A midday bus, not a dawn one. The last two hours of the St. Jacobs market while it is still busy, then into the village for Sparkles, when the lights come on and the carollers start. Home by eight.
Pick your date below. The bus leaves from 34 Asquith Avenue, just north of Yonge and Bloor.
Coming soon
We are running this one. The seats are not loaded into the booking system yet, so there is nothing to click. Leave your email and you will hear the moment it opens, which is usually before it goes anywhere else.
Cancel 14 or more days before you go and you get 90% back.
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.
Ten minutes apart, and the bus takes you between them.
We pick you up
Just north of the Yonge and Bloor subway stop. Come up the Asquith exit and look for the bus.
The largest year round farmers' market in Canada, running since 1975: three buildings plus the outdoor market, and more than three hundred vendors. You arrive for the last stretch of a Saturday that started at seven in the morning, which is not a bad way to see it, because the early crowds have thinned and the vendors are all still there. It shuts at half past three, so the bus is collecting you half an hour before the last stall closes. Bring a bag if you plan to buy anything heavier than lunch.
Good to know:
The village a few minutes away, lit up for Sparkles, and the reason the bus leaves Toronto at midday rather than at dawn. Sparkles is the village's own Christmas festival, and it runs across two weekends in November, which is why this trip has two dates rather than one. The streets are lit, the Waterloo County Carollers sing, Santa is about, and the shops and restaurants stay open into the evening instead of shutting at five. Long enough to eat properly, shop without rushing and stand about in the cold looking at lights, which is the actual point.
Good to know:
We drop you back
The bus returns to the same place it left from, so you go home the way you came.
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 market and then a cold street after dark.
Most Parkbus trips go early. This one does not, because the market is open until half three and the festival does not start until the light goes. Read the departure time twice before you set an alarm you did not need.
The evening half is outdoors, in the dark, in the third week of November, and you will be walking slowly and stopping often rather than keeping warm. Proper coat, hat, gloves. The market buildings are heated; the village streets are not.
Pick a date and a fare below. Both come straight from the booking system.
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, trails and days out without a car.
Almost every Parkbus trip is an early start. This one is not, because the best half of this particular day happens after dark.
Three buildings and an outdoor market, running since 1975, with more than three hundred vendors in it.
Sparkles is the evening half: lit streets, carollers, shops open late. It is the part you would normally have to drive home from.
An hour and a half each way in November, in the dark, after a day of walking around. That is the part we take.
★★★★★ 4.6/5.0 on Google
“This is the 1st time I used Parkbus but it won’t be the last.”Brenda H. · Google
Took a day trip to Algonquin Park with Parkbus. They pick up on Asquith Ave. in the Bloor/Yonge area and have a quick break stop at the Onroute Barrie. 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
Booked in minutes, had an unreal day in Algonquin, and was home by dinner.Cameron · Happy Parkbus customer
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.
We handle the logistics. You handle the adventure.
Not quite the right fit? These all leave from the same spot downtown.
