Edwards Gardens and the Toronto Botanical Garden share one site at 777 Lawrence Avenue East at Leslie Street, about 14 km (20 to 30 minutes) from Union Station and about 27 km (25 to 40 minutes) from Toronto Pearson (YYZ). The outdoor gardens are free from dawn to dusk. TorontoBlackLimousine.com drives you there one way or with an hourly chauffeur (3-hour minimum). Book your garden car.
Edwards Gardens and the Toronto Botanical Garden by chauffeur
Edwards Gardens in Toronto and the Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) sit together at the corner of Leslie Street and Lawrence Avenue East in North York. The TBG runs the themed gardens, the visitor centre, the library and the shop; Edwards Gardens, the larger city park around it, runs down into the Wilket Creek ravine. Admission to the outdoor gardens is free and they are open every day from dawn until dusk, according to the Toronto Botanical Garden. What is not free or easy is parking on a sunny spring weekend. A TorontoBlackLimousine.com chauffeur drops you at the entrance, waits nearby on an hourly chauffeur booking, and moves you on to lunch, a museum or your next meeting.
How far are Edwards Gardens from downtown Toronto and Pearson?
Typical planning figures; our reservation engine uses your exact address and time.
| From | Usual route | Distance | Typical drive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Station / Fairmont Royal York | Don Valley Parkway north | about 14 km | 20 to 30 min |
| Yorkville (The Hazelton area) | Mount Pleasant or Bayview, Lawrence | about 10 km | 18 to 28 min |
| North York Centre (Novotel Toronto North York area) | Sheppard, Leslie south | about 6 km | 12 to 20 min |
| Toronto Pearson (YYZ), Terminal 1 or 3 | Highway 401 east, Leslie Street south | about 27 km | 25 to 40 min |
| Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ) | Gardiner, Don Valley Parkway | about 16 km | 25 to 35 min |
| Yorkdale Shopping Centre | Highway 401 east, Leslie south | about 10 km | 15 to 25 min |
| Aga Khan Museum (Wynford Drive) | Leslie, Eglinton, Wynford | about 3 km | 5 to 10 min |
The Don Valley Parkway is quick outside rush hour and slow at it; the chauffeur switches to Bayview Avenue when the DVP backs up.
Which way does the chauffeur approach the garden?
The garden's own directions start from the top of the city: take Highway 401 to the Leslie Street exit and drive south to the lights at Lawrence Avenue. From there you can turn right and take the first or second driveway on the left into Edwards Gardens, or go straight through the lights and turn right into the large parking area around the TBG (torontobotanicalgarden.ca). That 401 approach is the one we use from Pearson, from Yorkdale and from the airport hotels. From downtown, the Don Valley Parkway north to the Lawrence or Leslie area is usually fastest; when the DVP is closed for weekend maintenance or a charity event, the chauffeur uses Bayview Avenue instead. We check Ontario 511 and the City of Toronto road notices before every dispatch.
Drop-off and pickup at Leslie and Lawrence
The TBG says its entrance is on the southwest side of the Leslie and Lawrence intersection, and there is a paid parking lot next to the gardens, with ten accessible spaces near the front entrance of the building. A private car does not need the lot: the chauffeur sets you down at the main entrance to the TBG building or at one of the Edwards Gardens driveways off Lawrence, depending on where you want to start, and then waits in a legal spot close by. If you walk down through the ravine and come out further south, message the chauffeur and the car meets you at the nearest street access instead of making you climb back up. We agree the pickup point at booking and confirm it by text on the day, because path closures can change which exits make sense.
How long should you allow for the gardens?
The TBG's themed gardens can be seen properly in about an hour. Add the walk through Edwards Gardens and down into the Wilket Creek ravine and you are at two or three hours, more if you stop at the Dandelion Cafe or the Garden Shop. Photographers chasing the light at both ends of the day often ask for a longer booking. For a garden visit from downtown, the 3-hour hourly minimum covers a relaxed walk plus both drives; a garden morning followed by the Aga Khan Museum or lunch in Yorkville is closer to five hours. Visitor centre and shop hours are posted on the TBG's site and change for holidays, so we do not print them; the outdoor gardens, the TBG says, are open from dawn to dusk.
When is the best time to visit Edwards Gardens?
Every season looks different. Spring brings the early bulbs and flowering trees and the busiest weekends; summer is the height of the perennial borders and the annual displays; autumn brings the ravine colour; winter is quiet, with the structure of the knot garden and the trees on show. The Dandelion Cafe, the TBG says, closes from December through March. At the time of writing (late September 2026), the garden's site notes that some trails are closed due to storm damage and that parts of the Edwards Gardens and Wilket Creek paths have closures for construction, so check its site before planning a long ravine walk. Weekday mornings are the calmest time to be dropped at the door.
What is there to see at the Toronto Botanical Garden?
The TBG describes a series of themed gardens rather than one big lawn. The Arrival Courtyard was designed by the Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf with Toronto landscape architect Martin Wade; the Beryl Ivey Knot Garden is best seen from the top of the Spiral Mound; a demonstration courtyard serves as an outdoor classroom; and new annual plants are shown in carpet beds through the season. For the garden's 70th anniversary, a Reflections installation of etched, reclaimed windows is placed around the grounds. Volunteer guides lead tours that can be booked through the garden, and the Weston Family Library sits inside the visitor centre. Edwards Gardens adds bridges, lawns and the creek valley.
Hourly itinerary: the garden, the Aga Khan Museum and Evergreen Brick Works
A gentle north-to-south day, with km and time between stops:
- 09:30 pickup at a downtown or Yorkville hotel, north on the DVP to Leslie and Lawrence: about 14 km, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Two hours in the TBG and Edwards Gardens, ending with coffee.
- Garden to the Aga Khan Museum on Wynford Drive: about 3 km, 5 to 10 minutes; see the museum's site for exhibitions.
- Museum to Evergreen Brick Works in the Don Valley for lunch and a walk: about 9 km, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Brick Works back to the hotel: about 6 km, 15 to 20 minutes.
That is around six hours with about 32 km driven, and no lots to pay for at any of the three stops.
A medical appointment, then a garden break
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is about 3 km from the garden, 7 to 10 minutes by car (Sunnybrook), and many of our medical clients like a quiet half hour among the flowers before or after an appointment. On an hourly booking the chauffeur waits during the appointment, helps with coats and bags, and drives to the garden only if the patient feels up to it. Our medical appointments page explains how we handle waiting, mobility aids and changes of plan, and the university and hospital campuses page covers the hospital drop-off routines across the city. Family members flying in to help can be collected from Pearson on the same account.
From Pearson and the airport hotels
From Toronto Pearson the garden is about 27 km east along Highway 401, 25 to 40 minutes outside the evening peak. The chauffeur meets you curbside at the pre-arranged pickup area on the arrivals level that Pearson describes (torontopearson.com), after tracking your flight; an inside meet-and-greet is an optional add-on at booking. Luggage stays in the trunk if you want to stop at the garden before checking in. Visitors staying at the Pearson airport hotels for a conference often use a free afternoon this way: a three- or four-hour hourly booking covers the drive both ways and a long walk.
From downtown, Yorkville and North York hotels
Guests near Union Station or the Fairmont Royal York are about 14 km away; from The Hazelton and the other Yorkville hotels it is about 10 km. Our Yorkville hotels and Midtown and Yonge-Eglinton hotels pages describe the pickups closest to the garden. North York is closer still: the Novotel Toronto North York, which advertises direct subway access in North York Centre (Novotel), is about 6 km away, and our North York and Vaughan hotels page covers the rest of the area. The chauffeur waits at the hotel's front drive, and the North York page explains local routes.
Wedding photos, garden events and anniversaries
The TBG rents its spaces for events in a garden setting, and the grounds are a favourite backdrop in summer and autumn. Couples marrying elsewhere in the city often stop at a garden for portraits between the ceremony and the reception; check the TBG's rules for photography and bookings before you plan it. A wedding limo or a first-class sedan can be kept for the whole afternoon, with the photo stop built into the timeline. For quieter occasions, a garden walk followed by dinner makes a good anniversary or proposal plan, and the chauffeur can carry the flowers and the ring discreetly.
Garden festivals and the city's open-door weekends
The TBG publishes a busy calendar of workshops, exhibitions and seasonal festivals on its events page; this autumn's listings include a ravine festival and an outdoor art exhibition and sale. Event days bring more visitors and fill the lot early, so they are good days to be dropped off. If you are in town for Toronto's architecture open-house weekend, our Doors Open Toronto page shows how an hourly car strings together buildings across midtown and North York, with the garden as a natural lunch stop. Dates move every year; check the garden's and the city's official listings and give us the times.
Accessibility at the garden and in the car
The TBG lists accessible washrooms off the lobby, an elevator between floors, complimentary admission for a support person at its programs, and three wheelchairs that can be borrowed during a visit if reserved in advance by calling the welcome desk. Accessible parking spaces are near the front entrance. Some ravine paths in Edwards Gardens are sloped, so plan the route with mobility in mind. In the car, the chauffeur folds and stows a wheelchair or walker for any passenger who can transfer to a seat. We have a wheelchair-accessible vehicle for anyone who must stay seated in a wheelchair or scooter, available when booked in advance.
Bus, subway or a private car?
The garden is reachable by transit. The TBG's directions, updated in March 2026, suggest Line 5 Eglinton to Laird Station and the 51 Leslie bus north, or Line 1 to Lawrence Station and the 162 Lawrence-Donway bus east, both stopping at Leslie and Lawrence (TTC). That works well for a solo visitor with time to spare. A private car makes more sense for older visitors, small children, a group, a tight schedule, or a day that continues to the museum or a restaurant. The comparison is in our guide to hourly versus point-to-point bookings.
Which car for a garden visit?
One or two visitors are comfortable in a business sedan, and a first-class sedan suits an anniversary or a visiting parent. A family with a stroller and a picnic is better in an SUV, with six seats and real cargo space. Garden clubs and tour groups of up to twelve travel together in the Sprinter luxury van. Wedding parties often pair a stretch limousine for the couple, arranged through vetted partner operators in the LimousineWorldwide.Directory network, with a Sprinter for the guests.
What a chauffeured garden trip includes
The fare is set before you book and does not change on the day: chauffeur, vehicle, fuel, highway tolls if the 407 ETR is used, airport fees on Pearson pickups, and gratuity, with HST shown on its own line. The hourly minimum is three hours for sedans, SUVs, vans and Sprinters, then 30-minute steps. The fare reflects the vehicle class, the distance and time, additional stops, waiting past the included allowance and the date. We do not list prices on this site; enter the trip at /book/ and the reservation engine shows the exact fixed fare at once.
How to book your garden chauffeur
- Open the reservation engine at /book/ or tap Book now.
- Choose hourly for a visit with waiting, or point to point for a drop.
- Enter 777 Lawrence Avenue East as the destination, add later stops in the notes, and choose the vehicle and any child seats.
- Confirm the booking; the chauffeur's name and car details reach you ahead of the pickup, and cancelling more than 72 hours ahead costs nothing.
If the garden is one day of a longer Toronto stay, the travel desk can add flights and hotels through BookingWorldwide.net to the same plan.
