Toronto City & Niagara

Our primary reason for visiting Toronto 🦕 was to see Niagara Falls, which takes about 2h30mins train ride from Toronto Union Station. At first glance, Toronto City doesn’t seem to have much to offer to city dwellers like us. Obviously, we were wrong, there are gems to be found in Toronto City.

Before we begin, the weather forecast showed that our 3 days in Toronto City and Niagara were expected to be rainy. Indeed, we had our umbrellas out most of the time, and favoured indoor sites more than outdoor ones.

We tried to visit attractions in our short 3 days there, and there are 3 highlights for our time in Toronto City. These 3 highlights are also kid and elderly friendly places to visit.

Toronto is the first city we visited in Canada during our vacation. Check out our Canada trip overview.

#1 Day Trip to Niagara Falls 🌈🌈🌈

This scenic attraction can be visited from either the USA or Canadian side. We concluded that it is better to visit Niagara Falls from the Canadian side. Since both sides are linked by Rainbow Bridge, it is not too difficult if you want to cross borders to check out the opposite side if you have time.

To get to Niagara Falls from Toronto, we bought a weekend 1-day GO+WEGO combo ticket. This combo ticket includes the return train ride and unlimited WEGO bus rides serving Niagara Falls attractions. Once we arrived at Niagara Train station, seasoned WEGO guides ushered everyone up on WEGO buses (Green line) and onward to Table Top Rock Centre (where we had lunch). We could feel everyone’s excitement as we got closer to Niagara Falls. There was a slight drizzle that bothered no one, cos everyone knew we were gonna get wet anyway at the Falls 🤣. Do remember to bring along foldable umbrella!

It felt foolish to buy a ticket for a cruise to get drenched, especially when there is a better and cheaper way to get even closer to Niagara Falls and get drenched even more - Journey Behind the Falls. This experience is as close as you can get to Niagara Horseshoe Falls. You will feel the power of Niagara Falls from the observation deck and hear the water roaring through the tunnel. The yellow raincovers that came with the ticket will not protect us from the waterfall’s massive splashes. It is actually fun to experience the Falls this way.

We took our time admiring Niagara Falls, strolling along the river to see the Bridal Veil and American Falls, waving at the tourists on the cruises (red cruises are from Canada and blue cruises are from USA), and cheer-on people zipping on the Zipline to the Falls.

We let our curiosity lead the way, and wandered into the Secret Garden and Hershey's Chocolate World. Hershey’s milkshake is soooooo rich, creamy and sweet, quite overwhelming for our taste buds, but shiok(?) still. We also bought a lot of chocolate back for family and friends.

We noted every place we visited on google maps and included short reviews/notes that you may find useful too. Check them out on our Toronto & Niagara (Google) Map.

Outlet Collection at Niagara

Rain was forecasted for the whole day, and we decided to do some shopping at Outlet Collection. It was a short bus ride (Bus 12) from Niagara Bus Terminal to Niagara College, and 10mins walk to the Outlet Collection from there. The bus fare is not included in WEGO ticket, you can buy the ticket at the bus station, remember to get an extra ticket for the way back, else you can also buy the bus ticket online. It takes 5 minutes to activate an online ticket, and at the time of fare inspection you must be connected to the internet.

We only spent a couple of hours there, as we planned to shop at another outlet mall at our last leg - Vancouver. Reminder: Add tax (13%) to the prices you see on the tags.

Being at this place got us curious about Canadian Retail Brands. Here are some you may have heard before:

1. Lululemon (has a shop at Outlet Collection)

2. Herschel Supply Co

3. La Senza

4. The Ordinary

5. Aldo

#2 Royal Ontario Museum 🌈🌈🌈

By our 2nd full day in Toronto 🦕, we conquered jetlag fully, and we can now explore Canada with clear eyes and heads.

Our first stop WOW-ed us. The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) had so much to offer, we could easily spend the whole day there. The best part about ROM had to be the natural history exhibits. If you only have time to do 1 thing in Toronto City, this is a MUST visit.

The natural history exhibit was so informative and interactive. They showcase many actual fossils, some are almost complete. It was amazing to see life-sized dinosaur fossils (Age of Dinosaurs exhibit), and marvel at how life branched out from LUCA, Last Universal Common Ancestor (Dawn of Life exhibit). It is mind-blowing how all living things started from this single-cell organism 🤯 

Don’t miss these exhibits when you are visiting ROM too:

1. Earth’s Treasure - See the “Million-dollar” 99.999% Gold Coin

2. Gallery of Birds - So many birds!

3. Samuel European Galleries

4. And Many Many More!

#3 PATH

This is technically not an attraction. But the PATH walkway was invaluable to us when it was raining everyday. On our first day walking to Union Station to catch the train to Niagara Falls, we saw many signs with “PATH”, and didn’t think much about it. But as we wandered in Toronto, “PATH” showed up everywhere, our curiosity took over and we finally Googled.

We can explore Toronto Downtown using the underground! No rain can stop us now! How sweet is that? 😁

We referred to the PATH map for suggestions on where to go. We walked to CN Tower, Rogers Stadium, Toronto Sign, Old City Hall, Hockey Hall of Fame, Saks Fifth Avenue, CF Toronto Eaton Centre (where we shopped and had lunch), and the Waterfront.

Getting Around Toronto City

You can pretty much find public transport directions using Google Maps. The information on TTC website is pretty useful too. TTC uses the Presto Card (like EZlink in Singapore). We didn’t buy the rechargeable Presto Card, and bought the PRESTO (pay-as-you-go) tickets instead as the savings aren’t significant. When you pay your fare using a PRESTO card or PRESTO Ticket, you get a 2-hour transfer that allows you to enter and exit the TTC as much as you’d like within a two hour period. Visit the TTC website for more fare options.

💡Tip: Buy extra PRESTO tickets at the station, it is good to carry an extra ticket for bus rides because operators on buses/streetcars only accept exact cash fare, and do not sell/issue tickets.

We read that TTC is expected to roll out use of contactless credit cards across public transport in Summer 2023. This should make it easier for tourists to travel on public transports. Let us know here if this is already implemented.

Hope you like this post, please consider subscribing or sharing this post with a friend. There are more notes about the places we visited on our Toronto & Niagara (Google) Map.

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