Straight forward drive to BUF airport?

[SAGE]

Hi,
We're using SW out of Buffalo for the 1st time. Where does everyone cross the border? Coming from the Burlington area - Is it a straight forward to drive to the airport?
Thanks.

 

[ont/ohana]

We always cross at Fort Erie, when you cross the border head to the right and take I90 south to 90 east ( road doesn't change, just stay left ) and exit at 33. Easy drive.

 

[wdwmike59]

And when SR33 (Kensington Expressway) changes to Genesee St., just stay on it.

 

[SandraC]

We went via Fort Erie. Easy drive. We are in Mississauga. S

 

[bubba]

We flew from Buffalo last year and would not travel from Toronto again ! (We're in Burlington as well) I used to do quite a bit of travelling on business and have seen a lot of airports. Buffalo is far and away my favorite. Very easy to get to and super to fly out of !

 

[SAGE]

Thanks!!!

 

[OntFamily]

Echoing on how great BUF is ! On Saturday, my wife left Mississauga at 9:00am, to catch a 12:25 flight @ BUF. She made it to the departure gate with 25 minutes to spare (and this with traffic congestion on the QEW, and a 45 minute wait at Fort Erie customs).

 

[CJ]

I've mapquested to the Buffalo airport hotel we're staying at and they recommend the Queenston/Lewiston bridge. Is that the fastest route?

 

[runner26.2]

I'd ignore what mapquest says and use Fort Erie. It is the fastest route. The roads are all excellent. I think mapquest gives the shortest route ... which isnt' always the fastest.

Go to the buffalo airport website at this link for directions from Fort Erie

http://www.buffaloairport.com/canadian_info/directions.asp

we've used all bridges and prefer Fort Erie. In my experience the lines at Fort Erie seem shorter, not sure why or whether that is just something i'm making up.

 

[Reese]

We cross at Fort Erie also. It makes for a very straight forward drive. I have to agree that the airport itself is great and so easy to navigate.

 

[Claud26]

we flew out of Buffalo in December 2005, left Toronto on a friday Afternoon and crossed at Fort Erie... I think it took us 2hrs because we cought all the Friday afternoon traffic on the QEW!! But it wasn't a big deal since we were staying over at Holiday Inn Express to catch our Next day very early 6am Flight to Orlando

I have a question ... This Year we are flying out Saturday December 8th @ 3pm, SO i'm not sure IF we should just leave Toronto on Saturday Monring and hope and pray that we don't have a snow storm that morning and the Fort Erie crossing will not be crazy with all the People Heading to Buffalo for Christmas shopping Trips... OR should we just head out on the Friday again and stay overnight??? If we leave on Saturday what time do you think we should head out??

Thank you

 

[punksmom]

We are going August 19th from Kingston to Buffalo for a 7pm SW flight. I think we have decided to drive thru Toronto (407 hwy) instead of Syracuse. We are thinking about leaving Kingston for 6am to give us plenty of time for traffic, boarder crossing, construction etc. I was told to also cross at Fort Erie - was told there are plenty of sign and very easy to find your way.
Does anyone see any holes in my plans? I have done the yahoo driving directions and looks good but have never been that part of Ontario before.

Also, our return flight lands in Buffalo at 10:25pm so am thinking about booking a park/sleep/fly for the way home. Has anyone done this for parking and a night at the hotel for the return park only? Would you, on arrival to Buffalo, go to the hotel, park your car, check inn and then have them shuttle you right away to the airport - on return to Buffalo, arrange for the shuttle to pick you up, spend the night in there hotel and then get in your car and go the next day. I am looking at Sleep Inn, Best Western, Ramada and Quality Inn - all seem to be available and better $$ then parking and hotel separately.
Sorry, sometimes my forehead displays the "no-Vacancy" sign
Many Thanks
C.

 

[CJ]

I'd ignore what mapquest says and use Fort Erie. It is the fastest route. The roads are all excellent. I think mapquest gives the shortest route ... which isnt' always the fastest.

Go to the buffalo airport website at this link for directions from Fort Erie

http://www.buffaloairport.com/canadian_info/directions.asp

we've used all bridges and prefer Fort Erie. In my experience the lines at Fort Erie seem shorter, not sure why or whether that is just something i'm making up.

Sorry to be so ignorant, but is the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie?

 

[Questforthemouse]

Sorry to be so ignorant, but is the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie?

Yes. Basically, the QEW ends at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie

 

[snowy76]

We are going August 19th from Kingston to Buffalo for a 7pm SW flight. I think we have decided to drive thru Toronto (407 hwy) instead of Syracuse. We are thinking about leaving Kingston for 6am to give us plenty of time for traffic, boarder crossing, construction etc. I was told to also cross at Fort Erie - was told there are plenty of sign and very easy to find your way.
Does anyone see any holes in my plans? I have done the yahoo driving directions and looks good but have never been that part of Ontario before.

My two cents... I think driving through Syracuse would be faster because you don't have to deal with a metro area as big as TO and the possible traffic issues (one bad accident on 407 or the QEW and you'd be toast, KWIM?)

Going through Syracuse, once you cross the border it's a straight shot down I-81 to I-90 (Thruway). I-90 is also a straight (albeit boring) shot to Buffalo and the airport exit is off I-90 itself. The Thruway also has real time traffic and construction updates online, so you can go online before you leave and see what sort of snags you might hit. The only downside is the way you have to sort of backtrack east to get to the border crossings... JMO. Good luck with whichever you decide!

 

[Questforthemouse]

we flew out of Buffalo in December 2005, left Toronto on a friday Afternoon and crossed at Fort Erie... I think it took us 2hrs because we cought all the Friday afternoon traffic on the QEW!! But it wasn't a big deal since we were staying over at Holiday Inn Express to catch our Next day very early 6am Flight to Orlando

I have a question ... This Year we are flying out Saturday December 8th @ 3pm, SO i'm not sure IF we should just leave Toronto on Saturday Monring and hope and pray that we don't have a snow storm that morning and the Fort Erie crossing will not be crazy with all the People Heading to Buffalo for Christmas shopping Trips... OR should we just head out on the Friday again and stay overnight??? If we leave on Saturday what time do you think we should head out??

Thank you

DW and I are debating the same issue. We fly out at 3pm on Sat Dec 29th with AirTran (driving from Burlington). Trying to decide if we should book the HIE for the 28th or drive over on the Sat morning. DW doesn't enjoy flying and needs to be at the airport 3 hrs prior to departure to keep the stress level down. We just returned from WDW. When we flew out on Wed Jul 18th we had a 12:25pm flight and left from home at 7:35am the day of. We walked into the airport at 9:25am (3 hrs prior ). Of course, we didn't have to worry about border traffic that early in the day nor snowstorms. To play it safe (and since we have the funds) I think we'll book the stay/park/fly...

 

[lordnamis]

I live in Hamilton and flown out of Buffalo many times and Fort Erie is def the best and easiest way to go. Have a good trip

 

[Debbie]

DH and I are headed to Syracuse 2 weeks from today. Google Maps suggested Queenston-Lewiston, and I printed it off. DSis suggested Peace Bridge (Fort Erie), and I went back and changed my route. It looks to be pretty close, timewise, and a little less convoluted to get to I-90 as well. I understand that wait times are usually a bit better through Fort Erie, too. Now, if I could just find a Cracker Barrel on the way, I'd be happy!

 

[4everluvDisney]

Hi,
We're using SW out of Buffalo for the 1st time. Where does everyone cross the border? Coming from the Burlington area - Is it a straight forward to drive to the airport?
Thanks.

We have flown out of Buffalo many times and the majority from SWA. We also live in Burlington and will doing it again in 3 weeks to WDW. Any questions please PM me and I will gladly give you the inside info.

 

[101DalmFan]

Whatever you do, DO NOT cross at Queenston-Lewiston unless you are going at very, very off hours. Because of the construction the wait time is absolutely horrendous! I'm talking hours..........

There is a phone # that ALL the folks who cross anywhere from Queenston-Lewiston down to Fort Erie should have -- the # that gives you the wait times. I always call it as soon as we get to St Catharines. Hold on, I have it programmed into my cell phone ..... I'll go get it and post it here. It's a MUST!