and is looking for a face in a crowd of several hundred.
The technology and business corridor
Markham's working economy runs along the 404 and the 407 and through the Woodbine and Warden corridors, and it is heavily weighted toward technology, engineering and corporate head offices. The visiting traffic that generates is predictable in the best sense. The same clients, suppliers and colleagues arrive on the same rotations, often several times a year.
Corporate accounts get consolidated monthly billing, a single point of contact for schedule changes, and where availability allows, a chauffeur the visitor has travelled with before. Downtown Markham around Enterprise Boulevard has become a genuine business and dining district in its own right, which means an increasing number of days now start and end there rather than downtown.
Unionville, and evenings out
Main Street Unionville is one of the few genuinely beautiful streets in this part of the province, and it does a great deal of work for Markham socially. The restaurants along it, the Varley gallery, Toogood Pond and the Flato Markham Theatre nearby together fill most of the local evening calendar.
Parking on Main Street on a warm Saturday is close to impossible, which is reason enough to be dropped at the top of the road. For a group moving from dinner to a performance, or for a birthday or anniversary that involves more than one stop, one vehicle handles the whole evening. Nights that end downtown are a long drive back, and that drive is the part people regret.
Weddings and celebrations
Markham weddings tend to spread across the town rather than concentrate in one place. A ceremony in Markham Village or Cathedraltown, photographs at Toogood Pond or on Main Street Unionville, and a reception at one of the golf clubs in the north end or a hall along Highway 7 is a common shape for the day.
We plan it as a schedule with named pickup times. The wedding party travels together, parents and older guests are handled separately, and the photography stop is built into the timing so it does not get compressed into ten minutes at the end.
Booking a car in Markham
Reserve online, by phone or by email, and you will have written confirmation with your vehicle, chauffeur and pickup details before the day. Given the distance to the airport, tell us your flight number when you book and we will set the pickup time from it rather than from a guess.