Our first time in Canada was to visit it’s most popular city – the amazing Toronto! This city is so vibrant, there is so much to see. We likened it slightly to New York, as it had a few similarities but Toronto, in our opinion, was a lot calmer and cleaner. We stayed for 4 days, in downtown Toronto. Our hotel was called the Chelsea Hotel. It was a perfect location and gorgeous inside. It even had a spa which we took advantage of a few times after long days of sightseeing. You can get the train from the airport to downtown Toronto, then it’s a short taxi away. We visited in winter, February so it was super cold!
But we loved it. Here’s our TOP 5 things to do in Toronto!
- NIAGARA FALLS – The falls are about 1hr 20min away from Toronto city, but it’s so worth taking a day trip out to see them! We didn’t hire a car, but it didn’t matter as there was so many round trip tours that left all over the city. We got on a bus from Dundas Square. The tour we did was an all day tour – including a few stops along the way. The falls are incredible to see, bigger and more impressive in real life than they look on pictures! There is also an observation tower you can ride up and get 360 views of the falls. Would definitely recommend!
2. CN TOWER – The CN Tower is the highest building in Toronto, it looks so impressive day or night (pictured bottom right). We treated ourselves to dinner at the 360 revolving restaurant up there, (table views pictured bottom left!) It was definitely the nicest dining experience we’ve ever had. Obviously you don’t have to have dinner to ride up the tower, they have an observation deck where you can take in the views. We stayed for a few hours around sunset, so we could see the city day & night. And because it revolved, we literally got to see everything. It was so weird when you went to the bathroom, it’d be in a completely different place than when you first went!
3. RIPLEYS AQUARIUM – This is located just at the side of the CN Tower, so you could tie in a visit to both when you are there. Not that we’ve been to many aquariums, but I reckon this one is the best we’ll ever see. We spent a few hours looking round, there was so much to see in here, including a massive shark tank that we walked under. Pretty cool! Costs $33pp for entry.
4. NATHAN PHILLIPS SQUARE – This is where you’ll find the most popular ice rink with the big TORONTO sign in the background (pictured top left). It’s amazing day and night here – at night the letters are all lit up. So obviously when we went it was winter so the ice rink was there, and you could sit and take in the views with a hot chocolate. I’d imagine in summer it’s full of people with colder drinks sunbathing with the views of the city. So at any time of year, worth visiting.
5. DUNDAS SQUARE – Dundas Square is in downtown Toronto, and here you’ll find shops, bars, restaurants and street performers! There’s a lot going on down here, day and night. Here is also where we picked up our Niagara Tour and also the hop on hop off bus. So this is the place to come for tickets and tours. Our favorite sports bar is also here – Jack Astors. They also do amazing brownies in here! This is a good place to come to on day 1, to get your barings of the city and figure out where you want to go and plan your day.
So that’s our recommendations, we feel like we just scratched the surface with Toronto because we were only there a few days – we hope to visit for longer next time! Thanks for reading, and like always let us know if you have any questions, we’d be happy to help. Till next time!
Mike & Laura
Mike & Laura 