The 401 between Toronto and Windsor is a long drive. If you're passing through Chatham (exit 81) and need to actually stop, here's what's nearby.

Tim Hortons every twenty minutes is fine for a stretch and a pee. For everything else, this is what we tell guests calling the desk to ask whether it's worth pulling off.

The two ONroute plazas (and why we don't always recommend them)

ONroute Tilbury North and ONroute Tilbury South sit between exits 56 and 63, about twenty minutes west of Chatham. Both have Canadian Tire Gas+, Tim Hortons, Burger King, free Wi-Fi, washrooms, big lots. They're 24/7. They're also crowded most weekends, and the food is the food.

If you want a meal or a decent coffee, take exit 81 into Chatham proper.

Real food, five minutes off the 401

Exit 81 (Bloomfield Road / Kent Road 27), turn south toward Chatham. Within five minutes you can hit a Tim Hortons or Wendy's with table seating and a bathroom that isn't a queue, an A&W with cleaner everything than the ONroute, or in summer Big Chief Drive-In on Grand Avenue West — 1950s drive-in, sixteen-ounce burger, the chip-truck fries done the way they should be, six minutes from the off-ramp.

If you've got an hour, you're closer to a proper sit-down meal in Chatham than you'd think. See our restaurant guide for the spots we send guests to.

Gas and stretch

Petro-Canada and Esso both have stations within two minutes of the Bloomfield Road exit. Gas is usually a few cents cheaper here than at the ONroute plazas.

If you really don't want to exit

There's an unofficial rest area three kilometres west of the Chatham exit (westbound) and three kilometres east of the Tilbury exit (eastbound). Not service plazas, just pull-offs with picnic tables. Useful if you've been driving four hours and need ten minutes of grass under your feet.

Worth knowing: actually stay the night

If you're doing Toronto-to-Windsor or Toronto-to-Detroit, Chatham is the natural break point. Almost exactly halfway. Pulling off at midnight to push through is what people regret the next day. We've checked guests in at 11pm who said they almost kept driving and were glad they didn't.

We're at exit 81. Turn left, three minutes south, on the right.

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