Toronto is Canada’s largest city and has the third biggest skyline in North America. So, if you’re wondering what it’s actually like to visit Toronto, here’s the full experience – from downtown vibes to the food scene and getting around.
There are lots of things to do in Toronto and many great restaurants with lots of unique foods. I’ll talk about where to stay, things to do, what to eat and my experience in Toronto this past spring break. Usually, we like to go somewhere hot or more exotic but we have many great places to explore within Canada and decided to save some money and take a short (and inexpensive) flight to Toronto.
Downtown Toronto
When planning a vacation, finding a good location is one of the key components for a smooth, fun and relaxing vacation. So where better to stay than downtown Toronto. Union Station is a train/bus station that can take you pretty much anywhere in the city and further; it is located downtown. Toronto’s most known attraction, the CN Tower, is also downtown. Next to the CN Tower is the Rogers Centre where the Blue Jays play and right beside it is Roundhouse Park, a cool green space and historic train park right in the heart of downtown. Then 10 minutes in the other direction is the Scotiabank Arena, where the Raptors and Leafs play. With so many attractions within a 10 minute radius, that’s where everyone is going to be, so there are plenty of bars and restaurants to choose from. There is also the Harbourfront and the Hockey Hall of Fame.
We came across a steal of a deal and found high rise condos for rent with RivetStays right in the middle of all the action. We paid $200 a night and were located right in between Scotiabank Arena and the Rogers Centre. We barely had to leave downtown, but when we did transportation was easy enough.
Transportation
Union Station can take you anywhere in the city. And staying near it was clutch. From the airport we planned to take a train directly to the station, but because of maintenance there were no trains running so instead we took a bus directly to the station. From there, the rest of our trip involved a lot of walking around downtown, never walking more than 10 minutes.
When we wanted to explore outside of downtown, like the Distillery District, we took the Streetcar (which is like a tram). Uber was also quick and relatively cheap, and we took it several times to restaurants and once outside of the city to go to Legoland. But beware Toronto traffic is brutal, so if planning to go somewhere around rush hour, make sure you call the uber early or take a train instead. We arrived 20 minutes late for our dinner reservation one night… it didn’t help that the Blue Jays were playing during rush hour. We also rented a car for two days when we went to Niagara Falls. Getting there was easy enough, but coming back to Toronto during rush hour was brutal
Still, for such a large city with so many people, getting around is quite easy. There are plenty of modes of transportation and it is relatively cheap. So, skip renting a car unless you plan to leave the city.
Things to Do
Like I said there’s lots to do downtown. The CN Tower, Roundhouse Park, Ripley’s Aquarium the Hockey Hall of Fame, stroll along Harbourfront for a view of the city and grab a drink at a pub on the dock and of course in Toronto you have to see a sporting event. You can watch an MLS (soccer) game, CFL (Canadian football), The Maple Leafs (hockey), The Raptors (NBA) and of course Toronto’s most famous team the Toronto Blue Jays. Also downtown is Sankofa or Dundas Square, Toronto’s Times Square, where you can look at the massive billboards, watch street performers or visit the famous, and massive shopping mall, the Eaton’s Centre.
There are also plenty of other things to do outside of downtown. Such as exploring one of Toronto’s oldest neighborhoods, the Distillery District. In the Distillery District grab a coffee and pastry at the cool coffee shop Balzac’s, head to a pub or brewery or grab a bite to eat while enjoying the historic neighborhood. From there you can head to St. Lawrence Market.
If you’re travelling with kids and don’t mind going for a bit of a ride, you can head just outside of the city to Vaughn and go the Legoland Discovery Center or Canada’s Wonderland. Legoland was a lot of fun for our daughter. It had hands-on building activities, games, displays, play structures and a few rides. And if you want you can go to the outlet mall right beside it. Besides enjoying Legoland, Toronto is a lot of fun for families with kids, or also just young people going to enjoy the big city and all it has to offer.
Food and Restaurants
When a city is as large and has a population as high as Toronto, there will always be a variety of good restaurants; but with Toronto, being one of the most diverse cities in the world, there are a huge diversity of restaurants. Of course there are modern bistro style restaurants like Aloette, which has two locations; we had an excellent meal at Aloette Bay. Then you can have classic Canadian favorites like the Peameal Bacon Sandwich in the St. Lawrence Market.
Being so diverse there are many excellent restaurants serving cuisine from all different cultures. We ate at Pai Northern Thai Kitchen which is a colourful restaurant with a lively atmosphere, serving excellent Thai dishes. Chinatown isn’t very “grand” but it is large and there are plenty of restaurants. We ate at one of the best rated restaurants there, Cheng Du Street Food. The food was reasonably priced, the dishes were massive and the food was excellent. We also had some good ramen at a Japanese restaurant. And you can’t go to Toronto, with a huge Italian population, without having Italian cuisine. We went to Gusto 101 which is in an old and repurposed industrial garage. The atmosphere was lively, the service great, the décor cool and the food excellent.
So, there was lots to do in Toronto and lots to eat. That was one of our favorite things about our vacation, great food and cool restaurants. Next time we’d like to try Chotto Matte a Japanese-Peruvian restaurant.
Final Thoughts
I’ve never been big on travelling in my own country; I’ve always wanted to explore far and unique places, but we have some cool places to visit, and Toronto is one of them. For Canadians wanting to stay within Canada, avoid exchange rates and keep the flight cheap and simple, Toronto is an excellent option. Or anyone from abroad who wants to come to Canada all while exploring a global city, Toronto is an excellent option. There are tons of things to do, awesome food and it’s relatively affordable to travel to. And if you want to explore more you can head an hour and a half outside of the city and visit Niagara on the Lake and Niagara Falls. We don’t need to go back for a while now, but we’ll be back within 5-10 years, especially to check out a sporting event, like a Blue Jays game next time.
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