Kitchener

Kitchener and neighbouring Waterloo and Cambridge form a tightly-integrated metro area within the larger Region of Waterloo in Southwestern Ontario. At the time of the 2021 Canadian census, the population of the city of Kitchener was 256,885 people and the population of the Region of Waterloo area was 587,165.

Understand
Kitchener and Waterloo were pioneered by Mennonites from Pennsylvania, Cambridge by British, principally Scots, in the early 19th century. Once named Berlin, Kitchener was renamed in 1916 due to the anti-German sentiment during World War I, after British military hero Lord Kitchener. Since the 1950s when Waterloo attained city status, Kitchener and Waterloo have been known as the "Twin Cities", "K-W", or "Kitchener-Waterloo". Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge (a 1970s merger of the older City of Galt with the neighbouring Towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the village of Blair) are often collectively referred to as the "Tri-Cities".

Immigration, beginning with Germans and Central Europeans in the 19th century and continuing to the present from Central and South America, the Near East, Far East and Asia have created a broad-based multi-cultural population. Kitchener and Waterloo, in 'North Waterloo' exhibit a strong German heritage, celebrated most notably in their 9-day Oktoberfest, the largest outside of Munich. Cambridge, in 'South Waterloo', has a sizeable Portuguese population, from the Azores, and a large constituency of Newfoundlanders, relocated from Belle Isle, Newfoundland, in the 1960s.

Orientation
The centre of the city, known as downtown, is divided into four neighbourhoods:
 * Warehouse District at the north end of downtown, full of disused factories, many of which are now being converted into loft condominiums or offices.
 * Downtown Core, the centre of downtown, contains city hall and a large number of other sights, as well as many office buildings, shops and restaurants.
 * Civic Centre, contains many public buildings, including the public library, the police station and the Centre in the Square concert hall.
 * East End, contains many small shops and inexpensive restaurants as well as the Kitchener Market.

By car
Highway 401 runs along Kitchener's southern border. Kitchener is located one hour west of Toronto, one hour east of London, three hours east of Windsor/Detroit. If coming from Toronto, take exit 278A (Highway 8). At the Highway 7 and King Street exit, take the exit King Street to get to downtown Kitchener. If coming from London, take exit 278 (King Street), then take Highway 8 east to the King Street exit as above.

By plane

 * Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF) is 8 km from downtown Kitchener and has direct flights to destinations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The airport is serviced by WestJet with flights to Calgary, Flair Airlines with flights to various cities in Canada, the United States and Mexico, and Sunwing Airlines with seasonal flights to Varadero, Cuba and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
 * Air Canada flights can be booked to YKF, with a bus connection from Toronto Pearson Airport.


 * Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) is 74 km from downtown Kitchener and is serviced by most major domestic and international airlines. This is the largest airport that serves the region of Waterloo. There are numerous ground transportation operators between Kitchener and Pearson who operate door-to-door services and scheduled minibus services from several large hotels in Kitchener.

By train
GO Transit customers are eligible to one free ride on Grand River Transit (GRT) vehicles (buses and ION light rail line) to and from Kitchener Railway Station. To receive the free ride, GO customers must show the GRT bus driver or fare inspector a Presto card, a single-ride GO Transit ticket or a GO Transit day ticket. With this one exception, Presto and GO Transit fare media are otherwise not valid for Grand River Transit.
 * Train operators:
 * Between Sarnia and Toronto including stops in London, St. Marys, Stratford, Kitchener, Guelph, Georgetown, Brampton, and Mississauga. Travel to Kitchener from Toronto is about 1 hour 35 minutes, from Guelph is about 30 minutes, from London is about 2 hours 10 minutes, and from Sarnia is 3 hours 25 minutes. Seating is reserved. As Kitchener Station has limited opening hours, customers should consider booking VIA Rail trains online.

By bus




By car
By car, with a local map: where other cities are laid out more or less on a grid Kitchener streets are not, rather follow their own complex patterns with frequent twists and turns, many continuing into adjoining Waterloo.

Likewise, street directions are designated E, W, N, and S, but only one major cross street, Lancaster Street East/West, is true to the compass (running, oddly enough, straight north/south). King, Weber and Westmount are the principal EW streets in Kitchener (at Union Street, they become King, Weber and Westmount in Waterloo, where they are designated N/S). Queen, Frederick, Ottawa and Victoria, are the principal NS cross-streets.

There is an express route, known locally as the Conestoga Parkway, but not signed as such, which loops traffic on Highways 7&8 through Kitchener South, and Highway 85 traffic through Waterloo North.

Addresses number EW from Queen, NS from King.

By public transportation
Downtown Kitchener is fairly compact and walkable; thus, public transportation is mainly useful to go beyond downtown such as Uptown Waterloo. The ION light rail line runs from Fairway Park Mall (ION Fairway station) in south Kitchener, through Downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo to terminate at the Conestoga Mall (ION Conestoga station) in Waterloo. In Downtown Kitchener, between Victoria and Frederick streets, the ION line splits into two branches with northbound going along Frederick and Duke streets, and the southbound trains going along Charles Street; the branches are about 250 metres apart. Because of the branches, four of the 6 ION stations in Downtown Kitchener serve only one direction. Kitchener City Hall is served by ION Kitchener City Hall Station (northbound) and ION Victoria Park Station (southbound). Kitchener Railway Station lies 650 metres east of ION Central Station.



The German clubs
All the German clubs serve food but not all of them have restaurants. Call before you go.



Drink
See Nightlife, the weekly entertainment supplement published Thursdays by The Record, the area's daily newspaper, for its calendar of what's on in clubs, concerts, movies, stage, art, and kids stuff.

Go next
Kitchener is one of three cities in Waterloo Region. Visit Waterloo to the north or Cambridge to the south. It is also a great base for exploring the surrounding countryside, the towns of New Hamburg, St. Jacobs and Elora are all within easy driving distance.