Vacation In Toronto Area
Tired of traffic, smog, and crime? Then what are you waiting for? Pack your bags and get ready to explore the natural beauty of Ontario and the city of Toronto.
You want to go on vacation, but you’re from out of town. So what’s a tourist to do? Well, how about resorting to Toronto. It is a rather friendly place, with so much to see and do…and eat!
If you love nature and wildlife, Toronto is the place for you. From muskoxen in the tundra to polar bears in the far north, Canada is home to some of the world’s most colorful wildlife. Whether you’re a nature lover or interested in seeing one of the world’s best zoos, Toronto has many different vacation options available.
Planning a vacation to Toronto means you’ll have plenty of exciting things to do and see when you get there. There’s a long list of attractions for visitors, including museums and galleries, dining options that take in ethnic foods from every corner of the world, sports teams and open-air markets. Toronto’s vibrant downtown core is easy to navigate on foot, on bicycle or through public transit. If you prefer to drive, be sure to book your Toronto car rental in advance.
Toronto is one of North America’s most diverse cities. It is a gateway to the rest of the United States. As such, Toronto’s airport, also known as Pearson International Airport, is a major transit hub servicing the entire continent. It is located within 30 minutes of downtown by car, bus or train and offers non-stop services to almost 20 different cities across Canada and 76 U.S. destinations.
Vacation In Toronto Area
Lots of families from Ohio pack up and drive all the way to the beach, some 18 hours, once every summer. My family went to Gulf Shores Alabama as a kid and then when we got older started going to Myrtle Beach. While I was home from India this year, I told my parents we should try something different, a new idea for vacation within driving distance from Ohio – Canada! Toronto, in fact. It was only 6.5 hours from my house in Lexington, Ohio.
– A family vacation in Toronto –
I think the reasons mid-western families go south are that 1) it’s familiar 2) it’s hot 3) we miss the ocean. Plus, if you haven’t been to Chicago or NYC, you might think going to Montreal or Toronto sounds scary or like it’d get too confusing trying to get around. Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America, but honestly you can’t tell because it’s so spread out. In case you’re curious the top 3 in population are Mexico City, NYC, and LA.
We went for 3 days and 3 nights and had a blast. There is so much to do in the city and there’s even a beach for SUP and boating/fishing on Lake Ontario. That’s a good way to talk your dad into going!
Going to Toronto is great because it’s an international trip and you get to see lots of cultures all in one place. Stats say that 50% of people in Toronto are born outside Canada, with over 130 languages spoken in Toronto. There is a Little Italy, Little Portugal, China Town, Little India and more plus international markets and huge museums with artifacts from all over the world to explore.
Things to do on a family vacation in Toronto
(Prices on everything will be in Canadian dollars as the exchange rate is always changing.)
1. The ROM
The Royal Ontario Museum was a very cool place to stop by. We only stayed two hours because it was such a gorgeous sunny day to be outside. It’s open 10 am to 5:30 pm and later on weekends. Absolutely worth a visit with artifacts from all over the world. For the special exhibitions you do have to pay extra than the general admission ticket.
Price: Tickets for adults at $17 and $14 for children, although they have discounts on Fridays.
Getting there: 100 Queens Park. It’s on the intersection of Avenue and Bloor, easily walkable if you’re staying on that side, or you can take the metro to the museum stop.
2. CN Tower
The CN Tower is the 2nd tallest building in the world at 447 meters high and shows great views from the city. We went at night and it was pretty cool. You can eat up there but we just had a look and went back down.
Price: $35 for adults, $25 for children for general admission
Getting there: 301 Front St W. Most likely you can walk here from your hotel.
3. St. Lawrence Market
The St. Lawrence market was ranked by Nat Geo as the best in the world. I did expect it to be a bit bigger! It was really cool, easy to see it all, and partially indoors. The thing to try is the peameal sandwich which is a Canadian specialty (get the honey mustard on it). I’ll tell you which places we tried later in the article.
Price: free to enter
Getting there: 92-95 Front Street East. Take the metro to Union or King Station on the University line and you can walk from there.
4. Evergreen Brick Works
See where Toronto was built, literally. The bricks for most of the major buildings came from here. You can have lunch, rent a bike, take a hike and bring your dog along. It’s also called Don Valley Brick Works or Weston Quarry. A local told us this is her favorite place in the city.
Price: free to enter
Getting there: 550 Bayview Ave. Take the green metro line out to Broadview then walk to your left to a bus stop where a neon shuttle will pick you up for free and take you, every 30 minutes.
5. Eat International food
We tried all kinds of restaurants! You can get EVERY nationality of food here. I’ll share just some of the places we tried.
Chinese at Luckee Restaurant (328 Wellington St). This was our big dinner out as it’s a little bit pricey. There were 3 of us so we ate quite a lot! We tried their famous starters: chicken Cheung fun, steamed spinach, Chinese celery dumplings, and Taro & turnip cake. For mains we had the bakes soy cod with green beans, the very famous duck with Chinese pancakes, and the beef tenderloin. The beef was so tender and the duck was delicious. I know Ben was really bummed to miss this meal! We don’t usually eat “real” Chinese food so most of the dishes were totally new to us. We liked it all, although the textures took some getting used to. For dessert we tried the passionfruit & pineapple coconut pudding and rice donut. We loved the pudding. The chef here, Chef Lee, is a judge on chopped and very famous.
Italian at Pizzeria Libretto (221 Ossington Ave or other locations). The rice balls (arancini) were better than the pizza in my opinion, and they were delicious. The pizza was really good but I guess I don’t get what all the fuss is about with this famous place. It’s real Italian style, and tasty but nothing to go nuts over.