Point Pelee is two hours from London and just under three from Waterloo. It is the southernmost point of mainland Canada, the same latitude as Rome, and one of the most ecologically dense places on the continent. This is our first season running buses out of southwestern Ontario, and this is where we started.
Pick your date below. The bus picks up at the University of Waterloo terminal first and then in London, and your park admission comes with the ticket.
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Choose your own adventure: we drop you off, and the bus picks you up in the same spot.
A short, flat walk on even ground, at your own pace.
Point Pelee sits further south than most of California's wine country, at the same latitude as Rome and Barcelona. It protects one of the last significant stands of Carolinian forest in Canada: hackberry, sassafras, shagbark hickory and towering tulip trees, draped in wild grape and Virginia creeper. There are stretches that genuinely feel tropical, which is a strange thing to say about Ontario.
Two thirds of the park is freshwater marsh, alive with painted turtles, great blue herons and the occasional fox snake warming itself on a boardwalk railing. A kilometre-long boardwalk carries you through the cattails and lotus beds to an observation tower.
It is also the only place in Canada where the eastern prickly pear cactus grows naturally. There is a small patch just outside the Visitor Centre if you want to confirm it with your own eyes.
And the migrations. Two major flyways converge here. In late May the warblers, orioles, tanagers and flycatchers pour through the canopy in waves. In September the raptors ride the thermals, and on the right day in late September the trees at the Tip drip with monarchs staging for a 3,000 kilometre flight to Mexico.
Your nearest national park, and it is nothing like the one you pictured.
One stop, at the park, with everything below reachable from it.
We pick you up
The EC3 parking lot, off Columbia Street. The first pickup of the day, so it leaves earliest and gets back latest.
We pick you up
The Canadian Tire parking lot at White Oaks Mall, on the south side of the city.
Canada's southernmost point, and one of the most ecologically dense parks in the country. The walking is flat, the Visitor Centre has exhibits and maps, and a free Parks Canada shuttle runs to the Tip so you can save your legs for the parts you actually want to walk.
Good to know:
Facilities: Visitor Centre with exhibits, a theatre and washrooms, Seasonal concession for snacks and drinks, Water filling stations at the Visitor Centre and washroom buildings, Picnic tables throughout the park
Note: The Tip Tower reopened in February 2025 after extensive repairs. The free Parks Canada shuttle runs continuously between the Visitor Centre and the Tip.
We drop you back
The bus calls at both pickup points on the way back, so you get off where you got on.
This is our estimated return time, not a guarantee. Traffic can change it and some trips do run late, so please leave yourself some room afterwards rather than booking something tight against it.
A flat, sunny, exposed day with water taps but no restaurant.
Late May is the peak of the spring warbler migration and Point Pelee is one of the best places in North America to be standing during it. It is also the busiest weekend of the year, which is the trade.
Late September is the monarchs staging at the Tip before they cross Lake Erie. Summer weekends are moderate, and the park is big enough that the eastern beaches and the quieter trails stay quiet whatever the date.
The Visitor Centre is fully accessible, the Tip shuttle is wheelchair accessible, and the first 300 metres of the Marsh Boardwalk are accessible. There is a complimentary all-terrain wheelchair at the Visitor Centre, by reservation.
If you have accessibility needs relating to the bus or the day, get in touch before booking and we will talk it through.
Point Pelee is beautiful in light rain, the marsh especially, and the Visitor Centre and a few interpretive areas give you shelter if a downpour rolls through. Pack a light rain jacket and you will be fine.
On a hot day most of the trails run under Carolinian canopy and the boardwalk has a shaded tower. The Tip is exposed, so do that part earlier or later if you can.
This is our first season out of Waterloo and London. Dates cluster around the two migrations: late May for the spring warblers, late September for the monarchs.
Placeholder dates · the real ones come from our booking system
We're Canada's outdoor bus service. Since 2010 we've taken more than 300,000 people to parks and trails without a car. You bring binoculars. We handle everything else.
No extra fees at the gate and nothing to book ahead. Get off the bus and walk in.
Two hours from London, just under three from Waterloo. It has always been southwestern Ontario's nearest national park and it is still the one most people have never set foot in.
Enough to walk to the Tip, do the Marsh Boardwalk, climb the tower and find a beach, without looking at your watch.
Most of Point Pelee is level walking, and Parks Canada runs a free shuttle from the Visitor Centre to the Tip if you would rather save your legs.
★★★★★ 4.6/5.0 on Google
All stops enable guests ample time to explore the destination. This is a highly a good idea trip for those that appreciate spending time in nature minus distractions.OnAir48444 · Tripadvisor · Oct 2025
This is a great service if you don't have a vehicle or just don't want to drive. I'm so happy to have discovered this. There will definitely be more Parkbus trips in my future!James Taylor Wilson · Happy Parkbus customer
Highly recommend them. The bus service is so useful for people who doesn't want to drive and gives return facility. They were on time and bus facility was good too. Total worth the cost if you want to avoid hassle driving/parking.Sidhant Duggal · Facebook · Aug 2022
Parkbus is an official partner of VIA Rail and Parks Canada, helping keep car-free trips to Canada's parks and wild places genuinely affordable.
Factor in the cost of gas, parking and renting a car, it's a lot cheaper than taking a personal vehicle.Toronto Star
Parkbus is a great option for nature lovers, whether it's a day trip or overnight camping getaway.The Globe and Mail
Cancel more than 14 days before departure and you get a 90% refund, with 10% withheld for payment processing. Inside 14 days refunds are not available, except for a medical emergency in the 48 hours before departure, which needs a signed doctor’s note within 14 days of the missed trip and returns 50%. Tickets are transferable: you can change the passenger name up to 48 hours before departure.
If Parkbus cancels a trip, you get a full refund. We decide no later than 48 hours before departure and only on confirmed conditions: the park closed or the park authority asking us to stand down, an evacuation order or alert, an area restriction order, the highway closed, or the trip judged unsafe to run. A forecast is not one of those things, and trips run rain or shine.
Bring a hat, a packed lunch and some curiosity. Park admission and the driving are ours.
Not quite the right fit? These all leave from the same spot downtown.
