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Canadian travel assistance needed

CathQuillScrap

CathQuillScrap

All I need is Garfield and a good book
Joined
Sep 28, 2019
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Calling all Canadians in Toronto and surrounds....

We (myself, hubby and adult son) are traveling from South Africa to Toronto at the end of May for two weeks, mainly to see family but I would also like to see some of the country having never been. Unfortunately none of our family can put us up so I need a bit of assistance with trying to find somewhere to stay and advice on how to get around (we won't be hiring a car but rather use train/bus/etc). We also are on a tight budget mainly due to the exchange rate.

So far our sort-of plans are:
29 May - arrive late afternoon and stay in Toronto
First weekend in and around Toronto visiting the sites... what is to see and for not too much lolly (exchange rate is horrid). Does it make sense to stay in the city close to everything, or a but further out and commute?
We also need to be in the Cambridge area as Hubby's mother lives here which is why we are coming to Canada in the first place. What's to see and where to stay?
Another place we are going is Niagara on the Lake... we want to see the falls and family in the area but we need accommodation. Thinking of the Go train/bus package for this.
12 June fly home

I've looked at AirBnB for places to stay... just wondering if there are other options. Any help/advice gladly welcome.

Once we've been there will be lots of pages to scrap about our trip I am sure.... getting excited for this now... only a few months away. We've talked about doing this trip for years!
 
I'm not from the area, but I have visited Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. This was at least 15 years ago before Air BnBs were really a thing, so we stayed in a hotel right near the Falls and it was great. We walked to everything we wanted to do for the couple of days that we were there. I hope you get lots of great advice and enjoy your trip. It sounds super fun!
 
We just got back from that area two days ago! We stayed in the Fairfield Inn on the US side of the border mainly because it feels less touristy than the Canada side of the border. They also have a hot free breakfast each morning. We only spent the day in Toronto so I am of no help there. I hope your trip is wonderful!
 
GlazeFamily3 said:
We just got back from that area two days ago! We stayed in the Fairfield Inn on the US side of the border mainly because it feels less touristy than the Canada side of the border. They also have a hot free breakfast each morning. We only spent the day in Toronto so I am of no help there. I hope your trip is wonderful!
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Thanks... not venturing near the USA as that involves another visa application and stuff for me (hubby and son are Canadian but not me)... just tooooo much of a headache! Thanks for the advice though.
 
Karen said:
I'm not from the area, but I have visited Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. This was at least 15 years ago before Air BnBs were really a thing, so we stayed in a hotel right near the Falls and it was great. We walked to everything we wanted to do for the couple of days that we were there. I hope you get lots of great advice and enjoy your trip. It sounds super fun!
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Walking around is my plan too... hoping to find somewhere in town to stay that will allow us that option. The planning is a bit of a brain scratch at the moment.
 
I lived near Toronto for years and took many of our family to the various sites to see. Things you should definitely see/do, especially if you have the time:

Go up the CN Tower - the views of Toronto and the islands are amazing

Might be a bit out of the way, but a visit to the Ontario Science Centre is so fun - it is one of the first interactive science museums in the world.

When you go to Niagara Falls, take a ride on the Hornblower Niagara Cruise - the view of the falls from below and the thundering water is a real thrill (we did the Maid of the Mist but it is now only available from the US side of the falls)
 
HeatherB said:
I lived near Toronto for years and took many of our family to the various sites to see. Things you should definitely see/do, especially if you have the time:

Go up the CN Tower - the views of Toronto and the islands are amazing

Might be a bit out of the way, but a visit to the Ontario Science Centre is so fun - it is one of the first interactive science museums in the world.

When you go to Niagara Falls, take a ride on the Hornblower Niagara Cruise - the view of the falls from below and the thundering water is a real thrill (we did the Maid of the Mist but it is now only available from the US side of the falls)
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Thanks... I have the CN Tower on my list already... will check out the science museum.
Not sure about the boat though as I get seasick! Though it would really be a great way to see the falls.
 
When we went to Toronto in 2019 we did the CityPass. It included the zoo and the CN tower.
The Hockey Hall of Fame is really cool if you are a hockey fan, but also expensive.
You can use public transit around Toronto, and out to a bit of the surrounding neighborhoods. We stayed at a hotel in Brampton and it was a lot cheaper than staying in Toronto. It might be worth checking out public transit from the Cambridge area and see if it's worth the price of staying in Toronto, or just heading up early in the day to Toronto.

When we were in Niagara Falls, we stayed in an AirBnB. We took an Uber up to TableRock, then walked down the length of the Falls to the Whirlpool. We caught the Wego bus back up to where we could walk to the Airbnb. The bus runs up and down the road, and is really easy to hop on and off. The Canadian side is more touristy, especially since the American side is a State Park. Personally, I like the view from the Canadian side better, but I'm probably biased! You want to see the Falls at night as well as the day if you can. They light them up, and they are beautiful! You can also check the fireworks schedule and see if they happen during your visit. You can walk the whole thing for free. The boat ride is fun, there's also a walk behind the falls. You get down pretty close, they have to keep moving the paths because of erosion, but it's neat to see the falls from the side, instead of just looking down. Or looking up from the boat at them. Either one is neat if you want an alternate experience from just seeing the falls. But, you can totally see the falls for free, and walk down the path of the river to the whirlpool.
 
The city pass is great...we bought it ince when we had a stay cation.. its a great value. So much to see and do in Toronto. CN Tower is great..but $$$. Ontario Science centre is nice with kids but a bit dated I find. The royal Ontario museum is wonderful! The zoo is amazing...but I am biased as my husband works there. Lots of parks and conservation areas if you enjoy hiking and foresty-ness. The distillery district and evergreen brickworks are fun gems and don't cost much to visit. The downtown is great to walk around...like the financial district...see the buildings and union station is cool or even the university of Toronto campus.
Casa Loma is pretty neat but pricey. High Park is free and has a little zoo...or even Riverdale park.

Transit in the city is not always the best. May eat up time traveling. But then with traffic driving is not always awesome either...I'm not much help there.

Also some places have discounts on certain days or times. So always check that out. Can save a bit that way also.

I love Toronto! I hope you will too! Happy to answer any questions or get my husband to...I plan and he executes said plan...lol.

@bestcee thanks for tagging me. I missed this post!
 
Thanks @jagruti patel and @bestcee for your help and answers... I looked at the City Pass and thought that would most probably be the best way to get in to seeing some of the touristy things in Toronto.

We definitely don't want to drive while there so it's public transport or foot for where ever we go. Hoping to get a ticket that will cover any/all transport when we are there so we don't have to keep forking over $$$. If you know which one would work on that it would help. I looked at TTC, Go and Via but got a little confused.

Will relook at the accommodation vs transport cost to see if it might be cheaper to commute from Cambridge. Shall keep you all posted as I figure things out.
 
Oh! Try poutine. It's a very Canadian food, and worth the experience. French fries, gravy and cheese. Some places add extras like bacon, or Smoke's Poutinerie goes crazy with Mac and cheese and chicken and such. The price tends to reflect the place you get it. Costco and fry shops (if you can find them) are a couple bucks, where as fancy restaurants charge more.
 
Two cool things to do in Toronto….

https://fareharbor.com/embeds/book/...s&back=https://harbourtourstoronto.ca/&g4=yes

and…

https://city-sightseeing.com/en/13/...Ro_elSN49cFuPt4CH6zltZBrfs0-fkcRoCfhEQAvD_BwE

Maybe not the cheapest things in the world but it is a great way to see Toronto and learn its history.

I don’t know if this is still the case, but it used to be that staying in a hotel by the airport is cheaper and then you can take the UP express from Terminal One at the airport and go to Union Station, which is downtown…and really a must see…it is a beautiful building!

One of my fave places to eat when I lived there was the Old Spaghetti Factory…it is definitely a very cool restaurant!

I would also suggest a walk through China town. Lots of yummy food and the prices are amazing…

Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake are two very different places…the Falls are very touristy and I would suggest doing the go train from Toronto get there and definitely stay at a hotel by the falls. It might be a little more expensive but you won’t spend the money in transportation…

Niagara on the Lake is definitely more elegant and more expensive…lots of spas and hotels and wineries in Niagara on the Lake…don’t know about accommodations but it is beautiful!

I just moved from Toronto a year ago..and I love Niagara….if you have anymore questions let me know!

Sorry for the small novel!
 
Thanks @bigcitygirl and @jagruti patel for your assistance... will add them to my long wishlist.

And update as of this weekend... family have offered to put us up so two lots of accommodation now sorted! Yippee! I think I found us an airbnb in Toronto near the Junction station which will be great for getting around. Things are slowly coming together.

We've also juggled our itinerary and will now go to Niagara-on-the-lake for the first weekend (stay with hubby's brother) then about 5 days in Toronto before heading to Cambridge for two nights then on to his sister in Ayr.
 
Aye is a cute little village….a friend of mine from school owns the most amazing thrift shop there called Caught My Eye, and there is a good coffee shop there called Hitched Coffee. I am sure there are some cool places in Cambridge, but I haven’t been there in a while! Hope you have the best time ever!
 
That's so great that your family has offered you a place to stay for two of the portions of your trip! Yahoo!
 
We went to Toronto for a couple days last summer. The Distillery District was a fun little place to walk around. We got some coffee at Balzac's and appreciated some of the sculptures and street art in that area. Definitely reachable by public transit! There's a fun Toronto Sign in Nathan Phillips Square that is also photo-worthy! We went to a Toronto Blue Jays baseball game at the Rogers Centre and found it has a really unique view of the CN Tower - might be something to look into in case the tickets are cheap! With more time, I wanted to check out High Park, but we hit pretty nasty traffic so we had to take that one off our list.
 
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