Toronto/Niagara Falls 4-5 day trip
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Anonymous
| Hi all! Looking for some advice if you done Toronto and Niagara Falls with kids. DH and I are driving from DC and stopping in PA to pick up my mom. The plan was to spend one night/two days in the CAN side falls area and then 3 days/nights in Toronto. Kids are 7 and 9 and like museums/outdoor things. But also will love the cheese factor of Clifton Hill for a day. Toronto Airbnbs are insanely expensive - like $600 a night and that's with kids on a pullout - I'd much rather go somewhere very tropical for those prices! Two hotel rooms is even more expensive. I am rethinking things now and wondering if we should spend more time in Niagara Falls or surrounding area (Niagara on the Lake, etc) and just do one day in Toronto. My SIL is in NYC so we've spent a lot of time there so the 'city' aspect isn't that important to us but DH is pretty convinced there is tons for us to do. He's been to Niagara as a kid but the rest of us have not and none of us have been to the Eastern side of Canada. Would love any advice or feedback if you've done a similar trip! |
Anonymous
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I live in Toronto and cycle around Niagara and around a lot in the summer.
2 or 3 days in Toronto is good. You could try staying outside of Toronto proper especially if you have a car. Eg Mississaugs, Brampton, maybe even Burlington, Hamilton if cost of accommodations is the main issue. Niagara in the lake is nice if you want do a day of cycling and visit wine yards, visit the town. But that's a 1 day outing. |
Anonymous
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It if fits with your itinerary, I highly recommend a stop in Rochester for a visit to the Strong Museum of Play. Note that they are closed in late June.
https://www.museumofplay.org/ |
Anonymous
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Tons to do- depends on what you want to do, right.
That marine museum in Niagara falls is quite good. They had a show with the seals. I was impressed and it was not overprice like everywhere else. Went during the 2nd year of covid. We also went to Letchworth State park. That was nice. We swam in Ontario Lake by Rochester. The water was not cold as I expected. |
Anonymous
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There’s lots to do in the region. You wont find a lot in NOTL other than cute shops and wineries. If you’re into history/ military stuff you can visit Fort George. Niagara has a great parks system, with a pass to get you into things, but it’s still not a week worth of stuff. Hamilton isn’t too far from there and there are some interesting things to do there in terms of museum, like the warplane heritage museum. But, you have think of them like museum “light” in comparison to what you have access to in DC.
You can stay just north of TO for much less than the rates of downtown. If you like theme parks, Canada’s Wonderland is just north of the city and there are plenty of accommodations in Vaughan. Toronto is a lot of fun to poke around in in the summer, with lots of stuff going on downtown and at harbour front. You don’t say when your stay is planned. The good thing about the area is it’s poorly designed for traffic, so it is actually very easy to navigate for out of towers. You’re only on a few highways to get from anywhere. |
Anonymous
If you're going to stop in Rochester, add a stop to Watkins Glen for a gorge walk or Treman State Park to swim st the base of a waterfall. https://seeswim.com/location/robert-h-treman-state-park-lucifer-falls/ |
Anonymous
| OP here - this is all very helpful thank you! Yes dates would have been helpful. Mid July long weekend. Thanks again! |
Anonymous
\ Beware that neither Rochester nor Watkins Glen nor Letchworth State Park are on any of the three suggested DC to Toronto driving routes suggested by Google maps. All are going to add to the length of the drive. |
Anonymous
| We did this in 2018. Niagara on the lake is lovely. There is a botanic garden that we enjoyed. Best hit in Toronto was an Centre Island which has an amusement park. We also went to a fun Harry Potter themed store that was magical (Curiosa). Food was great in both places. |
Anonymous
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We loved Toronto with our kid
Royal Ontario Museum (with dinos!) Aquarium Zoo Casa Loma was also fun to explore |
Anonymous
I live in TO. These are good suggestions. I'd also recommend the Toronto islands (it's fun to take the ferry or one of the water taxis) and the Harbourfront/Lakeshore. There are bike share stations everywhere. Jays games are also really fun if you like baseball and if the team is at home. The stadium is right next to the Aquarium and CN Tower. One word of warning: be very cautious at intersections. Drivers are nuts and pedestrians/cyclists getting hit has been an issue. |
Anonymous
| Sorry to hijack, but what's a fun thing for teenagers (14-18) to do in Toronto proper? |
Anonymous
https://www.cntower.ca/brave-the-edgewalk |
Anonymous
| We just went to TO last month with our teens. We stayed in an apartment owned by Sonder which is a company that does vacation and short-term rentals in a lot of cities. It was great. Not right in downtown but easy to get around and the building has a parking option for a fee. We did a day trip to Niagara and did some other touristy stuff like CN Tower. We also took some nice walks by the lake. |
Anonymous
| Sorry for another hijack but if anyone has done the drive and stopped midway can you recommend activities/ nice place to stay? We have two kids and a do so likely won't make the trip in one day, |