Best route while in Canada?

[Toledo Mark]

I will be crossing into Canada east of Kingston Ontario.  Which is the best route to Sudbury taking into consideration hotels, motels, and gas station, AND Time and Traffic?

• Take the 401 west to Toronto then 400 through Barrie and north to Sudbury?

OR

• Into Ottawa and take 17 along the river, through North Bay into Sudbury?

Not knowing right now what time of day I may be traveling I may need to stop at a hotel/motel along either route and am looking for suggestion.

Gas stations are important also.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,  Mark

[bscrive]

You are best to do the first route, more hotels and gas, at least until Parry Sound.  The second route is a nicer ride but you are more limited with hotels.  Between Petawawa and North Bay there is not much in the way of civilization.  There are pockets where you can get gas and a motel but not much else.  That said, I would not go past Petawawa after 5pm.  The moose can be plentiful and are hard to see in the evenings.  
Even for the first route, I would not go past Parry Sound after 5pm.  After Parry Sound it is a pretty desolate piece of road and there is not much to see.  There are a few motels but not great ones, I would not bother stopping in between Parry Sound and Sudbury but make sure that you fill up in Parry Sound because they are in the process of building a new highway 69 and the gas stations seem to be closing up and getting ready to move to the new road.  We did the whole route last year and it was a fantastic ride (both parts that you mention).  I hope this helps.  Give me an email if you want any other specifics.

[Toledo Mark]

On this leg of my journey all I am concerned with are a place to sleep if needed and gas.  But if I hear you right it sounds like my first plan is best.

But how about traffic through Toronto?

[bscrive]

If you are hitting Toronto any time around rush hour, morning and night, it will be very slow pretty much a stop or crawl.  The 400 at night will be busy with people going home.  You will need lots of patients.  People in Toronto are pretty rude, they will cut you off or try to share a lane if you let them.  The best time to go through is 10am-2pm of after 7pm.  Lots of hotel and gas around Toronto.

[DarkMeister]

Dos Centavos:

- Stay out of Toronto area at any cost. I hate driving my truck there, let alone a bike.
- Slabbing is longer (miles-wise)
- Hwy 17 is extremely scenic. I've ridden it a number of times. Moocho gas and motels, just takes a bit of planning where to gas up.

Maybe we could connect when you get here and I can show you several options for getting to 17 without having to go to Ottawa.

[Quicksilver]

I agree, why go all the way to Toronto and through that traffic on the 401 when its only a 9 hour run to Sudbury along hwy 17 from Kingston. Lots of gas stations along the route. If you want to break the trip up , nice motel beside highway in Pembroke. From there it's 4 to 5 hours to Sudbury. My favorite route for scenery and minimal traffic.