July 2023
I booked a last minute trip (2.5 weeks before going) to Toronto with my mom and sister! It was a nice quick getaway. I have listed things to do/eat below in alphabetical order.

Where did we stay?
We stayed at the Chelsea Hotel. It was near and north of downtown Toronto. I thought it was a pretty good spot since we were close to Dundas Square and the shopping mall. The hotel itself was fine! I loved the pool and gym area of the hotel. 

How to get around Toronto?
It was a pretty walkable city in my opinion. My mom, sister, and I walked almost 55 miles in 3.5 days! Woo, our feet were tired, but also, shoutout to our strong legs and feet! We walked EVERYWHERE. We only used uber to get to/from the airport. We also rented a car for 1 day to go to Niagara Falls. If you do not want to walk or uber, you can also take their public transit: Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). We did not take the subway this trip. 

How was the weather?
It was hot and humid for low 80s. It actually rained for one of the days for 10 minutes (and it actually got cold), but other than that, majority of the time, it was hot and humid, and cloudy! We wore shorts, tank top, and dresses every day that we were there.

What is the currency?
It is the Canadian Dollar (CAD). You can exchange your dollar at the airport, but you probably would not get a good rate. I saw a few shop/stores that had currency exchange in downtown, so you can do that too. Otherwise, they do take card pretty much everywhere – just watch out for the international fees (unless you have a credit card that doesn’t charge for international fee — good for you!)

Things to do/see
Art Gallery of Ontario
Chinatown
CN Tower
Distillery District
Grafitti Alley
Harbourfront Centre
Kensington Market
Kim’s Convenience
Nathan Phillips Square (Toronto Sign)
Niagara Falls
St. Lawrence Market
Toronto Islands
Toronto Old City Hall
University of Toronto
Younge Dundas Square

Things to Eat/Drink
Boba: Baroness
Carousel Bakery
Mogouyan Hand-Pulled Noodles
Rolltation Sushi Burrito
Yummy Yummy 

Things to Do/See
Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)
Note: It is free on Wednesday nights from 6-9pm! They release the Wednesday tickets two days prior, on Monday at 10am, so get your tickets then. You can also get the free tickets are the door as well. We arrived at 7:30pm, so we had about 1.5 hours to explore. The AGO have five floors and many different themes and exhibits to see. If you bring a larger backpack, you will need to carry it infront of you. Some of the elevators do not go to all of the floors, so keep an eye out for that. Other than that, it was a nice art gallery!

Chinatown
It was a couple of blocks and it was like another Chinatown! Lots of restaurants and shops. We ate in Chinatown too! Scroll down to see where/what we ate.

CN Tower
The famous tower that you see when you google Toronto! We did not have a desire to go up the tower but we saw it upclose and afar. You can buy tickets to go up online or in-person. The CN Tower is also located near the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada and Rogers Centre.

Distillery District
The Distillery District is an area that has some restaurants, art gallery, boutiques, and bars. We went during the day and it was fine, but it looks like, it could be more fun in the evening with the lights. During the time that we went, they had outdoor movie shows! It is a cute little area for a stroll.

Grafitti Alley
On the map, it looks like it’s located on Queens Street, but there is an alleyway between Queen’s Street & Richmond’s Street. We entered the way where it had elephant murals and there’s actually a street sign that says “Grafitti Alley”. Lots of talented art work here and could be a good place for a photoshoot.

Harbourfront Centre
This is a nice spot to walk, have a seat, and take in the views in of the water! There are restaurants and some shops nearby too. This is a good spot for a date, family/friends hangout.

Kensington Market
We went here during the daytime. Kensington Market is like a bohemian/hipster neighborhood that has lots of trendy bars, cafes, boutiques, art spaces, and more.

Kim’s Convenience
If you watched this show on Netflix then you know, if you have not, maybe try an episodes or two out. I only watched about four episodes, so I can’t say much haha! We did a VERY quick stop here because it is not in the most safest neighborhood. We came back from our day trip from Niagara Falls and since we had a little bit of time before we needed to drop off the rental car, we drove to Kim’s Convenience, hopped out the car, snapped a quick photo, and hopped back into the car. It would have been cool to see the inside, but like I said, it was not the safest area in Toronto. So, becareful if you decide to visit this spot. I would recommend to visit during the daytime if you can!

Nathan Phillips Square (Toronto Sign)
This spot is a MUST visit because of the beautiful Toronto sign! The first day we arrived was a half day, and when the uber drove us to our hotel, we saw a bunch of white tents, and it looked like there was an event – and there was! We stopped by and it was the Taste of the Middle East Summer Festival to celebrate the Arab culture. There were Arabic music, food, clothing, etc. It was very beautiful to see! We also visited it the sign the next day as well because it was close to our hotel and they had a Lululemon event there too. Looks like this area has a lot of events going on. And ofcourse, during Christmas, there is a iceskating rink here. How fun! I would recommend to go here because, you can also relax and just take in the view of the city, sign, and listen to the water splash from the water fountain.

Niagara Falls
This was the number one thing I wanted to see here in Toronto/Ontario! We rented a car for the day from Budget Car Rentals located on Lakeshore (the service at that budget car rental was okay, not the best..) and drove 1.5 hours to Niagara Falls. We paid about $30 CAD for all day parking at Niagara Falls and we were there for four hours (and I do not think that was enough, haha). We also bought tickets online to the Niagara City Cruise to go down into the waterfall and that was a pretty cool experience. You can also buy tickets in person as well. When we bought the tickets, they had us choose an hour time slot. My mom, sister, and I arrived to Niagara Falls about two hours earlier than our time slot and we wanted to go on the boat earlier and we were able too! They actually did not check the timeslot – I think they only put that there to maintain the amount of people entering in at one time. I felt like we were at an amusement park going down to ride a boat ride! They give plastic poncho bags for you to use so that you will not get super wet on the boat. The boat ride itself was about 12 minutes, 6 minutes in and 6 minutes out, with a few minutes of onboarding and offboarding, so a total of 15-20 minutes. I wish the ride was longer! It was a very cool experience to get super close to the waterfall. I wish I could put a video here but this photo below will do, hopefully. Besides that, we bought lunch, ate, and enjoyed the views. If you have more time, explore downtown! There were lots of casinos and shops nearby. I highly recommend checking out Niagara Falls! There are other attractions besides the boat cruise, such as “Journey Behind The Falls” and others, but we only had time and wanted to do the boast cruise only. Also, the red ponchos are the ride from Canada, and the blue ponchos are the ride from the United States. It is pretty cool that you can also see the bridge to cross to the U.S. too. However, I heard the view of Niagara Falls was better on the Canadian side like below!

St. Lawrence Market
I am not going to lie, I thought this market was going to be WAY bigger for some reason. I did not do ANY research on this market besides what to eat at this place (scroll below to see). When I heard of this market, I imagined it to be something similar to Pike’s Place Market in Seattle, or Reading Terminal Market in Philly, and it was! However, I think the other market places are better than the St. Lawrence one (sorry, Toronto!). It is close on Mondays, so keep in that mind if you plan your trip to go to Toronto. We went really early in the morning around 9am on a Tuesday, and there did not seem to be a lot of food places (like to order food), it was more of a market to buy food, go home, and cook it, haha. But other than that, it was a nice market and definitely recommend to get one of the food that I got here…a little sneak peek, it is a sandwich!

Toronto Islands
This is my 2nd favorite thing about Toronto besides Niagara Falls. There are a lot of small boats/water taxis from the Harbourfront Centre that can take you to Toronto Islands. The fees seems to be $12.50 CAD one way. The Toronto Islands has three different islands and it is like a huge park to stroll, have a picnic, ride bikes, kayak, etc. We went to Centre Island because everyone recommended that it has the most to do there. There is a very ferry for $9.00 CAD BOTH WAYS. Which is cheaper than taking the small boats/water taxis! If you take the ferry, it is on a timed schedule, whereas, the small boats/water taxis are available anytime when you want to leave the islands. We took the ferry and explored Centre Islands. Centre Island has a small amusement park, MANY picnic areas, small beach area, bike rentals, and more. It is definitely a nice place to relax, hang out with family/friends, etc. It is a quiet area away from the hustle and bustle in the city. Once you get off the ferry, there is Subway and pizza if you want to order food. I would recommend to bring your own food and have a nice picnic on your own!

Toronto Old City Hall
It is right across from Nathan Phillips Square (Toronto Sign) and it a beautiful Old City Hall! This city hall beats my city hall haha!

University of Toronto
We explored the Dalla Lana School of Public Health building, medical science building and the bookstore. The Legislative Assembly of Ontario building is also located in the University of Toronto as well! It was nice to explore these places. Every time I visit a University at a different location, it makes me miss college a lot.

Younge Dundas Square
This place reminds me to Times Square in NYC. There are a lot of billboards, lights, entertainment and shopping area.

Things to Eat/Drink
Boba: Baroness
This was a very cute boba place! The service, drinks, and seating area was good! We ordered the Lychee Paradise and Taro + Oak Milk Tea. Both were good, but I think the Lychee Paradise was a little bit better.

Carousel Bakery 
This place is located inside the St. Lawrence market and I got the famous Peameal Bacon Sandwich. It was almost $9.00 CAD. They only accept cash so bring cash! I went pretty early to this spot and there was no line. It was yummy, but I wish I got more of the honey mustard sauce!

Mogouyan Hand-Pulled Noodles
We ordered the classic beef noodles, beef noodles with pickled mustard, and thin flat noodle with mince beef paste. All of it was delicious and the waiter was amazingly kind. He made sure that we picked out the correct noodle type, checked-in to make sure we were okay, and more. We also did not finish the noodles and he asked if we wanted it packed or not. Also, nowadays, restaurant rings up the check right in front of you and stand there to see if you would tip or not. He walked away and let me tip freely. I did not feel pressured at all. The ambience of the restaurant was very aesthetic as well, and it closes at midnight incase you wanted late night noodles!

Rolltation Sushi Burrito
We wanted a quick dinner and this place was yummy! Our sushi burrito was wrapped very well and everything was tasty. The restaurant also had AC so that was a pro since it was very hot outside in July.

Yummy Yummy
I was craving dumplings and the dumplings here were good! I think I had better dumplings, but these weren’t bad! We also ordered the dry noodles and fried vegetables with garlic too. The service was okay.

Thank you for reading all the way! Toronto reminds me of a mini New York City! Tons of people out and about. I felt safe traveling here. The only thing I wished we had time for was a game at the Rogers Centre. They were playing against San Diego Padres at the time! San Diego padres won the first game, but Toronto Blue Jays won the second game.

As always, thank you for visiting Vivian’s Ventures. Have you been to Toronto? If so, tell me in the comments/reply section of your experience. What should I do there if I go back? If you haven’t been, tell me what you are planning to do there. Any questions or comments, let me know. #viviansventures