the complete guide to a weekend in Toronto

In June 2023, two of my friends and I had tickets to see Ed Sheeran in Toronto. Since Toronto isn't exactly close to Quebec City, we decided to make a weekend out of it and visit Toronto. I hadn't been since my 5th grade school trip so I was excited to see the city again since I had almost no memory of it. We flew to Toronto on the Friday morning and had a flight back to Quebec on Sunday afternoon, so it was just a short trip and just enough time to see the main sights.

How to get there

Toronto has two airports: Pearson, the main international airport which is about an hour outside of the city, and Billy Bishop, which is right on the water, next to the city center. If you can land in Billy Bishop, you will be able to walk right out of the airport and into the city, otherwise you can take the train from Pearson airport to Union Station, downtown, which takes about an hour. You can also take the train or bus from any major Canadian or American city. 

Driving into Toronto is possible, but will be a hassle. The city is known for major traffic and there isn't a lot of parking available in the city center or close to major attractions. If you are planning on driving to Toronto, I would recommend finding accommodation that has free or cheap parking and to leave your car there.

how to get around

Since we flew to Toronto, we didn't have a car with us and it would have been complicated to rent one just to pay for parking everywhere we went, so we ended up walking almost everywhere. A lot of the main attractions are really close to each other, like the CN Tower, Rogers Center, Dundas Square and Toronto sign. The distillery district is about a 30 minute walk from the CN tower, so is the History Museum, and Casa Loma is an extra 20 minutes from the Museum. 

When we didn't feel like walking back, we just used Uber. With the three of us and the distances being so short, it ended up being really cheap, and probably cheaper than paying three bus tickets. We did look up the buses' schedules and itineraries, but found it wasn't worth it for the places we were going. The bus sometimes took longer than walking...

There is also a subway in Toronto, but just like the buses, we barely saved a minute taking it instead of walking, and would still end up having to walk an extra 15 minutes form the subway station to the attraction we were trying to get to. I would say the buses and subways are useful for people who have difficulty walking long distances or being on their feet for a long time and would benefit from sitting down for 10 minutes on the bus or subway, but otherwise, they're not exactly worth the 4$ ticket.

The one train that was worth it was the Pearson Express out of Union Station which was 12$ one-way, but saved us from an hour-long taxi fare.

where to stay

Hotels in Toronto are expensive, and I mean it in capital letters, I just don't like yelling. There was nothing under 400$ that was a walkable distance from the city center and we didn't feel like a hotel outside the city would be worth it as we would need to lose time and money on transportation everyday. We were also there on a busy weekend so I expect the prices were probably especially high.

We decided on renting a small room on Airbnb and we were a ten minute walk from the CN Tower without paying an arm and a leg for accommodation.

Where you decide to stay will ultimately be up to you, your budget, the reason for your trip and your comfort levels, but I found it worth it to be a walkable distance from the city center. Wether you decide on a hotel, airbnb, hostel or long term rental, you might have to look for a while before finding something in your price range and I would recommend not waiting to make your reservation.

what to do

Just like every major city, there is a lot to do in Toronto! We ended up purchasing a city pass which was really worth it as we went on 4 out of the 5 included activities and saved about 80$ per person. You can check out the pass here. You need to make a time reservation on the app for the CN Tower and cruises, but otherwise, you have 9 days to use your pass to enter each activity once, and you just need to scan it at the door. Easy-peasy!

The first activity we did was the Royal Ontario Museum, which is a lot like the Natural History Museum in New York City (the one where they filmed Night at the Museum). We spent over two hours looking at the dinosaur bones, gem stones and artefact collections from distant civilisations. It was so much fun! There were also free guided tours every hour that took you to the main attraction of every collection or explained in depth a specific collection. Honestly, we could have stayed there a full day as we didn't even have time to see half of it.

Casa Loma was one of my favorite attractions in Toronto. It is basically a castle on a hill with a nice view on the city, that was built in 1914 by Sir Henri Pellatt, a rich business man. You can walk along the beautiful grounds, through the majestic library and up the multiple staircases and passageways to the rooms equipped with the latest technology of the day. You can also walk along a tunnel to the stables where you can see the collection of antique cars and climb up the two towers for one of the best views on the city.

Everything was kept mostly as it was when it was built as the family lost their fortune a little while after construction ended. It became a hotel for a few years and then the City of Toronto took ownership until it was made into a museum in 2011.

The visit is really well organized and you can follow along the audio-guide that explains every room. There is also a movie that plays in the old pool about the history of Sir Henri Pellatt and the construction and downfall of Casa Loma, and an exhibit on the movies that were filmed there through the years.

The CN Tower is a classic and a must visit in Toronto. As the highest free-standing structure in North America (even higher than the World Trade Center) it offers an amazing view on the city and Toronto Harbour.

You do need to make a reservation for your time slot and there is still a line at the entrance to go through security and up the elevator, but even on a busy summer weekend, it wasn't a bad wait. It took us about 15 minutes from the time we arrived to the time the elevator doors opened for us on top of the tower.

You can also pay a little extra to walk outside on the roof of the tower, or to have a meal in the upstairs restaurant

The distillery district is an old industrial area of Toronto that was pronounced as a historic district to preserve the Victorian architecture and is now a creative neighborhood filled with eclectic art pieces, cool patio area where you can taste different cocktails and little one-of-a-kind shops and art galleries. It also hosts events like the annual Christmas market. We had a lot of fun walking around, checking out the boutiques and looking at the art. 

I have to say, I enjoyed Toronto a lot more than I thought I would. I'm not usually a big city kind of person and, although I do enjoy visiting cities, I usually prefer being in nature, but I found Toronto to be surprisingly approachable and didn't feel overwhelmed by decisions or by the amount of people. It was relatively easy to understand the layout of the city and to walk around which I enjoyed.

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