Toronto travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in Toronto, planned over three days
Best time to visit Toronto
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best weather, patios open and festivals stacked. The lake is swimmable by late June.
September is the connoisseur's pick, except TIFF week when prices spike and tables vanish.
Hot and humid, festival maximal, hotel prices at their peak and everything open.
Cold and indoors by design: skating, the PATH, Winterlicious and the cheapest hotel rates in January and February.
Fickle spring, then cherry blossoms in High Park for about a week in late April to early May.
Fall colour peaks mid to late October, then grey, cold and pre holiday by November.
What's on
- Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) early September
World scale film festival centred on King Street West. Come for it or avoid its prices.
- Pride Toronto late June
One of the world's largest Pride celebrations, centred on Church-Wellesley Village. Book rooms early.
- Toronto Caribbean Carnival late July / early August
Caribbean food, fetes and the lakefront Grand Parade on the first August weekend.
- Canadian National Exhibition (The Ex) mid-August to Labour Day
The end of summer fair at Exhibition Place, with rides, fair food and concerts.
- Toronto Jazz Festival late June
Ten days of club gigs and free outdoor stages around Yorkville and Nathan Phillips Square.
- Beaches International Jazz Festival July
Free outdoor stages in the Beaches.
- Winterlicious late January / early February
City run prix fixe menus at 200 plus restaurants. Book popular rooms the day reservations open.
- Summerlicious July
The summer edition of the city run prix fixe programme.
- Distillery Winter Village mid-November to early January
The Distillery transformed with tree, stalls and lights. Go on a weekday evening to dodge December crowds.
- Nuit Blanche early October
Free all night contemporary art across downtown.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Toronto
Toronto Islands
A short ferry to car free islands with bike paths, beaches, lagoons and the best skyline view back to the city.
Royal Ontario Museum
Canada's largest museum, with dinosaurs, minerals, Egypt and First Nations galleries in a landmark Crystal building.
Art Gallery of Ontario
The calmer essential museum, strongest for Canadian and Indigenous art, in a Frank Gehry renovated building.
Kensington Market
Victorian houses turned vintage shops, bakeries, cheese shops and grocers, best grazed hungry with Chinatown next door.
St. Lawrence Market
A working food market since the early 1800s with about 120 vendors and the famous peameal bacon sandwich.
Distillery District
Pedestrian cobblestone lanes in a preserved Victorian industrial complex of galleries, cafes and theatre.
Queen Street West
Walk Graffiti Alley and indie shops to Trinity Bellwoods Park and the Ossington restaurants and bars.
Rogers Centre
A summer Blue Jays game under an open roof with the CN Tower overhead is the best value big night in summer.
Where to stay in Toronto
Queen West / King West edge
first trip, all-round base
Walk to the AGO, Kensington, Queen West dining, theatres and Rogers Centre, with streetcars on Queen, King and Spadina.
Downtown core / Financial District + Harbourfront
convenience, winter, first time with kids
Union Station, the PATH, CN Tower and the ferry on foot, though streets are quieter at night and prices are highest.
Yorkville / The Annex
luxury, museums, couples
Toronto's upscale quarter by the ROM and Gardiner, with quieter streets and the priciest rooms in the city.
Old Town / St. Lawrence / Distillery
food-first, quieter stays
Market mornings, the city's oldest streets and Distillery evenings, with King station for transit.
West Queen West / Parkdale edge
repeat visitors, nightlife trips
The creative strip as your front door and Trinity Bellwoods as your park, but stay east of Dufferin as a visitor.
Liberty Village / Exhibition / Harbourfront west
events, sports, lake access
Good for Exhibition Place and waterfront trails, but a condo district where you streetcar east most nights for dinner.
Think twice about
- Moss Park / Garden District east
Blocks around Sherbourne and Dundas concentrate street homelessness, open drug use and shelters. Pass through by day, do not base here.
- Yonge & Dundas / Sankofa Square immediate blocks
The city's most chaotic intersection, with panhandling and tourist trap restaurants. Visit, but sleep a few blocks away if you can.
- Pearson Airport, Scarborough and far suburbs
Not a scam, just geography. A cheap room there costs 45 to 90 minutes each way every day. Airport hotels are for early flights only.
Best restaurants in Toronto
Alo
Patrick Kriss's third floor contemporary French tasting menu, precise and seasonal, Canada's most famous table.
Edulis
A small, warm, Spain inspired tasting menu built on wild mushrooms and seafood, many local chefs' favourite room.
Quetzal
Wood fire cooking as the whole philosophy, with whole fish and tortillas from heirloom corn ground in house.
Osteria Giulia
Rob Rossi's Ligurian leaning Italian room, polished but soulful, the Italian splurge locals book for anniversaries.
Sushi Masaki Saito
A tiny, formal omakase at a hinoki counter, with fish sourced from Japan, for sushi obsessives only.
Bernhardt's
Rotisserie chicken, seasonal vegetables and natural wine in a small room that punches far above its size.
Bar Isabel
Basque leaning tapas, grilled octopus and a deep Spanish wine and vermouth list, in a room built to linger.
Patois
Jamaican Chinese family style cooking, joyful and loud, made for feeding a crew at one table.
Outdoor things to do in Toronto
Niagara Falls
Do it yourself by GO Train or early drive: Table Rock, the boat into the mist and Journey Behind the Falls.
Niagara-on-the-Lake
A pretty 19th century town ringed by Ontario wine country, best cycled between wineries on the river trail.
TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley
54 holes an hour from downtown, with the North course and the links style Heathlands, the splurge round to book.
Don Valley Golf Course
Toronto's best municipal course, a scenic valley layout near York Mills Station at moderate green fees.
Eagles Nest Golf Club
A premium public round built from a former gravel pit, with dramatic dune holes and downtown visible on clear days.
Harbourfront Canoe & Kayak Centre
Kayak, SUP or canoe the sheltered Island lagoons with skyline views, with sunset paddles the locals' version.
Tommy Thompson Park
Cycle the waterfront trail east to this car free wilderness peninsula, a bird sanctuary with a wild skyline view.
Scarborough Bluffs
Nine kilometres of 90 metre Lake Ontario cliffs, with Bluffer's Park beach below and look down parks above.
Best hotels in Toronto
The Drake Hotel
The boutique that defined the strip, with a restaurant, rooftop patio and live music, rooms small and characterful.
Gladstone House
Toronto's oldest continuously operating hotel, from 1889, with artist designed rooms and a great bar and bistro.
The Clarence Park
The budget answer in the best base area, a small hostel hotel in a Victorian house by the King and Spadina streetcars.
Ace Hotel Toronto
The design hotel pick near Queen and Spadina, with a strong lobby bar scene.
Le Germain Hotel Toronto Mercer
The calm luxury boutique, with larger rooms and excellent service steps from King Street theatres.
Fairmont Royal York
The grand 1929 railway hotel opposite Union Station, the winter and arrival day choice.
Chelsea Hotel, Toronto
The solid mid range downtown default, Canada's largest hotel, with an adults-only pool and a separate family recreation floor, mid renovation.
1 Hotel Toronto
Sustainability led luxury with a popular rooftop, the splurge that still feels current.
Is Toronto expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CA$150 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CA$340 a person |
| Splurge | CA$750 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Toronto Islands: a few days ahead
- Rogers Centre: a few days ahead
- Scotiabank Arena: a few days ahead
- Massey Hall: a few days ahead
- The Second City Toronto: a few days ahead
- Guerlain Spa Toronto: a few days ahead
- Niagara Falls: a few days ahead
- Niagara-on-the-Lake: a few days ahead
- Alo, Edulis, Sushi Masaki Saito and Pearl Morissette release weeks ahead and go fast.
- Bernhardt's, Quetzal and Osteria Giulia need 2 to 4 weeks for prime weekend slots. Pai, Badiali and Sugo are queues, not bookings.
- Book CN Tower timed tickets, EdgeWalk, weekend Jays games, Leafs tickets, Massey Hall and TIFF screenings ahead.
- TIFF in early September books out hotels and restaurants. Come for it or avoid its dates.
- Book GO Train Niagara service, winery tastings, Osprey Valley tee times and Hamilton waterfall parking ahead in season.
Is Toronto safe?
- Normal big city practice covers most of Toronto. Watch bags in dense crowds at Union Station and festivals.
- Route around Moss Park and Sherbourne after dark. Other areas are busy, lit and heavily trafficked at night.
- Winter is the bigger hazard: icy sidewalks and wind off the lake. Wear boots with grip from November to March.
- Swim only at lifeguarded Blue Flag beaches and heed post storm water quality closures, which are routine after heavy rain.
Toronto travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- CN Tower at midday on a Saturday. Go at opening or sunset on a timed ticket instead.
- Clifton Hill at Niagara Falls. See the Falls, boat and gorge, and skip the wax museum strip.
- Ripley's Aquarium as an adult must do, Eaton Centre as Toronto shopping, and King West bottle service clubs as Toronto nightlife.
- Casa Loma on a 2 day trip. It is real and fun, and half a day gone.
- Toronto CityPASS only pays if you would genuinely do most of its attractions at full price in sequence.
- Niagara in 3 hours bus tours with forced stops and only 90 minutes at the Falls. Go DIY instead.
- Yonge Street tourist restaurants around Sankofa Square. Walk to Queen West, St. Lawrence or Chinatown.
- Unregistered short term rentals and whole condo ghost hotel units risk cancellations and condo board lockouts.
Getting around Toronto: public transport and more
- TTC subway, streetcars and buses run on one fare with free 2 hour transfers. Tap PRESTO or a contactless card.
- From Pearson, take the UP Express to Union Station in 25 minutes. Never accept a ride from a driver soliciting in the terminal.
- The PATH underground network is the winter cheat code downtown, linking towers, Eaton Centre and Union Station.
- Do not drive downtown. Rent a car only for day trips like Niagara, golf or Scarborough.
- Buy Islands ferry tickets online ahead on summer weekends. The Ward's Island ferry is the locals' queue dodge.
Who Toronto suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Toronto your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store