A week in Toronto

[BestIsWest]

DH is keen for us to spend a week in Toronto as part of next year’s holiday because he a)wants to go to Niagara Falls and b) wants to go to a Bluejays game.
I’m happy to do these things but don’t really like big cities though I can bear a museum or two.

What else can we do that will get us out of the city? Or that doesn’t involve shopping.

Definitely steam whistle brewery tour, it was my favourite thing in Canada. CN tower was good too. I loved Niagara falls, but it was winter so very quiet.

I spent a week in Toronto two years ago exploring by myself during the day while my husband was at a conference. I had lots of help from Mumsnet with ideas of things to do. Some of my highlights were -

Royal Ontario Museum- there was a great exhibition on at the time.

Cycle tour - this was a great way to see the city.

Distillery district - lovely independent shops and coffee shops (try Arvo)

Blue Jays game - we definitely benefitted from watching a couple of games on TV beforehand and looking up the rules.

Trip to Niagara - I used Niagara Day Tours. They use minibuses so can get closer to the falls - apparently large coaches have to park further out at the coach park so a longer walk to the falls. It also stopped at vineyards for tasting and Niagara on the lake - beautiful.

Walk down Queens Street with brunch at Lady Marmalade - amazing Eggs Benedict but often a queue especially at weekends.

Walk through Cabbagetown

St Lawrence Market- have a peameal bacon bun /poutine

Loose Moose bar (near blue jays stadium) great food.

Steam Whistle Brewery tour - think you might need to book in advance- was very good.

Aquarium - really impressive

Walk along the boardwalk/beaches

Go underground and explore the PATH system. Huge underground system that is beneath the centre of Toronto. Lots of shops and restaurants down there.

Loved my time there. We are going back for a few days at the start of our holiday next year and I’m looking forward to taking the rest of the family to some of these places.

Just revisiting this thread as we’ve finally got around to booking a week in June. Thanks everyone for the tips.

And counting down. Have got tickets for a Bluejays game - we saw a minor league game in Vancouver and loved it.

We loved the water park and fort York. Also did Cn tower, blue jays stadium, and the usual stuff.

We split our stay between Toronto, Algonquin (in a cabin with canoe) & had two nights at Niagara on the lake (in a fab B&B). There also some Amish communities in that area.

We went to a Bluejays game and the atmosphere was great. Enjoy!

Thought I would update now we’ve returned home.

Niagara Falls was amazing! The place was tacky as hell but the falls themselves were worth seeing. We did the boat ride and got soaked but it was terrific fun.

We also did Niagara on the Lake which was pretty but as DS said, a bit like a Stephen King film set and we did a vineyard which was fun.

We did the Aquarium, Steam Whistle Brewery, CN Tower, Hockey Hall of fame, St Lawrence Market (had the peameal bacon roll), Museum. The PATH was great for getting around.

DS liked Kensington Market, the rest of us were not so keen. There was probably too much shopping for my liking (everyone else loves to shop) so I spent some time drinking coffee and waiting for them).

We were there for the Raptors Parade (crazy) and our hotel overlooked Nathan Philips Square so we had a bird’s eye view of it and even saw Justin Trudeau.

Didn’t manage to get to the Islands or Casa Loma unfortunately.

Best of all was the Blue Jays game - we absolutely adored it even if they lost and we’re all die-hard fans now.

Thanks to everyone for the recommendations. We combined it with a week in the Canadian Rockies which was amazing.

We did a night in the Marriott Hotel overlooking the falls. Waking up to that view is pretty special.