The experience highlights Windsor's identity as one of Canada's most important international border communities.
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A new guided bus tour is inviting residents and visitors to discover Windsor’s history, landmarks and border-city identity from a different perspective.
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Encore Productions of Windsor is launching the Windsor City Bus Tour: Where Canada Begins, a two-hour sightseeing experience exploring the people, places and events that helped shape Canada’s southernmost city.
Co-owner of the company Glen Bacarro has launched the new tour as a way to illustrate the city’s rich history for residents and visitors.
“I was hearing how Canada stops at London, but I believe Windsor has a lot to offer, and we need to take pride in our community,” he said. “We want to give Windsorites something to be proud of.”
Tours will take passengers through key areas of Windsor, while highlighting the city’s early French settlement, historic Sandwich Town, connections to the Underground Railroad and its industrial history.
The city’s relationship with Detroit and the international border also feature prominently, with views of the Detroit skyline and stories about the Ambassador Bridge and recently opened Gordie Howe International Bridge.
“As a city, we’ve always been in Detroit’s shadow,” Bacarro said. “It’s time for us to step into the spotlight.”
The experience is narrated by an actor playing guide William Windsor aboard a coach bus and includes two stops where passengers can get off to take photographs. Most of the tour takes place aboard the bus, with little walking required.
The next tour is scheduled for Aug. 16 from 2 to 4 p.m., departing from the Windsor International Aquatic Centre at 401 Pitt Street West. Passengers are asked to arrive 15 minutes before departure.
Organizers describe the experience as an opportunity to introduce visitors to Windsor while also showing longtime residents parts of the city’s history they may not know.
The tour connects several chapters of Windsor’s history to its modern identity as one of Canada’s most important international border communities.
