Weekend Ontario Road Trips You Can’t Miss

Blessed with beautiful waterfalls, incredible parks, local surprises, culinary gems, crystal waters, and more, Ontario is one of the most road trip friendly provinces in Canada. If you only have 2 days to work with, what are the must-do weekend Ontario road trips?

Let’s jump right into the best places to road trip in Ontario!

8 Best Weekend Ontario Road Trips

Ontario is a large province and there are so many incredible routes you can take when building your own road trip. That said, we often don’t have the time for a big week-long vacation and so it made sense to focus in on the type of Ontario road trips where you can pull it off in a weekend or maybe even a long weekend.

For the purposes of this guide, we’re going to focus on road trips from Toronto, Ottawa, and London.

1- Oxford County

The name might sound familiar but you might’ve heard of Woodstock, Ontario. Oxford County is where Highway 401 and 403 converge and where you’ll find other towns such as Tillsonburg, Ingersol, Otterville, and more.

What makes this region special is that it is in fact the dairy capital of Canada. While that means that there are many farms and grazing lands, they’ve rapidly become a culinary destination that’s perfect for road trippers.

The star attraction has to be the Oxford County Cheese Trail, a collection of over 20 businesses that have cheese-related offerings and experiences. If you’ve taken a look at how we did our 2 day Oxford County Cheese Trail itinerary, you’ll see that this is an awesome choose-your-own adventure that spans the best cheesemakers in Canada and also many other local businesses that will blow you away.

As far as road trips in Ontario go, Oxford County is truly a hidden gem.

2- Niagara Region

It goes without saying that Niagara is the most well-known part of Ontario with not only the natural wonder of Niagara Falls but also the global acclaim of its wineries.

While vacations to see the waterfall are an easy default, an even better weekend Ontario road trip is to complement the falls with truly spectacular parts of the region that show you the authentic Niagara.

The Niagara Region is made up of 13 municipalities where Niagara Falls is just one small part of it. The best part of any drive through here is that you’ll be continuously surprised by how bountiful the Niagara Escarpment is in its natural landscapes and fertile lands to produce Ontario’s best fruits and vegetables.

With this being a large region, it’s undoubtedly challenging to plan a trip which is why we’ve put together a 3 day adventure itinerary of Niagara Falls, filtered down the best Niagara Falls wine tours, selected the top restaurants in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and also written an extensive Niagara Parks Power Station review.

For the visual planners, we’ve also produced a number of videos with Visit Niagara that covers the fall colours, unexpected culinary experiences, drinks in Lincoln, the Lakeshore Route, and fall harvest.

If you’re looking to put together one of the best scenic road trips in Ontario, you have to include Niagara Falls of course, a drive down The Niagara Parkway, stay a night in Niagara-on-the-Lake, see the Toronto skyline on a clear day from Port Dalhousie, be in awe of the giant ships that pass through the Welland Canal at Port Colborne, and drive through the charming town of Jordan Station.

If you know where to go, you can really dine like kings and queens on your road trip to Niagara.

3- Algonquin

Algonquin Provincial Park is one of the best Ontario Parks there is. Home to a vast wilderness of forests, rivers, lakes, moose, bears, logging history, campsites, and trails, this is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream.

Certainly, a weekend doesn’t do Algonquin justice but you can make the most out of a weekend or long weekend here depending on the type of trip you want to plan.

If you want to forgo car camping, backcountry camping, and/or portaging, using Huntsville as a hub is a great option because not only do you have access to Algonquin Provincial Park from the West Gate but you also have Arrowhead Provincial Park which should not be overlooked.

Another thing to consider is that Algonquin neighbours on Ontario’s Muskoka so this is also a perfect pairing between an Ontario road trip and cottage life.

No matter what season you go, you’ll be able to find beauty in Algonquin which you’ll see in our winter adventures in Muskoka and a 4 day Algonquin portage.

4- Hamilton

You never would’ve guessed it if you’ve never been but Hamilton has a high concentration of the most photogenic waterfalls in Ontario. This is thanks to the geology of the Niagara Escarpment that cuts through the city resulting in steep drops in the rock where various waterways flow through.

If you’ve read the guide to the best waterfalls of Hamilton, you’ll know that there are 11 incredible cascades that you can easily explore across a weekend road trip in Ontario or if you’re in a rush, you can also do a few of them on a day trip.

What you’ll love about Hamilton’s waterfalls is that they’re all easily accessible and most don’t require too much hiking to get to. The only thing to be aware of i that parking may be limited in some spots especially during the summer and a few of the more popular waterfalls have entry fees.

The best time to come is in the spring when the snow melts and the water rages downwards or in the fall when you have the cascades nestled in the backdrop of the changing leaves.

While you’re in Hamilton, you’ll get an appreciation for how the city is much more than its moniker of being a Steel Town. There are a surprisingly wealth of culinary, art, history, and outdoor experiences here.

5- Thousand Islands

Along the St. Lawrence River there are literally more than 1,800 islands that straddle the border of Canada and the U.S. This is a hub of outdoor experiences both on land and water that makes for a great road trip destination in Ontario.

The 1000 Islands offers plenty for visitors to do. With your car, you’ll be able to explore the small town charm of Gananoque which is considered to be the “gateway to the Thousand Islands”. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, and hotels.

With Gananaoque as your base, you’ll be able to enter Thousand Islands National Park, take a Thousand Islands cruise to see the famous archipelago. Along the way you’ll see the smallest international bridge and also Boldt Castle on Heart Island.

A weekend here will also allow you to experience the Thousand Islands in a number of different ways including getting on a paddle board, kayak, or canoe to get up close to all of the natural beauty here.

In the evening, grab a pint at the Gan Brewing Company, watch a show at the Thousand Islands Playhouse, and watch a sunset from Sculpture Park.

6- Bruce Peninsula

If you’re seeking pristine waters, epic hike trails, scuba diving, island exploring, cruising, and the best of Ontario camping, a drive to Tobermory is one of the best road trips in Ontario.

The experience starts as you take Highway 6 and has you passing through towns such as Fergus, Chatsworth, Owen Sound, and Wiarton, before you make your way up the Bruce Peninsula. Make sure to read our article on hidden waterfalls near Toronto that is can be incorporated into a weekend road trip or as a day trip on its own.

At the end of the road is the harbour village of Tobermory. This is where your adventure begins and you get to have some of the best fish & chips in the province.

From Tobermory, take a cruise to Flowerpot Island, a part of the Fathom Five National Marine Park which is home to a number of shipwreck dive sites and historic 19th-century lighthouses.

Southeast of the town is Bruce Peninsula National Park where you’ll find the famed Grotto and the winding paths of the most scenic part of the Bruce Trail where you’ll still see the dominating rocky features of the Niagara Escarpment. This is also a great park to for camping. They are also one of the few parks with their own yurts in Ontario as well.

Other spots not to miss are Lion’s Head Provincial Nature Reserve, Black Creek Provincial Park, and Greig’s Caves that showcase the incredible landscape of the region.

READ MORE: A perfect weekend in Tobermory

If you have more than a weekend, a car ferry over to Manitoulin Island is something you should definitely look into!

7- Kawarthas

While most of us think of Muskoka as idyllic cottage country but I’d argue that the region of the Kawartha Lakes and Peterborough & The Kawathas (two separate tourism regions but are combined as part of Kawarthas Northumberland) holds its own especially when you consider that it is easier to get to, is dotted with numerous lakes and waterways, and has awesome lakefront home rentals.

What makes the entire Kawarthas unique is the Trent-Severn Waterway, a scenic 386 km route of lakes, rivers, locks and canals managed by Parks Canada. There are a total of 45 locks and with 18 of them in the Kawartha Region between Kirkfield and Peterborough.

During your road trip through here, you’ll want to plan several stops at locks along the way. You’ll be mesmerized by the ingenuity of how boats of all shapes and sizes can move from one lake to another which are at different levels.

Towns are centralized around many of the locks so after you’re done watching boats pass through, you’ll be able to spend time exploring the communities of the Kawarthas. A weekend through here will allow you to explore Bobcaygeon, Lindsay, Fenelon Falls, Buckhorn, Kirkfield, and Peterborough.

What makes this Ontario road trip a little different from others is that you’ll be able to decide how much exploring of the region you want to do versus relaxing and enjoying any one of the cottage properties here. There’s no wrong way to plan a trip here.

Make sure to bring a cooler so you can pack one (or many) tubs of Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream.

8- Prince Edward County

Last but not least is Prince Edward County (PEC for short), located between Toronto and Kingston on the northeastern shore of Lake Ontario. If you take a look at the map, PEC is actually an island as well.

Over the years, this destination has really grown to become a weekend tripper’s dream with its idyllic combination of Sandbanks Provincial Park, wineries, lavender fields, micro-breweries, cute B&Bs, galleries, and historic towns.

What’s drastically changed in the region is that no longer do people only come for PEC’s beaches and sand dunes but now they’ve become a ‘Gastronomic Capital of Ontario‘ thanks to its fertile land filled with organic farms, vineyards, fine-dining restaurants, and gourmet food trucks.

As far as Ontario road trips that you can’t miss, Prince Edward County does not disappoint. You can easily spend a night at a boutique hotel such as Drake Devonshire, and have a nice weekend hopping around the island, you can book a campsite and take in the stunning landscapes.

If you’re coming from Ottawa, consider taking the Glenora Ferry which can take cars and people from Kingston to Prince Edward County.

READ NEXT: 16 Popular and Secret Weekend Trips from Toronto

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