Ontario, Canada: Toronto, Niagara, and the Tri-Cities
Five days across Ontario, downtown Toronto, Niagara Falls, University of Waterloo, and a kayak on the Grand River, capped off with a lot of very good food.
Five days covering a wide stretch of Ontario: downtown Toronto, a full day in Niagara, the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge tri-cities, and a stop in London to see family friends.
Day 1
Activity:
- Flew into Toronto Pearson International Airport. Fast, well-organized process with a lot of the check-in and customs handled through kiosks.
- On the way back at the end of the trip, the Global Entry lane made re-entry quick. As long as you're honest and within the limits on what you're bringing back into the country, it's a smooth process.
Day 2
Meals: Lunch at Pai Northern Thai Kitchen · dinner at El Catrin
Activity:
- Drove from the suburbs into downtown Toronto.
- The Well: a large mixed-use retail development, great architecture and design, worth a walk-through even if you're not buying anything.
- St. Lawrence Market: a multi-story market with fresh meat, cheese, fruit, olives, spices, fresh pasta, and a wide range of cultural food stalls. Easy to spend a lot of time (and money) here.
- Pai Northern Thai Kitchen: great interior, gets busy, book ahead or go early. Got the pad Thai and fried rice, both excellent, and it's known for good Thai tea.
- Walked to the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and took the ferry to Toronto Island.
- Rented bikes on the island. It happened to be white blossom season, a whole stretch of trees in bloom, great for pictures.
- Stopped at the Sunfish Cut viewpoint, one of the best skyline shots of the CN Tower you'll get from anywhere near the city.
- Ferried back to the mainland and drove to the Distillery Winter Village: cool restaurants, string lighting, good architecture, a great atmosphere especially if you're there during the festive season.
- El Catrin for dinner: guacamole made tableside, fish tacos, and more. Watching the guacamole get made fresh at the table was a nice touch.
Day 3
Meals: Cookies at Budapest Bakeshop · dinner at Hakkalicious
Activity:
- Stopped at FreshCo to see how a Canadian grocery store compares, and at Tim Hortons on the way out of town.
- Wayne Gretzky Estates: a winery worth visiting, but it gets crowded, go early to get seating. There's a backyard area with cornhole and other games, a genuinely good hangout spot even outside of the wine tasting.
- Niagara-on-the-Lake: a beautiful street lined with shops, bakeries, and clothing stores, plus a lot of flowers and greenery. An easy, pretty walk.
- Budapest Bakeshop on Queen Street: the cookies are excellent, worth the stop on their own.
- Niagara Falls: found parking a bit of a walk from the falls themselves, near an open plaza area. Worth the walk.
- Journey Behind the Falls: a genuinely different way to experience the falls, side-by-side instead of the usual top-down view, including a tunnel where you can see the water rushing past in front of you.
- Hakkalicious for dinner: Indo-Chinese food, chicken lollipops, noodles, fried rice. Everything we ordered was excellent, a must-try if you're in the area.
Day 4
Meals: Tim Hortons · boba at University Shops Plaza
Activity:
- Drove to London, Ontario to visit family friends and just hung out for the day.
- Stopped at Tim Hortons on the way back.
- Walked around the University of Waterloo campus, a genuinely impressive place, known for computer science and known for working on some cutting-edge robotics research. Worth a walk-through even without a campus tour booked.
- Got boba at University Shops Plaza before heading back.
Day 5
Meals: Dinner at Sri Dakshin Indian Vegetarian Restaurant
Activity:
- Rented kayaks at Stanley Park Optimist Natural Area in Kitchener and spent two to three hours out on the Grand River.
- Drove to Sri Dakshin Indian Vegetarian Restaurant in Cambridge for dinner: fresh dosas, a genuinely good pongal, and rose milk to finish. A must-try if you're in the tri-cities area.
- Headed home after dinner to close out the trip.