Travel & Hotel Planning - 2014 VGEC Conference in Burlington, Ontario, Canada

The Waterfront Hotel Downtown in Burlington is located on the western shore of Lake Ontario. Make your reservations for the conference now.

The excellent "Vergers Survival Guide" posted by our 2014 Conference host committee is Top Priority as you plan your trip to the conference, convening September 25-28 in Burlington, Ontario.The Survival Guide gives you concise information on how to get to Burlington and the Waterfront Hotel Downtown, our conference host hotel, from the two largest airports, Toronto Pearson International Airport and Buffalo Niagara International Airport, plus other smaller regional airports.

Do pay attention to the comments about the Waterfront Hotel reservation policy. You can book now and be assured a very nice room with free parking and a hot/cold breakfast buffet for two in the conference hotel.

If bookings do not start coming in by June, the hotel will start cutting back on the number of blocked rooms since there is a high demand for the rooms in early autumn, and they assure us that the rooms will sell out. Once blocked rooms are released, reservations will be a first come first serve basis.

Most major airlines fly into Toronto Pearson International, as listed here. Those serving Buffalo Niagara International are listed here. The driving time to Burlington from Buffalo Niagara is about 1 ½ hours depending on time of day. Toronto Pearson to Burlington is about 1 hour.

Note the comment about identification documents, namely a current passport. You’ll find everything you need to know about getting a new passport for United States citizens at http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/apply.html. Allow 4-6 weeks for non-expedited processing. Basic cost of a passport is $110 to the State Department and $25 to the “Acceptance Facility” (Generally one (designated by searching by zip code on the Passport site) of your local post office locations).Start early and avoid higher processing fees and possible disappointment.

Now that you've planned how you will arrive in Canada and feel confident that you’ll be allowed to cross the border and back, you’ll want to get to Burlington. As the Survival Guide points out, you can drive or travel by limo or bus. I am told that the Bus/Limo fare from Toronto runs between $60 and $80 Canadian one way. Our conference organizer, Terry Hughes, says that the best way to get this information is to visit the website of the airport to which you will be flying. From the airport website find the link for ground transportation. That will give you car rental, bus, rail, or limo service information. It will also list websites useful for pre-booking your local transportation needs.

Getting around in Burlington will be less effort, if you are staying at the excellent Waterfront Hotel Downtown, just three blocks from our hosts at the Parish Church of Saint Luke. However, none of the Burlington hotels provide shuttle service so rental cars or taxis will be in order to supplement shoe-leather.

To register for the conference today, click HERE.

Your points of contact for information are:

Terry Hughes, Host Committee Chair
[email protected] (905) 632-9535

Bill Gleason, Registration Coordinator
[email protected] (615) 812-9440

Plan early to enjoy yourself in Burlington in late September, eh!