short break in Toronto?

[Ifonlyiweretaller]

We've got a week off in early October and cant decide where to go. We had originally planned Northern Irish coastline, but are worried the weather could be awful. We did Wales at a similar last year and despite the beautiful coastline, the weather was pretty grim.
So having spent a couple of days in Toronto as part of a road trip a few years ago, we are considering a 5 - 7 day break based there. Amyone any thoughts on whether this is a good place to be based and what we should do to make the most of it?

I love Toronto. Its one of our short break faves. The shopping is amazing. Loads to see : CN tower, Casa Loma, Ferry over to the islands, ball game at the skydome, day trip to the vineyards or Niagara.
We usually try and stay somewhere near the Eton centre. The Metropolitan Hotel is very good.

Thanks fro those tips @cjpark.I'll look into that hotel. Do you think we would need to hire a car or is there enough to do going on day trips?

I’d do 7 rather than 5 days just to figure in the jet lag if you can. I used to live in Toronto decades ago and have been back numerous times since. Baseball season finishes at the end of September unfortunately - I’m not sure that there will be other events at the Rogers Centre (the sky dome) in October but you can check. There are also fewer ferries out to the islands outside of the summer so look up the schedule in advance. It gets quite chilly on the ferry in October so wear something warm! The view back over the harbour and Toronto skyline is great though!

What you will have in October though is the wonderful autumn colours as the leaves turn. Try and get out of the city - maybe hire a car for 2 days and go spend a night in Haliburton (it’s about a 2 hour drive from memory). Toronto on the Lake would also be a pretty day trip through the countryside. As for Niagara itself, you can get there by train or bus. If you’ve been already, I’d be tempted to skip it but depends on how much you liked the town on your previous trip!

If it was me I’d stay in one of the more attractive suburbs rather than downtown which can be a less characterful. Cabbagetown has lots of attractive Victorian buildings & very good transport links on the metro back downtown. I’m sure you’d find a good number of places on AirBnB.

West Queen Street West is in an interesting, quirky & arty area to eat and shop.

PS - though baseball season will be over, (ice) hockey season will have started so another alternative! Think the Toronto team are the Maples but you’d have to check that (my memory is getting increasingly goldfish!)