A few days in Toronto

My husband & I were very excited about our quick trip to Toronto in September. What a wonderful few days we had - its such a great place for a city break! Here is my day by day account of our trip.

Day 2:

First stop, the CN Tower - the views are amazing over the city, the lake & the islands. We particularly enjoyed watching planes taking off below.

Next, we visited lively St Lawrence Market, packed with locals & visitors. The stalls here are overflowing with fresh produce & amazing food. From the Carousel Bakery, home to the " world famous peameal bacon sandwich" to the "best desserts in town" (they definitely looked good!), there was so much to choose from. We opted for the delicious seafood from Busters Sea Cove.

On to the Distillery District with its cobbled streets & 19th century buildings, it has been revamped as an arts & culture hub. We enjoyed wandering around the art galleries, outdoor sculptures & boutiques. On the day we visited, a whisky festival was in full swing complete with live music - such a fun atmosphere!

Day 3:

I was very excited about visiting Niagara Falls & it was absolutely worth the trip. We took the train but there are plenty of tours to take you there too. There is the promise of a hovercraft across Lake Ontario in only 30 mins but at the time of writing its not clear when this will be operational.

We headed straight for the Hornblower Cruise which is a must do to really experience the falls. We along with the rest of our boat donned our pink ponchos & took our turn to get soaked. It was so much fun. A walk along to the visitor centre by the dramatic Horseshoe Falls allowed plenty of time for taking in the view, watching the boats from both the Canadian & American sides & the obligatory photos of course.

Day 4:

We started the day with a leisurely breakfast to start the day - pancakes with maple syrup, of course.We took the ferry to the Toronto Islands, also known as Toronto Island Park or the Island - it takes about 15 mins. It is really a group of 15 islands linked together by walkways & bridges & is home to about 600 people year round. It's a great place to spend a day - you can rent bikes or canoes, play frisbee golf (you need your own frisbees!) or enjoy the beach or the amusement park.

We had such a lovely time exploring Toronto & highly recommend it for a city break or as part of a longer holiday.

For alternative Canadian city breaks, we like Halifax in Nova Scotia (a 7hr flight from the UK) or St Johns in Newfoundland (only 5.5 hrs from the UK). Both are great starting (or end points) for longer holidays too.