Kitchener travel guide

Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about 100 km (62 mi) west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional seat.

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".

Getting in

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.

Getting around

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).

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.