Gimli sits on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg, about an hour and ten minutes north of Winnipeg, and it's the heart of Manitoba's Icelandic community. Charter requests here cluster around summer: wedding parties moving guests between lakeside venues and Winnipeg hotels, youth and church groups heading for the beach, and shuttles for the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba (Íslendingadagurinn) on the August long weekend.
Most charter vehicles serving Gimli come from Winnipeg garages, so a pickup in Gimli includes about an hour of empty driving each way; the estimate accounts for it. On festival weekends, cottage traffic on Highway 9 and Highway 8 adds time, and parking near the harbour fills early, which is exactly why groups prefer a shuttle.
Gimli is also a popular stop on Interlake tours that combine the New Iceland Heritage Museum, the harbour and nearby beaches.
