Stratford and St. Marys in One Day: Theatre Town and Stone Town

Can you do Stratford and St. Marys in one day from Toronto?

Most people think of these two towns separately. Stratford is the theatre town: a Shakespeare-centred festival, a river through the middle of town, and a downtown where you can walk from lunch to the curtain without a car. St. Marys is the stone town, a smaller place where the town hall, the library and many main-street buildings are built from local limestone, and where a flooded quarry doubles as a summer swimming hole.

This guide is written from the curb. It tells you which streets a car can use near the theatres, where the parking sits, how long each leg really takes, and when a train, a coach or your own car is the honest answer. If you would rather not drive, TorontoBlackLimousine.net can run the whole day from your door; the booker shows an exact fixed fare for your address before you pay.

Stratford in a paragraph: the Festival, the river and the grid

Stratford's centre is compact. The Avon River runs through it, the main theatres sit along or just above the water, and the shopping streets run uphill. According to the Festival's own theatre guide, the Festival Theatre is at 55 Queen Street, the Avon Theatre at 99 Downie Street, the Tom Patterson Theatre at 111 Lakeside Drive and the Studio Theatre at 34 George Street East, at the rear of the Avon complex.

Away from the stages, the town's tourism board lists Gallery Stratford, the Stratford Perth Museum, the Avon Trail along the river, the Lake Victoria loop and several food trails. As of 2026 the board listed its Chocolate Trail, Bacon and Ale Trail and Savour and Sip Trail for 1 May to 31 October, and a Christmas Trail for 1 November to 20 December. The Visit Stratford site carries the current versions.

None of this needs a car once you are there. Park or get dropped once, then walk.

When to go: the season, the shows and the quiet months

The Festival's season runs from spring into the autumn, and opening dates, closing dates and individual production runs change every year. In 2026 the Festival's site showed productions closing as late as 24 October and noted that the season had been extended for some shows. Do not plan from last year's dates; open the Stratford Festival site and check the production you want.

Most performances run about two and a half to three hours, so a 2 p.m. matinee finishes near 5 p.m. That decides whether you fit St. Marys in before the show or after it.

Outside the performing season Stratford is quieter, not closed. The tourism board lists winter events such as Lights On Stratford, and shops and restaurants keep ordinary hours. Weekends in summer and early autumn are the busiest; a Wednesday or Thursday matinee is the calmest way to do this trip.

Getting there by car from Toronto, Pearson and Kitchener-Waterloo

From downtown Toronto: about 145 km. The Festival's travel page gives the drive as roughly two hours, a fair planning number outside the afternoon rush. Leaving the downtown core after 3:30 p.m. on a weekday is where the trip stretches, because the 401 west is slow well past Mississauga.

From Pearson: the airport sits on the west side of the city, so you skip the downtown leg and the drive is shorter than from the lakeshore. Read our Pearson airport limo guide for the pickup procedure. Every airport pickup includes flight tracking, and international arrivals get 60 minutes of free waiting after landing (30 minutes domestic).

From Kitchener-Waterloo: Highways 7 and 8 share the road for about 45 km between Kitchener and Stratford, around 40 minutes in normal traffic. See our Kitchener-Waterloo limo page and the Pearson to Kitchener-Waterloo route.

From London: St. Marys is about 45 km north-east of London and Stratford about 20 km further on, so London to Stratford via St. Marys is roughly 65 km. The London, Ontario limo page and the London airport guide cover the pickup side.

Toronto to St. Marys directly: about 165 km through Stratford, around two hours twenty minutes. Use that figure if you want to start in the stone town and work back to the theatre.

Arriving in Stratford: theatre addresses, drop-off and parking

This is where a day trip is won or lost. The theatre streets are small, and on matinee days they fill.

Festival Theatre, 55 Queen Street. The Festival's guide lists paid parking in the lower Queen Street lot, below the theatre at Lakeside Drive, and limited free parking on Richard Monette Way. A chauffeur sets you down at the door and parks elsewhere.

Avon Theatre, 99 Downie Street. There is no theatre lot, only metered parking around the downtown core. The Festival's travel page has pointed Avon guests to George Street for drop-off during Downie Street construction, and its guide says motor coaches use the loading zones on the north side of George Street.

Tom Patterson Theatre, 111 Lakeside Drive. Paid parking is in the Water Street lot, with limited free parking off Morenz Drive.

Studio Theatre, 34 George Street East. Metered downtown parking; the entrance is at the rear of the Avon complex.

Construction and festival closures in downtown Stratford can appear with little warning. The Festival's getting-here page carried a Downie Street closure notice and told drivers to allow extra time. For a performance, arrive in town 45 to 60 minutes early, not 15.

For our bookings, the chauffeur confirms the exact drop-off and pickup spot with you before the day. After a show, a side street away from the theatre doors is almost always faster than waiting outside them. Larger groups can book a Sprinter, stretch limousine or mini-coach; availability and the exact vehicle are confirmed at booking.

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St. Marys, the stone town

St. Marys sits where the North Thames River meets Trout Creek, about 20 km south-west of Stratford and 45 km north-east of London. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes that it is known as "Stonetown" for its limestone buildings, among them the town hall of 1891, the Carnegie Library of 1905 and a heritage house that is now the St. Marys Museum. The settlement grew around mill power and local limestone, and became a railway junction in 1858.

The tourism site, Discover St. Marys, groups what to do into parks and trails, self-guided tours, the quarries, a brewery, eateries, a farmers' market and shopping. The tourism office is at 175 Queen Street East, open weekdays.

St. Marys rewards walking. Park once near the main street, walk the stone buildings, drop down to the river trails and be back at the car in an hour and a half. It is not a place to schedule six stops.

Quarry, trails and the baseball hall: what is open when

The former limestone quarry, now a swimming attraction, is a summer product. Visiting in the cooler months, treat it as scenery and confirm any season dates with the Town.

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is at 386 Church Street South. Its own site says it is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in July and August, Fridays to Sundays in September, by pre-booked visits only from October 2026 through April 2027, and Wednesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from 1 May to 30 June 2027. The Hall of Fame site has the booking details. This is exactly the stop that fails when you turn up on a whim in November.

The river trails, the main-street walk and the heritage buildings need no opening hours. The Town's autumn calendar listed small community events such as a ghost walk, so check the Town of St. Marys site the week you go.

A practical one-day plan

The matinee plan (best for most people).

1. Leave Toronto between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. for the two-hour run.
2. Arrive in St. Marys by 11:15 a.m. for a walk, a river-trail loop and lunch.
3. Drive the 20 km to Stratford, 20 to 25 minutes, arriving downtown by 1 p.m.
4. Walk the river and the shops before a 2 p.m. curtain.
5. Leave about 5:15 p.m. and be back in Toronto around 7:30 to 8 p.m. in normal traffic.

The evening-show plan. Do Stratford first: late-morning arrival, lunch and gallery time, a river walk, an early dinner, then the performance. The two-hour drive home starts after 10 p.m., quiet on the 401 but long after a full day.

The no-theatre plan. Skip the show and do both towns slowly: brunch in Stratford, the river and galleries, then St. Marys for the stone buildings and trails, back in Toronto for dinner. This suits winter and families with children too young for a three-hour performance.

For an open-ended day, read about our hourly chauffeur service. Our guides to Elmira and the St. Jacobs market and the Stratford Festival theatre trip fit the same corridor.

Groups, families and accessibility

Groups. A theatre party of 8 to 14 is the classic Executive Sprinter booking: one vehicle, one drop-off, nobody circling for parking. See the fleet page for capacities.

Families. Child, toddler and booster seats are available when requested at booking; give the ages when you book. A quiet morning in St. Marys is easier for small children than a three-hour matinee.

Accessibility. The Festival's guide says the Festival and Avon theatres offer special access seating on the orchestra level, and the Studio Theatre on the main floor near the stage. Contact the box office before booking if mobility is a concern. In St. Marys the main street and riverside paths are walkable, but older stone buildings vary, so ask ahead.

Weather and winter driving

Southwestern Ontario sits in a snowbelt east of Lake Huron. In winter, squalls on the stretch from Kitchener to Stratford can clear in one spot and close the road in another, so a flurry forecast for Toronto says little about Stratford. Check the forecast for Stratford itself the evening before and the morning of. If a snow squall warning is in force, move the day. Our chauffeurs adjust route and timing to conditions, and we will tell you plainly if a day is not worth attempting.

Honest alternatives: train, Stratford Direct, shuttle or your own car

The Festival's page confirms Stratford Direct runs from Toronto and listed 2026 service from 9 October to 15 November; see the Festival's getting-here page for the current year. The VIA station is at 101 Shakespeare Street, one block east of Downie Street, with free but limited parking, and it opens 60 minutes before trains arrive.

Plainly: if you are one person going to one show and nothing else, the train or Festival coach is the better value, and we will say so. A chauffeur makes sense for several people, for adding St. Marys, for luggage, or when you want to be in a warm car five minutes after the curtain. There is no public transit link between Stratford and St. Marys that suits a day trip, so the stone-town half of this plan is where a car matters most.

How our service handles this trip

Book through TorontoBlackLimousine.net and the booker shows an exact all-in fare for your pickup address and vehicle before you confirm.

• Vehicles: Executive Sedan (up to 3), Luxury SUV (up to 6) or Executive Sprinter (12 to 14).
• Timing: tell us the curtain time and where to meet afterwards, and the chauffeur plans around it.
• Cancellation: more than 72 hours' notice, no charge; 72 hours or less, 10%; 48 hours or less, 50%; 24 hours or less or a no-show, 100%, measured from the scheduled pickup time.
• Alcohol: rules follow Ontario law and are confirmed at booking.

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For related trips, see the Toronto to London, Ontario route, our city tour page, the events guide, the attractions guide and the blog.