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Why go
- A walkable downtown with a genuine market hall at its centre, ringed by parkland rather than parking.
- Western University's campus is one of the handsomer ones in Canada and open to wander.
- Live music and festivals punch well above the city's weight, concentrated in Victoria Park all summer.
- It is the practical base for southwestern Ontario — Stratford, Port Stanley and the Lake Erie shore are all inside an hour.
History
Chosen as a district capital in 1826 by John Graves Simcoe's design — he had wanted London and the Thames to be the capital of Upper Canada, and the names stuck even though the capital did not. A garrison town, then a rail and insurance town, then a university and hospital town. The mid-century decision to plant and protect street trees at scale is why the canopy, and the nickname, survive.
Major sights
When it rains, or when it is February
Airports
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 3 airlines, 5 direct destinations
- Air Canada AC (Dash 8-100, CRJ, Dash 8-400) · 3 routes: Chicago*, Ottawa*, Toronto*
- WestJet WS (737-700) · 2 routes: Calgary, Winnipeg
- United Airlines UA (CRJ) · 1 route: Chicago*
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
Where things are
Photographs
credit: Loozrboy from Toronto, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0
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credit: R.schneider101 · CC BY-SA 4.0
When to go
Festival season. Warm, green, and the only time the outdoor calendar is fully lit — also when accommodation is tightest around Western's move-in and convocation weekends.
The better value and arguably the better visit. Patios are open, the canopy is either coming in or turning, and rates drop between the student rushes. Late September is the pick.
Move-in and convocation weekends at Western fill every room in the city and roughly double rates. Check the university calendar before booking.
| Sunfest | Early July | One of Canada's largest free world-music festivals, in Victoria Park. |
| Ribfest | Late July / early August | Victoria Park again, and busy. |
| Home County Music & Art Festival | Mid-July | Folk and craft, free, also Victoria Park. |
| Western Fair | September | A full agricultural fair, running since 1867. |
Getting there & around
Getting there. Via Rail runs the Toronto–Windsor corridor through London several times daily and the station is downtown. London International (YXU) has limited domestic service; Toronto Pearson is a two-hour drive or a bus.
Getting around. Downtown is genuinely walkable and the core sights sit within a twenty-minute radius of the market. London Transit covers the rest; Western is a short ride north. The Thames Valley Parkway is the pleasant way between neighbourhoods on foot or by bike — roughly 40 km of riverside path.