How do I get from the airport to Toronto?

The UP Express is the obvious pick. The train departs from a dedicated platform inside Terminal 1, with a free inter-terminal shuttle from Terminal 3 that takes about 3 minutes. First departure at 5:27am, last at 12:57am, every 15 minutes all day. The ride is 25 minutes to Union Station at Front Street and Bay, which connects directly to TTC subway Lines 1 and 2 and the PATH underground walkway. A single adult ticket is $12.35 CAD ($8.90 USD). The cars are clean and air-conditioned, quiet enough that you'll hear the bilingual announcements in English and French over the hum of the wheels. Wi-Fi is free onboard. Presto card holders pay the same fare but skip the ticket machine queue. If you're arriving after about 1am, the UP Express won't help you, and your options narrow to rideshare or taxi.

After midnight, Uber and Lyft pick up from designated zones on the arrivals level. Budget $35-50 CAD ($25-36 USD) to the Financial District or Entertainment District, with fares climbing to $55-65 for addresses north of Bloor Street. The ride takes 30-40 minutes without rush-hour traffic. Licensed taxis at Pearson operate on a flat-rate system based on destination zones, and a cab to downtown typically runs $53-60 CAD ($38-43 USD). The rates are posted at the official taxi stand outside the terminal doors. To be fair, the flat rate removes surge-pricing anxiety, which matters at 2am when Uber fares can spike. One thing first-timers get wrong is walking past the official taxi stand and accepting a ride from someone who approaches them inside the terminal. The dispatched line outside is the right one.

For travelers watching every dollar, TTC bus route 52 Lawrence West runs from Terminal 1 to Lawrence West subway station on Line 1 Yonge-University. A single fare is $3.35 CAD ($2.40 USD), and the bus runs roughly every 10-15 minutes during the day. The bus ride takes about 20 minutes, then the subway adds 25-30 minutes to Union Station, so plan for 60-70 minutes door to door. It's a city bus, not an airport shuttle. You'll share seats with commuters, and luggage space is limited to what you can hold on your lap. If you're flying Porter Airlines into Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ), the transfer is almost comically easy. A pedestrian tunnel built in 2015 connects the island terminal to the mainland at Bathurst Street and Queens Quay. The walk takes 6 minutes. You step out onto the waterfront with the CN Tower looming a few blocks north, and the 509 streetcar runs east along Queens Quay to Union Station in about 10 minutes.

If you land at Pearson during the 4-7pm weekday rush, the UP Express still takes 25 minutes because it runs on dedicated track. Highway 427 and the Gardiner Expressway can turn a 30-minute taxi ride into 75 minutes of stop-and-go through Etobicoke. You'll see the traffic from the train windows. The highway runs right alongside the rail corridor, and on a Friday afternoon the contrast is a good advertisement for public transit. June temperatures in Toronto currently sit around 22°C, so the walk from Union Station to hotels in the Entertainment District is a comfortable 10-15 minute stroll south on York Street. If you're heading to a hotel near Dundas Square or along Yonge Street, take Line 1 northbound from Union. Two stops to Dundas, three to College.