24 Hours in Toronto

CN Tower from Iceboat Terrace

Last October, Dan and I went up to Toronto to see Elton John (!!!) in concert. As neither of us had ever been to Toronto, we decided to go up a day early to explore the city. Our schedule was a bit wonky because we went to the concert, but I thought I'd share my suggestions for a full day in Toronto!

Where To Stay:

We stayed in a great AirBnB right near the Rogers Centre. It was just off Iceboat Terrace, and everything in the city was easily accessible. We even managed to get an awesome photo with the CN Tower in the background from right outside our AirBnB!

Obviously where you stay has to do with what attractions you want to see, but I would say that most of the city is easily accessible from any area. Being just west of the Rogers Centre allowed us to get a great place for a great price, with a nice walk into the city centre.

Iceboat Terrace

Breakfast:

Honestly, for breakfast Dan and I just went with a cheap Tim Horton's. We decided to save our money for a nicer lunch and dinner. We were also missing Tim Horton's after not having been in Canada for a while! Haha!

Graffiti Alley:

Graffiti Alley

Our first stop was Graffiti Alley. This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, an alley full of graffiti. It's located just south of Queen Street, between Spadina Avenue and Portland Avenue. While we were a little disappointed that the graffiti seemed to be majority tags, there were enough cool murals that the visit was worth it.

Nathan-Phillips Square:

From Graffiti Alley, it takes about fifteen minutes to walk to Nathan-Phillips Square. This is where the iconic Toronto sign is. Right next to Nathan-Phillips Square is the Toronto Old City Hall. We went midday on a weekday and there was hardly anyone else there! The contrast between the old and new buildings right around the square was really cool!

Distillery District:

This area of Toronto is known best for its art installations and for being the site of the Toronto Christmas Market. Obviously the Christmas Market wasn't going on in October, but the area is definitely worth a visit anyways! The Distillery District reminded me quite a bit of the Old Port of Montreal. There were beautiful cobblestone streets with lots of shops, boutiques, art galleries, and restaurants.

Lunch:

For lunch, we stopped at a Brew Pub in the Distillery District. The food was good, pretty standard pub food. But the beer was awesome! We ended up sharing the butternut squash & cheddar ale soup and the Montreal smoked meat poutine. We also had way more beer than we probably needed to for lunch, but they were great!

St. Lawrence Market:

From the Distillery District, it was another ten or fifteen minute walk to the St. Lawrence Market. This walk was extra beautiful because it was all right by a park where all the trees were changing colors.

The St. Lawrence Market is in an old, brick two-story building, and is full of various fromageries, butcheries, boulangeries, and souvenir shops. We wandered around the market for a while, just taking in the sights, before we decided to get a few cheeses, some crackers, pate, and olives for a little early cocktail hour back home.

Dinner:

For dinner, we chose a Canadian restaurant right near our AirBnB called Hunter's Landing. They had a huge variety of options for dinner from a Tuna Poke Bowl to Fettucini Alfredo to Fish Tacos. And they were all great!

The Tuna Poke Bowl

Cocktails:

After dinner, we obviously went to see Elton John, but the night before, we went to a few cool bars!

District Cocktail Bar

-District Cocktail Bar: This place is definitely a cocktail bar with very hip vibes, see the neon sign above! They had all kinds of fancy cocktails, and during good weather, they also have a rooftop open.

-Birreria Volo: A bar that my friend pitched to me as having "lots of Vermont beers". This was a more upscale bar that featured 26 craft beers on tap. Their beers were numbered with the 26 letters of the alphabet and we had a bit too much fun making words with our beer orders.

-Sneaky Dee's: If you're looking for dive bars, this is the dive-iest. Sticky floors, 3$ beers on Wednesdays, and cheap cheap food.

-Mahjong: This is a "hidden" bar. All you really have to do is go through a curtain at the back of a faux storefront. This place was also more upscale, with small tables and candelight. While definitely on the more expensive side, they did have some really cool cocktails and a great variety of beers.

*Bonus*

Niagara Falls:

Niagara Falls, Canada

If you're driving back to the states from Toronto, a stop at Niagara Falls is definitely worth it. The parking right by the Falls is stupidly expensive, so I would recommend going away from the water just a block or two. There are a lot of tourist trap type places both on the US and Canadian side, but they're definitely not worth it. I recommend viewing the Falls from the Canadian side and then crossing over to the US side to check out the Cave of the Winds and walk under the Falls. Certain times of the year only part of the cave scaffolding is open, so make sure you check ahead of time depending on how much you want to see.

Cave of the Winds

I hope this guide helps you out on any future trips to Toronto! There are so many other things (like the Ripley's Aquarium and Hockey Hall of Fame) that we missed out on. I think Dan and I may have to arrange for another trip to Toronto soon...maybe during baseball season!

xx

Haley