Toronto: Canada's bustling metropolis

As I covered in my last post, I was to visit Toronto in the days following that post. Well I have been and returned and had an amazing experience in Toronto with a short excursion to Niagara Falls to round off the trip in a spectacular fashion. 

As I did with Montreal, I’ll provide a short overview of the city for those unaware. 

Toronto is the largest and most populous city in Canada. Toronto is located in Southern Ontario just on the other side of Lake Ontario from New York State. The Greater Toronto Area is the most densely populated area in Canada containing various smaller cities and townships under the GTA banner, such as Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Brampton and Markham to name a few.

I initially planned on booking myself into a hotel in Toronto for my stay instead of an AirBnB as I had done with Montreal. However, hotels were ridiculously expensive, with some costing nearly £500 for three nights. So I returned to AirBnB and found a place in a nearby suburb called The Annex which was a short subway ride away from the city centre. Plus, I would have the whole apartment to myself as opposed to a room in someone’s house/apartment. 

The plan for the days I was there was as follows:

Arrival day: Arrive and explore nearby area to AirBnB plus watch the Leafs game in a sports bar with other Leafs fans. 

Day 2: Explore downtown Toronto and the underground tunnel/shopping walkways of PATH

Day 3: Go on a short trip to Niagara Falls, get the obligatory photos.

Day 4: Return to Ottawa. 

Arrival day worked out well, Toronto is around 4 and a half hours from Ottawa by train, which sailed by as I brought my Switch with me and playing Zelda made the time go by incredibly quickly. Upon my arrival in Toronto at Union Station I got the subway to my AirBnB and dropped off my stuff at the apartment. From there I went for a walk down to Koreatown to visit a restaurant a friend recommended to me called “Mama Chef”. After enjoying a great meal, I found a sports bar a short walk away from the restaurant just in time for the start of the Leafs game. Surrounded by other Leafs fans I was in my element rooting for my favourite team with likeminded fans, was overall a great evening. 

The next day was my day for exploring downtown Toronto and seeing the sights the city had to offer. One thing that took my interest was the underground city of Toronto called PATH. In PATH there are a multitude of shops, food courts and other necessities which link all of downtown Toronto and is accessible from many buildings and subway entrances. I booked onto a walking tour of PATH as I would have had no idea how to get around by myself. The tour was well worth it as we saw many of the above ground sights as well as learning our way round the tunnel system. 

After the tour, I thought it a good idea to go up the CN Tower, which is the tallest freestanding structure in North America, and see the surrounding area from this behemoth of a tower. It was a bit pricey at $38 entry to the viewing area but the view was exceptional and a must see if a touring Toronto. By this time it was nearing 5pm, so I spent the rest of the evening in an arcade/restaurant/cocktail bar called the Rec Room right at the foot of the CN Tower. However, I only earned enough tickets to win a USB light and some Maple Leafs stickers. Despite my gaming history, I’m not very good at arcade games. 

Day 3 and the final full day in Toronto was reserved for my day trip down to Niagara Falls. My initial plan was to take the GO commuter train from Toronto to Niagara as I had been told they run a service there for roughly $30, much cheaper than VIA Rail and quicker than a coach. However, spanners were thrown to my plan when I checked the services around a week before my trip and found they only run one service each day in each direction. So instead, to take the thought process out of the trip, I booked onto a mini bus tour to Niagara Falls which started in the City. The trip included transport down to Niagara Falls, lunch included as well as stops in Niagara-on-the-lake, the whirlpool and a wine tasting at Niagara College. 

First stop on the trip was the wine-tasting. I’m not a particular expert on wine but it was a neat addition to the trip and I was able to try the wines this region of Canada is famous for. Included their ice wine which is made with frozen grapes. The tasting took place at Niagara College which has a winery, a distillery, a brewery and a cidery. Where they teach aspiring drink makers on how to make wines, spirits, beers and ciders. 

The second stop was the whirlpool down the river from the falls themselves, a pretty neat stop on the way to the falls all in all.

Then the main attraction, we arrived in the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario across the river from the twinned city of Niagara Falls, New York. At Niagara Falls, there are three water falls in total. The American Falls and the Bridal Falls which both lie on the American side of the river and you can get a good view of from the Canadian side. The Horseshoe Falls, the falls most people imagine when they think of Niagara Falls, lies entirely on the Canadian side. I got many photos and was able to get incredibly close to the point of no return to take some amazing photos. I could have spent hours just watching the falls. The great weather that day made the experience that much better, creating a vivid rainbow right in the basin of the falls itself. 

Last item on the docket was our visit to Niagara-on-the-lake which is an incredibly picturesque town which harkens back to the beautiful old colonial architecture as well as having an impressive fort set up by the British forces to defend British Canadian territory from American invaders in the War of 1812. The town truly looks like a town stuck in time and was the perfect quiet end to a great day. 

The next day purely contained my trip back to Ottawa from Toronto. Not much to say there. 

Overall, Toronto was an amazing trip and I would love to return to Toronto to see the sights I didn’t have time to such as Casa Loma. The trip to Niagara Falls was amazing and, according to those in the know, I made the right decision to purely just see the falls at Niagara as the town itself isn’t too great and there’s nothing of note worth seeing there. Although, I would still return to the Falls again perhaps to take family or friends who have never seen them before. 

So that concludes my short trip to Toronto which was definitely worthwhile and a good final trip before my return home.

Thanks again for reading

Cheers

Taylor