Southwestern Ontario is the geographic area of Ontario extending from the Bruce Peninsula and Lake Huron on the north, the Lake Huron shoreline on the west, the Lake Erie shoreline on the south, and neighbouring the Toronto-Hamilton-Niagara Golden Horseshoe region on the east. Its principal population centres are on the '401 corridor' cities - Windsor and Chatham-Kent, London and St Thomas, Woodstock and Ingersoll, Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph, with Sarnia, the western terminus of Highway 402; Brantford, on Highway 403, and Stratford. Other significant centres are Collingwood and Owen Sound, Goderich, Tillsonburg and Simcoe.
The dramatic Bruce Peninsula with the region's best hiking
Wellington and Dufferin Counties
Including Orangeville, and the pretty historic towns of Elora, Fergus and Guelph, escarpment landscapes, and ruins of old mills
Lake St. Clair
The southwestern-most part of Southwestern Ontario is made up of Essex County and the City of Chatham-Kent
Including Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge
A temperate climate, many kilometers of beaches, relaxing or bustling beach towns, and a good dose of historical and cultural attractions await you in Elgin County, Norfolk County, Haldimand County, and Brant County
Including the City of London; Huron County's gorgeous beaches and historic lighthouses; Perth County (Stratford theatre festival, historic town of St. Marys); Lambton County (including Sarnia); Middlesex County; and Oxford County
Billy Bishop and Tommy Thompson's home country, mountains, escarpments, waterfalls, skiing
Alexander Graham Bell said he invented his telephone in Brantford. The Brant County district includes the country's largest First Nations (Indigenous) reserve.
Southwestern Ontario occupies an area roughly the size of Belgium or Switzerland, but with a population of only about 2.5 million, which is better compared to Lesotho or Qatar. Its largest city is London, with a population of about 390,000, while its largest urban area is the Waterloo region, with a population of about 540,000.
Traditionally inhabited and exchanged by a variety of Indigenous First Nations, it was later settled by the French, colonized by the English, populated by United Empire Loyalists who fled the United States, and urbanized by every wave of immigrants ever to come to Canada. It's Canada's most southern reach, and its manufacturing heartland, pinned between two massive freshwater lakes, and bordering two American industrial giants. In the early 20th century, it was a relatively self-sufficient manufacturing and transportation hub. In the 21st century, the sprawling mega-city of Toronto is increasingly affecting the economies and population dynamics at the furthest reaches of southwestern Ontario.
Ontario's changing economy has struck southwestern Ontario hard. Industrial pollution and regulation, the dissolution of the tobacco industry, followed by the corrosion of the manufacturing sector, has eviscerated rural areas and left cities like Windsor and London with some of Canada's highest unemployment levels. Others, like Waterloo and Guelph, having turned to technology and the arts, emerged unscathed and even vibrant.
Visitors to southwestern Ontario often come as an escape from the urban crush of Toronto and Detroit, but stay for its long beaches, clean parks, efficient highways, interesting towns, and economic opportunities.
London has the only airport in the area with regularly scheduled services to more than one destination, generally flying to Toronto and cities in Western Canada. Waterloo Region Airport flies nonstop to Calgary, while Windsor and Sarnia have services to Toronto. Residents often use Detroit, Buffalo, or Toronto airports for long-haul flights. All of these airports and a few others are regularly affected by route changes, new route developments, and the emergence and loss of small regional airlines.
Southwestern Ontario has three major controlled-access highways. Highway 401, sometimes claimed to be the world's busiest, begins in Windsor and bisects southwestern Ontario on its way to Toronto and onwards to the Quebec border. The other major highways are the 402, which begins at the Sarnia-Port Huron border and connects to the 401 in London, and the 403, which begins in Woodstock and proceeds through Brantford on its way to Hamilton and Toronto.
While urban public transport is generally adequate, inter-city services are limited. Locals generally rely on personal vehicles, or limit their travel between the cities and towns in the area. Car rentals are widely available. Hitchhiking is illegal on the 400-series highways, and is both uncommon and challenging on rural roads. Casual ride sharing exists but is disorganized; Try searching on Kijiji.ca or on city-specific Facebook groups.
Intercity public transit services include:
A total solar eclipse on Monday 8 April 2024 crosses this area from 3:13PM local time. The track of totality is northeast from Mexico and Texas to Ohio, straddling the Canada–New England border through Lakes Erie and Ontario. It misses most of the Erie north shore but passes over Kingsville and Pelee Island, then is visible from St Thomas east to Hamilton and the Niagara Peninsula, continuing across Maine, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.
Southwestern Ontario are the final stop on the Underground Railroad for many of those escaping slavery in the United States. The Buxton National Historic Site & Museum and Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site in Chatham-Kent are good place to explore this history.
The Alexander Graham Bell Homestead, just outside Brantford, is a museum that has been restored to how it looked when Bell invented the telephone here in the 1980s.
Her Majesty's Chapel of the Mohawks, on the outskirts of Brantford, was built by the British Crown in 1785 for the Mohawk and Iroquois people as a reminder of the agreements made with the British during the American Revolution.
In Owen Sound, the Tom Thomson Art Gallery exhibits a collection of works by Thompson and the Group of Seven, who were an important group of Canadian artists in the early 20th century.
The ports, towns and villages along Lake Erie, including Port Dover, Port Stanley, Turkey Point and Long Point, are lovely places for hanging out on the beach, browsing in shops, or having a drink overlooking the lake. The Lake Huron beach towns are also buzzing in the summer because of their long stretches of fresh water beaches.
The Stratford Festival is one of the main tourist draws for the region. It runs from April to October, and is recognized worldwide for its productions of Shakespearean plays. The Blyth Festival produces a summer season of all-Canadian plays.
The Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest is a Bavarian festival held annually in October; it is the largest in the world outside of Munich, Germany.
The Elora Gorge attracts sightseers, campers, hikers, kayakers, zipliners and tubers. The limestone cliffs are 22 metres high and the Grand River exits frantically through the Gorge.
There are many beautiful parks in the region for scenery and outdoor recreation, including Point Pelee National Park, Bruce Peninsula National Park, provincial parks, and conservation areas. The untamed shores of the Bruce Peninsula are particularly beautiful.
The Great Lakes Waterfront Trail stretches over 2,100 km (1,300 mi) along the Canadian shores of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron and the Niagara, Detroit, and St. Lawrence Rivers, connecting 114 communities and hundreds of parks and natural areas including wetlands, forests, and beaches. The Bruce Trail stretches more than 890 km, mostly following the edge of the Niagara Escarpment from Tobermory, at the tip of the peninsula, to Queenston near Niagara Falls.
The Village at Blue Mountain in Grey County is a year-round centre for skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, golf, mountain biking, rock climbing, and caving.
The St. Jacobs Farmers' Market draws visitors from all over southern Ontario: over 600 vendors, including many Mennonite families, bring their fresh produce, baked goods, ethnic foods, furniture, and clothing.
See also: Wine Regions of Ontario
Because of its mild climate, the Lake Erie shore is Ontario's second most important wine region after Niagara. There are many wineries open for tours and tastings.
Staying in Canada, the Greater Toronto Area is the next segment of the Windsor-Quebec corridor, and the Niagara Peninsula is almost due east of most of Southwestern Ontario. If you're in Tobermory, you can take a ferry to Manitoulin Island and from there continue on to Northern Ontario.
Leaving Canada, you can go north from Windsor to visit Detroit or west from Sarnia to visit Flint, and from either of those cities start your exploration of Michigan and the Midwest United States of America.