“TWENTY YEARS FROM NOW YOU WILL BE MORE DISAPPOINTED BY THE THINGS YOU DIDN’T DO THAN BY THE ONES YOU DID DO. SO THROW OFF THE BOWLINES! SAIL AWAY FROM SAFE HARBOR. CATCH THE TRADE WINDS IN YOUR SAILS. EXPLORE. DREAM. DISCOVER!”
– MARK TWAIN
Toronto, at the heart of Ontario, embodies a dynamic blend of authenticity and a touch of urban flair. The city boasts skyscrapers against Lake Ontario, creating a captivating environment with a bit of everything. What makes Toronto stand out? It’s the straightforward charm – easy navigation, surprisingly tidy streets, and a mix of people contributing to its welcoming atmosphere. No need for over-the-top descriptions; it’s a genuine city with an effortless style. While strolling through neighborhoods, you can see that diversity is an important part of Toronto’s daily life. Toronto’s food scene caters to all tastes, from local joints serving comfort food to upscale dining. In a nutshell, Toronto isn’t trying to be flashy – it’s a fun city, embracing its realness and offering an exciting adventure for those eager to explore its multifaceted charm.
Getting to Toronto
Via Rail is a network of trains that connect major cities together in Canada. We boarded Via Rail in Windsor, Ontario and took the train to Toronto, Ontario. They have a few options for travel comfort including Economy, Business and Sleeper cabins if you are riding overnight. Since it’s only a 4 hour ride, we enjoyed Business class as our family got four seats looking at each other with a table in between us. In business class they serve snacks, meals and beverages (including alcohol) – which are all included in the price of your ticket! Oh, and if you book your tickets on Tuesday you get a discount.
We did enjoy the train, as we didn’t have to worry about driving in Canada, and in some of their major cities, then finding parking and etc. The train ride itself was fun, our kids enjoyed watching the back country of Canada and some of the cities go by. They also enjoyed the many hours of listening to their favorite stories on Audible, and just relaxing, and getting served drinks, meals and snacks.
Getting Around Toronto
Toronto is incredibly easily accessible for how large of a city it is. It’s well developed with many options to get around. Here is a list of all their transportation options:
- Streetcars – these run throughout all the major roads and make many stops along the way. We rode this a few times and it worked well, and brought us where we needed to go easily.
- Subway Station – probably our favorite way of getting from point A to B. This is the fastest way to get to places that are farther apart, we found it less cramped than the streetcars, although both can be tight.
- Biking – Toronto has a great infrastructure for people who want to bike. But make sure you watch for them when crossing the street, because they go just as fast, if not faster than the cars.
- Walk – This city is super easily walkable, and amazingly clean for how large it is. When you walk around make sure to look up every once in a while, you can get great perspectives of the city in the sky scrapers reflections.
Places to Visit
Here are the places we visited, there are so many things in the city, it’s really incredible. If these places don’t sound like you, do some research and you will find something for you.
Curiosa Purveyors of Extraordinary Things – If you like Harry Potter, this store is for you, as it’s magical and full of fun things to buy.
Graffiti Alley – You can find this on Queen Street East. It’s exactly what it sounds like, an alley, rather a large alley full of Graffiti. If you are lucky you will even see an artist busy at work. This isn’t graffiti like on the side of the highway, this graffiti is art and some are quite touching and beautiful. Make sure to keep your eyes open for the Graffiti House, which is a multi story house in which the outside is all Graffiti.
LCBO – is their major liquor store. There are plenty around the city, but they have some new options, and for us we tried Ice Wine from here, which I know some love, but it was not for us, it resembles a very sweet mead.
Berczy Park – We walked past this park on our way to St. Lawrence Market. It’s a super cute city water fountain, but what makes it so amazing is that all its water spouts are coming out of all different breeds of dog’s mouths.
Distillery District – what’s so fun about this district is that it’s a pedestrian-only area, so no vehicles here, just pedestrians walking on the cobblestone. The history here is that at its peak it was the largest distillery area in the Britain Empire.
SOMA – who doesn’t like a chocolate shop? They have so many truffles to choose from, you will have a hard time deciding which ones you want to try.
Yonge-Dundas Square aka Toronto’s Time Square – the Eaton Center is close by, so you can do some major shopping before or after you visit.
Old City Hall – they let us tour the place after we went through security. But the architecture here is one of a kind and something you just need to marvel at.
Casa Loma – The one and only castle in North America, it is a little bit of a ways out, but taking the subway and then a short walk will bring you here and it is beautiful. If you have kids with you make sure they tell them where and if they can find a hidden “treasure” and they may get some treasure if they do find it.
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in St. George Campus – this is one of those hidden gems. It’s a really cool place to go to if you are into rare books, and rare old findings in which they have some on display you can see.
Longos – a great grocery store inside a mall that you have to take an escalator too. Our AirBNB was very close to this so we used this to buy some essentials for our stay.
Boardwalk – Sit and watch the boats go by, but also watch the airplanes come in and go. We sat here a while and enjoyed the sunshine and watching airplanes land remarkably close to the water.
Ripley’s Aquarium – We love aquariums, but this one was not for us. At the beginning we were almost ready to turn around and ask for a refund. It was 100% a hazard to be in this aquarium, as we walked further along the people thinned out, but we were shoulder to shoulder for a while unable to move unless it was with the crowd. Even getting to an emergency exit was impossible at times, it was not safe. The animals here though were amazing, they had so many sharks, sea turtles, small whales, and stingrays. They even have a sting ray touching area and the beloved Axolotl. But unfortunately it was not enjoyed in full due to the amount of people in the building. If you have any type of social anxiety or claustrophobia this would not be the place for you. The lines here are extremely long, and our thoughts are it is not worth the money.
Places to Eat/drink
Amsterdam BrewHouse – known for their multiple options in beer, but their food wasn’t too bad either. They are right on the waterfront of Lake Ontario and are a fun spot to break and enjoy some refreshments. Their portion sizes were very large, so sharing a meal could be an option for some.
St. Lawrence Market – this amazing place is housed in a 3 story building. It has all food vendors inside where you can buy your days or weeks groceries, or go to enjoy many of the tasty treats and food they have. Listed are a few of the classic must try food, I’m sure there are many more:
- Carousel Bakery – Pea meal bacon sandwich
- Future Bakery – Butter tarts
- St. Urbain Street Bagels – Montreal-style bagels
Balzac’s – coffee shops all over Toronto, try their Cafe Canadian with macadamia nut milk.
360 Restaurant – Maybe one of the most unique, fun, touching places we’ve ever eaten at. It sits at the top of the CN Tower, and you get to ride a very fast elevator to the top, if you get lucky you will be able to have a window seat. Tips for the restaurant is to get reservations for sunset – every time you circle around (the CN tower does slowly spin) you get a new look at the city below. The eating area spins, but where the bathrooms are they do not, so pay attention to the direction it spins so you don’t get lost in the restaurant (has happened). Another tip, if you go here to eat fully go here to enjoy it, it is not cheap so get that steak and the dessert, it will be worth it. If you go with others an idea we did was we all got different dishes and tried them all rather than us all getting the same thing – especially consider doing this for dessert. Also if you at all want to go to the observation deck on the CN tower, if you get reservations here it is included and you do NOT have to wait in the line that can be hours to get into – that alone is kinda worth it, because that line early in the morning to late at night is incredibly long.
Beavertails – trust me, for a snack it’s worth the wait in line.
Kelly’s Landing – We had a hard time with their cooking abilities of steak, but other than that it was a very enjoyable meal. The kids even got “kiddie appetizers” with their meal. And they have a beautiful wine wall as you walk in that I still can picture perfectly in my head.
Evviva – we went here for breakfast a few times, it was really well liked and not super busy. We enjoyed the fun atmosphere and would recommend anyone to go for breakfast.
Aria – we were lucky enough to have a date night, the kids got pizza with Opa and Oma, and we got some time alone here. They had fantastic food and appetizers, and had a fantastic wine/drink list. They had outside seating which on the day we went it was perfect.
Joe Bird – We did so much walking in Toronto, one day we just decided to relax in the afternoon. We found this place that had super friendly bartenders, and allowed our kids to sit at the bar on the not very busy time. Our kids thought they were way cool sitting there with their lemonades and crayons. It was a fun quirky place on the boardwalk we would visit again if we go here in the future.
El Catrin Destileria – Get ready for being visually overstimulated, it’s a beautiful restaurant with so much to look at. Their food was delicious, and make sure you get deep fried crickets, yes crickets, on the side with your guacamole. What a fun thing to try – and very weird! But this was a memorable place.
Final Thoughts
Toronto won our hearts, adding a nice change from our usual escapades to the National Parks. As a family that cherishes quieter settings, the energy of the city brings a refreshing change to our travel routine. Surprisingly, amidst its grandeur, Toronto wrapped us in a sense of safety and comfort that exceeded our expectations.
Navigating the expansive city became easy, with numerous transportation options. While the city leans towards the pricier side, it’s important to note that everything is in Canadian prices. Remember that $100 USD translates to $135.8 Canadian.
One aspect that truly stood out was the impeccable cleanliness of the city. Having traversed various major cities in the USA, Toronto’s beauty and tidiness set a new standard. In the grand scheme of our adventure, we dedicated a delightful four days to Toronto—a fantastic initiation, but in hindsight, we couldn’t help but feel that there was so much more left to uncover. Toronto left us yearning for an extended stay, a sentiment that speaks volumes about the city’s allure.
“WHEN YOU TRAVEL WITH CHILDREN YOU ARE GIVING SOMETHING THAT CAN NEVER BE TAKEN AWAY… EXPERIENCE, EXPOSURE AND A WAY OF LIFE.”
– PAMELA T. CHANDLER
