When your friend decides to get married overseas, booking a flight immediately is essential. As is staying out there for an unfeasible amount of time to make sure you’ve seen all the good bits, then falling in love with the city and swearing you’re gonna re-locate to go live with the happy couple. I know this because I recently returned from a trip to Canada for my friend Anne’s wedding.
We flew with Air Transat to Montreal for the hen ‘do (aka Bachelorette party), then flew to Toronto three days later for the actual wedding. Montreal was great (very French), but I absolutely adored Toronto. The best way I can describe the city is sort of like NYC but with less of the hustle. The city is on Lake Ontario, which is huge and beautiful, and really not at all like the sorts of lakes we get here. You can’t actually see from one side to the other, so there is literally just miles of nature on the horizon.
Getting started
You must now have an eTA to visit Canada. eTA is a new entry requirement for visa-exempt foreign nationals travelling to Canada by air. It will allow Canada to screen travellers before they arrive. The authorization is electronically linked to your passport and is valid for five years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. It costs $7 and application usually approved within minutes. I applied for mine about a week before I flew, so it’s nothing to stress about.
How to get there
Flight time to Toronto direct from London Gatwick is 6.5 hours. Air Transat flies daily, and has a choice of economy, Option Plus and Club Class seats. Option Plus has key comfort benefits like extra luggage allowance, provision of blankets on-board, and free drinks with your meal. From the airport, it is roughly a 30 minute drive into the city, or you can jump on UP train (so-called because it runs between Union Station in downtown Toronto and Toronto Pearson airport) for 20 minutes.
Getting around / Local transport
Like NYC, Toronto is split into a grid system, which makes navigation pretty simple. Bay street runs from the water-front up through downtown to midtown. And Front Street runs perpendicular, just up from the water.
Street Car / Bus / Subway – In the interests of research, I tried out both a street car and a bus, and both were super efficient. The newer street cars have ticket machines on-board, but the easiest thing is to buy a bunch of travel tokens from a subway (underground) station. One token is roughly $4, or you can get three for $10. There’s also a Pronto card, which I’m told works similar to the London Oyster Card.
Taxis / Uber – Taxis are pretty abundant in Toronto – you can flag a local cab (these are easily spotted by their orange and green bodywork), or Uber operates in the city. According to locals, Uber is the better option.
Where to eat
Ok, so bear in mind that Canadian portions seem to mirror the sorts you find in the States. ie – they’re absolutely huge!!
The Distillery is a pedestrianised area near the harbour within original distillery buildings. Cluny is a French restaurant known for its Oysters, and El Catrin does maybe the best margaritas I’ve ever tried.
Along the waterfront is slightly more tourist-y. Amsterdam BrewHouse is famed for its patio (you may have to queue for a table), and Beaver Tails is awesome. Locals seem obsessed with chain cafe Tim Hortons, but I didn’t actually try it. Apparently they are set to hit the UK soon so watch this space..
For special occasions, Canoe is probably the best restaurant in Toronto. It’s on the 54th floor, so has sweeping views across the city. The bill reflects the exquisite food & service, but during the summer there is a three-course Summerlicious set menu which is a great option and more affordable.
Street food isn’t quite as big as it is in NYC but it’s still very much a thing in Toronto. Hot dogs and grilled corn seem to be the most popular. Outside my hotel were two competing hot dog vendors with large signs about their ‘Mild Polish Sausage’ and ‘Spicy Italian Sausage’. Made me LOL.
For hangover brunch, Sunset Grill does an AMAZING all-day breakfast. You generally have to wait a bit for a table, but the waitlist system means you don’t have to physically stand in a queue – you can tootle off for a wander and come back. If you hangover allows for that….! We also tried Taverna Mercatto, which does the most epic French Toast.
Being gluten-free was absolutely not an issue in Toronto. Every restaurant I visited had gluten-free bread (the corn bread at Canoe was next level), and they were happy to tweak dishes to make them gluten-free-friendly. I didn’t have quite so much luck on the dairy-free front – many restaurants don’t have soy or almond milk, which surprised me. But there’s a Starbucks on just about every block, so there’s always an alternative!
Working out
Toronto is a pretty active city – there seemed to be a constant stream of lycra-clad runners cruising along the waterfront. At my hotel (Westin Harbor Castle), a running group meets daily at 6am. And handily the hotel has partnered with New Balance do you can hire full kit for a daily fee. Great idea if you’re travelling light (unlike me. Obviously – my Option Plus Air Transat flight gave me two 23kg bags in the hold and I made full use of this). Most hotels and apartment blocks have a gym and pool – mine also had tennis & basketball courts, a vegetable garden and two bee hives. Because why not.
Where to stay
Like any city, Toronto has many of the global hotel chains like Radisson and Westin (where I stayed), and also plenty of boutique ones. Westin Harbour Castle is a huge site split across the north and south tower. I was on the 23rd floor (which is actually the 22nd – many buildings in Canada and the US miss out the 13th floor for superstitious reasons) with a huge lakeview room with a crazily squishy bed and the most efficient air con system I’ve ever met. Westin Harbour Castle also has an indoor pool with sauna and steam room.
Air B’n’B is another popular choice in the city. While we were in Montreal we spent two nights this way, and in Toronto one of my friends was staying in an awesome studio (I think they called it a duplex) in downtown for around $100 per night.
Climate
Depending on the time of year, Toronto’s climate can differ drastically. The summer months are warm, and the winter is freezing. Actual weather conditions seem to vary on an hourly basis – on our second day, a sudden rain storm subsided within an hour and the rest of the day was blissfully hot.
Sport
Baseball is a HUGE deal in Toronto. Their team, the Blue Jays, have a boulevard named after them. There’s also a huge following for basketball and hockey (we call is ice hockey).
Site seeing
I didn’t have time to do much sight-seeing as we were mainly focused on the wedding. Probably the most popular attraction in the area is Niagra Falls. Wierdly, the quickest way of getting to Niagra Falls isn’t by rail, it’s by car. During the day, regular boat trips go through the actual waterfall (hint: don’t take your phone!), and at night there is a stunning light display and fireworks. In actual Toronto, the CN Tower is a cool spot.
Beaches
Lake Ontario is absolutely huge – you actually can’t see the other side of it, so it feels more like the sea. There’s a couple of beaches you can visit to hang-out, but not all of them have water access. Sugar Beach is the closest to where I was staying on the harbour and very beautiful but not swim-friendly. Woodbine is about an hour’s ride on the street car and absolutely stunning.
For more travel tips and help planning your trip to Canada, visit Canadian Affair.
Olivia x
