Limo service in Halifax

The Atlantic gateway

Halifax is the Maritimes' capital in every sense that matters to a chauffeur: the region's only large airport, its cruise port, its naval base, its universities and its hospitals, and the city where anyone doing business in Atlantic Canada lands first. The airport is a long way out - thirty-five kilometres north on the highway, the furthest from its downtown of any Canadian gateway after Edmonton - which makes the fixed fare and the flight tracking matter more than they would in a city with a close-in field, and the winter's nor'easters make the chauffeur's winter tyres and patience the product. We run the full service across Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford and the South Shore: the Stanfield transfers, the corporate accounts, the cruise-terminal runs from May to October, the hourly chauffeur for the Peggy's Cove day, and the weddings on the waterfront and the shore.

Stanfield, and how the pickup works

Halifax Stanfield International is at Enfield, thirty-five kilometres north of the waterfront on Highway 102, thirty minutes off-peak and forty-five in the evening rush through the Bedford Highway's merge. It is a single terminal with the domestic, international and US-preclearance gates on one concourse and a short walk from any carousel to the curb. The pre-arranged limousine pickup is at the arrivals level, signed separately from the taxi rank and the ride-app zone; the chauffeur texts the curb and the plate before landing, meet and greet inside the hall is the add-on, and thirty minutes of waiting are included on a domestic arrival and sixty on the London, Reykjavik and sun-destination flights. The airport authority publishes the layout at halifaxstanfield.ca; the Halifax airport page has the full guide. There is no rail link; the fixed fare is the alternative to a taxi rank that empties at midnight.

The peninsula, Dartmouth and the neighbourhoods

The Halifax peninsula holds the waterfront and its boardwalk, the downtown towers along Barrington and Hollis, the Citadel on the hill, Spring Garden Road's shops, the universities - Dalhousie, Saint Mary's, King's - and the hospitals along University Avenue; the North End's restaurants and breweries; the South End's houses and Point Pleasant Park. Dartmouth across the harbour by the two bridges or the ferry has its own downtown and the naval base's Shearwater side; Bedford and Sackville to the north are the commuter towns on the airport road; Clayton Park and Spryfield the western suburbs. Every address prices on the engine, and the Nova Scotia page covers the province beyond.

The cruise terminal, the port and the navy

The Halifax Seaport's cruise terminal at Pier 21 - the immigration museum beside it - turns over ships from May to October, and the transfer between Stanfield and the pier with the ship's schedule on the booking is the summer's most-booked run; the pre-arranged pickup is at the terminal's commercial curb. The port's container terminals and the shipping companies, and CFB Halifax - the country's largest naval base, on the harbour's west side with Shearwater across it - book the corporate account for the visiting officers and the contractors. The Port of Halifax publishes the ship schedule.

The universities, the hospitals and the offshore sector

Dalhousie's campus and its medical school, Saint Mary's, Mount Saint Vincent and King's bring the September move-in and the spring convocations; the QEII Health Sciences Centre and the IWK children's hospital bring the medical day and the visiting specialist through Stanfield; the offshore energy companies and the ocean-technology firms at the Centre for Ocean Ventures book the corporate account. The prom and graduation page covers the June season across the Halifax board, which clusters proms in the last two weeks of the month.

Peggy's Cove, Lunenburg and the South Shore

Peggy's Cove is forty-five minutes south-west on Highway 333, Lunenburg an hour and a quarter on the 103, Mahone Bay and Chester between them; the Annapolis Valley's wineries an hour north-west on the 101; Truro an hour north. The Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg day - the lighthouse, the fishing village, lunch in Lunenburg, home by dinner - is the hourly chauffeur booking every Halifax visitor makes, and the SUV takes the day's purchases. The city-to-city service prices the longer drives - the Cabot Trail over three days, Prince Edward Island via the Confederation Bridge, Moncton in two and a half hours - as fixed fares with the return built in.

Scotiabank Centre, the Halifax Convention Centre and the venues

The Scotiabank Centre downtown for the Mooseheads, the Thunderbirds and the concerts; the Halifax Convention Centre in the Nova Centre for the conferences; the Rebecca Cohn at Dalhousie for the symphony and Neptune Theatre for the plays; the Wanderers Grounds for the soccer; the Garrison Grounds under the Citadel for the summer concerts and the Tattoo's ceremonies. The sporting events and nights out pages cover the pickup arrangements, and the trade shows page the conference programme.

The calendar

The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo at the Scotiabank Centre at the end of June, the Jazz Festival in July, the Busker Festival on the waterfront in August, the Halifax Pop Explosion in October, the Atlantic Film Festival in September, and the cruise season's ships from May to October: each fills the waterfront and closes a street. Natal Day on the first Monday of August is the harbour's holiday. Discover Halifax's calendar has the dates.

Traffic, weather and the honest drive times

Highway 102 from the airport, the Bedford Highway's merge and the two harbour bridges - the Macdonald and the MacKay - are the rush-hour points, and the bridges' tolls are shown at booking. The weather is the Atlantic's: fog that closes the airport some mornings, nor'easters that close the highway some afternoons, and a hurricane season that occasionally closes everything. Nova Scotia 511 is what dispatch reads, and the chauffeurs run winter tyres from November. The honest figures: Stanfield to the waterfront in thirty minutes at 6 am and forty-five at 5 pm; downtown to Dartmouth in fifteen minutes across the bridge and thirty in the rush.

Hotels and the drop-off

The Westin Nova Scotian by the station, the Marriott Harbourfront and the Halliburton on the water, the Lord Nelson on Spring Garden, the Prince George and the Cambridge Suites downtown, the Muir in the new Queen's Marque, the Sutton Place in the Nova Centre, and the Alt inside the airport's terminal for the 6 am flight: the chauffeurs know each forecourt, and the travel desk books the room.

What a limo costs in Halifax

Fixed by the addresses and the vehicle class, shown before you book. Stanfield to the waterfront in an Executive Sedan is the most-booked transfer and the fare reflects the thirty-five kilometres honestly rather than hiding them in a flat rate; the cruise terminal is the same run; the Peggy's Cove day is priced by the hour with a minimum. The bridge tolls are added where the route uses them. No surge on a cruise turnaround morning, no meter, no gratuity added. The fleet page has the capacities.

Weddings on the water

The waterfront hotels, the Citadel, the Public Gardens for the photographs, the Halifax Club, the churches of the South End, the yacht clubs on the Northwest Arm, and the South Shore's inns at Chester and Mahone Bay for the destination wedding: the wedding page covers the plan, with the guest shuttle from the peninsula's hotels to a shore venue as the piece that matters most. Summer Saturdays book by March.

Two questions Halifax visitors ask the desk

Is the airport really that far? Yes - thirty-five kilometres - and the fare is honest about it; the drive is thirty minutes on a clear morning and the car is warm. Can we do Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg in one day? Yes, comfortably, as an hourly booking with the chauffeur suggesting the order - Peggy's Cove first for the light, Lunenburg for lunch, Mahone Bay on the way home. A third, asked every May: the cruise-turnaround mornings sell every car in the city by 7 am, and the ship's schedule should be on the booking the week before.

A cruise-turnaround morning, worked through

A Tuesday in July, a ship docking at Pier 21 at 7 am and a couple disembarking at 8:30 for a 1 pm flight to Toronto. The Executive Sedan was booked the week before with the ship's name and the flight number; at 8:20 the couple's phone receives the plate and the terminal's commercial curb, the bags come off the ship's belt at 8:40, and by 8:50 they are on Barrington Street heading for the 102. Stanfield's departures curb at 9:25, four hours before the flight, is generous; the chauffeur suggests a stop at the Citadel on the way, which the fixed fare includes as a reasonable stop, and the couple see the noon gun's rehearsal before the airport. The same couple's arrival the week before was the reverse: Stanfield to the Marriott Harbourfront the night before the ship, a fixed fare with the flight tracked. The Port of Halifax's cruise schedule is what the desk works from in season.

The Annapolis Valley and the wineries

An hour north-west on the 101, the Annapolis Valley's wineries around Wolfville - the Tidal Bay appellation the province is known for - and the Bay of Fundy's tides at Grand Pré are the region's wine day, and it is an hourly chauffeur booking with the SUV bringing the cases home. Acadia University in Wolfville books the September move-in and the convocations; the valley's orchards in blossom in late May and in harvest in September are the drive. The Nova Scotia page covers the province beyond.

Halifax in winter

The nor'easter is the winter's story: a storm that closes the 102, the bridges and sometimes the airport for an afternoon, and a chauffeur who reads Nova Scotia 511 and calls before the pickup rather than after. Every vehicle runs winter tyres from November, the peninsula's hills are the chauffeur's business, and the airport transfer on the morning after a storm is booked with a margin. The fog that closes Stanfield on a spring morning is the other weather, and the flight tracking handles it.

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