How to get to the Kitchener Airport from Toronto?

So, you're planning a trip through the North America and a part of it is getting from Toronto to Chicago. It would be better to select the closest airport instead of one just having the name 'Toronto' in it...

A few weeks after the booking I noticed: Wait, it's called 'Toronto-Kitchener'. I checked on Google Maps and saw that there are train and bus connections to get nearby. So it wasn't really worried about it.

But after checking the times I found out: 'Oh, the train connection will be just once this day!' Unfortunately the train would arrive just 30 minutes before the flight at 3 PM. And by arriving I mean NOT at the airport, just in Kitchener. So nearby. A taxi will be needed anyway.

But there were also bus connections so I didn't worry about it: 'We'll find a way when we are in Toronto.'

So after arriving in Toronto and reaching the hostel we also asked at the reception for a recommendation to get to the airport. It wasn't familiar to them and they also checked on Google Maps. So the same information as I already had.

The evening before leaving I checked the connections again. There were a lot of bus connections and it also meant that we had to switch buses a few times. I found an early connection to Guelph (a city close to Kitchener) and from there we could take another bus close the airport. But the second bus would take more than an hour for this short distance. I tried to keep all the options in my mind and also made some screenshots on my phone.

Finding the right bus

On the next morning we left early to get to the Union Station in time. At the counter we asked again for a recommendation and we got another one. It was taking the bus to Square One Shopping Centre and from there to Kitchener Terminal. The woman at the counter even gave us a note where to go. We took that option and waited for the bus at the Union Station. Just in case - I took some maps from there with me (as seen above).

So we went out at the Square One station to switch to the next bus with number 25 to Kitchener Terminal. During the bus ride we went through road works and had to go through some traffic jam. So I had some time to check the maps again and was thinking about jumping off the bus earlier than Kitchener Terminal in order to make it to the airport in time.

While waiting for the traffic to continue I went to the bus driver asking him about his opinion. He agreed to my point. Even from Kitchener Terminal we would need to get a taxi or a even way longer bus ride to get to the airport, so it would make sense to leave the bus at an earlier station, at the Cambridge Smart Center. He also said that there were sometimes taxis waiting for people, but if not he also gave me the number of a local taxi service.

Looking for a taxi

So we went out at this very place, but there were no taxis at all. I tried to call the number the bus driver gave me, but it didn't work. Maybe I did something wrong since I didn't have a Canadian SIM card.

Luckily we were at a bus stop with other people waiting so we asked them. One woman called a taxi while being in the queue to get into the next bus. She said the taxi will be there in 10 minutes and entered the bus.

And the taxi came, even a few minutes earlier. We put the luggage in the trunk and went to the airport. The taxi driver wondered why we had chosen this airport and I explained that it just happened by mistake. After I told him that it was an American Airlines flight, he said that he heard rumors that the airline could leave the airport in the near future.

So I left us at the airport and it was even tinier than expected. The smallest airport I've ever seen. And the real name is Region of Waterloo International Airport.

How small it really is can you see and read here.