I then visited a second time for another conference in 2024. Instead of booking direct flights and a hotel, I used that same amount of money (and actually, quite a bit less) to go on a little overland East Canada road trip. I travelled Halifax to Québec City to Montréal to Ottawa to Toronto to Halifax. I have one blog post for each location, plus one about the road trip experience itself.
12 Places to visit
1. Canada Sign
In 2019 I went to the bottom of the CN Tower to see the "Canada" sign. A cheesy classic. I went early in the morning so there was no-one around. That sign has now been replaced with a CN Tower which is still cool to visit but now instead this is a "Toronto" sign at Nathan Phillips Square a few blocks away (top tip, use the underground network The Path to avoid the cold or the hot and explore some of the shops dwelling beneath the city).
2. Toronto Island
While I did enjoy the views up CN Tower, especially at night time (or time it to see both the day and the night time), instead for the best views (as the CN Tower won't be in any of your photos) go to Toronto Island. The ferry over offers great views alone. Once there, there is a little theme park for kids, some food places, plenty of free water fountains and toilets and great views. Once you get off the ferry (with your back to the ferry), head left and you will reach an area with the views. In 2024 I tried a cruise of the harbour. While the cruise was informative and the views pretty good, they didn't compare to the Toronto Island visit I did in 2019.
3. Hockey Hall of Fame
Wow this was a hockey-lover's playground! While I'm not a fan myself, it was cool to wander around for a couple of hours. I also got the opportunity to hit a hockey puck with a stick for the first time in my life with an interactive display!
4. Nom Nom Poutine
Eat some Poutine, a classic Canadian food consisting of chips, gravy and cheese curds (they just taste like cheese) plus whatever other topic you fancy adding. Personally, I visited Nom Nom Poutine, cheap for a giant pile of comfort food, just what I needed after travelling on my first day.
5. Gushi
I would recommend visiting Market707, the same place as I chose the Poutine, as it has numerous food carts with well priced delicious food, although strange opening hours. On my second visit here, I opted for Japanese Street food at Gushi,
6. Graffiti Alley
I went on a Tour Guys free graffiti walking tour and found it quite interesting. It was a good way to spend an hour doing something different and I felt I learned more about the graffiti than if I would have gone alone. Just make sure you don't check out Graffiti Alley before going- it would be like reading the plot of a film before going to watch it at the cinema. You can get some great photos too. It's free but remember to tip!
7. Mother's Dumplings
I went to this amazing dumpling place, Mother's Dumplings. Quite cheap for easily the best food I had in Toronto. Just make sure to go off peak because by the time I was finished there were massive queues (no, not just because I'm a slow eater!).
8. Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
I wouldn't recommend going to Ripley's Aquarium of Canada if you're a tourist, however I would recommend going if you're doing the dive. I paid and booked well in advance so I could scuba dive in the shark tank. With your ticket, you are given access to the aquarium so I went inside first. After, we were given a behind the scenes tour by a really nice member of staff. Then we got changed in our own private changing room/shower/toilet/locker area- all equipment was provided, ready for the dive. It was two divers at a time, plus one shark handler and one tour guide. I had never been in an aquarium tank before but you don't actually dive. Instead, you are overweighted and sit on the bottom of the pool. We moved around three times to different positions. We got to marvel at the surrounding creatures, including sharks and turtles, waved at the lady taking photos of us and the guests who were watching us on the outside of the tank and looked for shark's teeth. After, we were each given a USB drive of photos, an actual shark tooth, a Ripley's bag and a mask strap. It was expensive but I'd paid way before my trip.
9. Lockhart
For the HP fans, be sure to visit Lockhart for some (non-official) Harry Potter fun, including some great cocktails and décor. Be sure to visit the toilets too to see some extra artwork. Just worth a quick stop if you're in the area or are really keen on HP.
10. A&C Games / Sonic Boom
If you're a gamer, I recommend a visit to A&C Games. Plus, it's just across the road from Mother's Dumplings. Also, Sonic Boom right next to Graffiti Alley is a great record shop if that's more your scene.
11. The Historic Distillery District
Normally I skip places like this. The Historic Distillery District is very touristy, with hipster joints and messages of love and peace everywhere, like it was purposely made just to be Instagrammable. But actually, I must admit that it was kind of cool.
12. Sugar Beach Park
If you've got some time to kill and the weather is good, I recommend going to Sugar Beach Park, a man-made beach with pink umbrellas. I brought a towel, an iced coffee and chilled with my book for a few hours. In 2024 I returned and instead went to Cherry Beach to watch the sun go down. If you're going to do this, being mosquito spray!
BONUS: Falls
Of course, if it is possible, you should visit Niagara Falls. I was lucky and went as part of a conference trip. So I had a coach ride there and it included a visit to a vineyard, Tawse Winery, to try ice wine, an incredibly sweet desert wine which is a classic touristy thing to try in Canada. It included a trip to a sewage treatment works too but I'm not sure you'd want me to go into detail about that!
At the falls, personally I would recommend going on the Hornblower Boat Tour (I got soaking wet and was so happy about it!) and walking right from one end of the falls to the other on the Canadian side. I was also surprised to find a roll your own maple taffy on ice (even in August!) within Fallsview Casino Resort. For just $3 in The Maple Syrup Store by White Meadows Farms. They also will photo or video you doing it! The Skylon Tower was OK with OK views but took a long time to get up and down because only one lift was in use so I would not recommend it if you had very limited time.
But I would not recommend the Journey Beneath The Falls. More about that later. I had wanted to do the zipwire but you need to book- it was fully sold out when I went.
6 Places to skip
1. Lindt Chocolate Shop
It used to be that the Lindt chocolate shops would give you free tasters but that's not the case anymore! It is now just a normal shop.
2. Royal Ontario Museum
Potentially a controversial one to add to this side of the list. I visited the Royal Ontario Museum because I had heard about a special bat cave exhibit and I was foolish enough to think it was actual bats (silly, I know). The exhibit was really just for children, a fake cave with bat sounds in. The museum was interesting and the staff were great. I spent a morning wandering around and I especially liked the Egyptian exhibit. But, I think it is a better visit if you live in the city and are not a tourist. It cost me $16.50 for a student ticket.
3. Old Spaghetti Factory
A friend of a friend recommended that I go to the Old Spaghetti Factory but it is definitely a family restaurant- an adult eating here alone was weird! There was certainly a massive quantity of food but the quality wasn't great. It was also kinda expensive- I would have preferred to have had the dumplings twice. It cost $25.
4. St. Lawrence Market
Getting a Peameal Bacon Sandwich at Carousal Bakery at St. Lawrence Market. I had read all about this special bacon sandwich. If you're British, it's likely you've been to a butter market (a large indoor market) and this is all that market is. And the bacon sandwich is just that, a normal bacon sandwich.
5. The Canadian Walk of Fame
I found the stars really spaced out and difficult to follow. Overall, underwhelming.
6. Journey Beneath the Falls
Journey Beneath The Falls cost almost the same as the boat trip but was rubbish. You enter a tunnel but don't get to see anything special. There are areas where people queue to take photos (which come out really bad) and that's it. I only had 2h30 at the Falls in 2019 and I wish I had spent that time elsewhere.
A helpful aside on logistics
Airport Travel
I recommend either getting the UP express train or the Bloor Go from Pearson Airport. The traffic in Toronto can be very bad so it can take double or triple the time taking some kind of taxi.
Accommodation
Both times I visited, my accommodation was in student halls, University of Toronto 45 Willcocks Residence, because my visit was during the uni holidays. Cheap but they had the benefits of having a kitchen like a hostel but with the private room of a hotel. They were very quiet during my stay, which was a bit of a shame because I was hoping to meet people. But there was a great breakfast served in a canteen, which included bacon and pancakes. If it says online that halls are unavailable, it might be worth sending them an email just to double check.
Next Time
Some things I would do next time I'm in the area:
- Take a turtle kayak tour leaving from Toronto to Tobermory (they have diving and snorkelling there too but that would be a couple of days trip travelling without a company because public transport appears challenging).
- Use "Parkbus" to see if there were any National Park hikes going on while in the area. They offer student discount, include travel to and from the selected park and include already a whole group to do the hike with. They often also include things like kayaking and swimming too. I had booked to go on a hike during my visit but it was unfortunately called off due to storms.
