Toronto blog — The ultimate Toronto travel guide blog for first-timers

Referring to Canada, people think of a multi-ethnic culture. There you can see the cultural diversity of many different regions of the world. Therefore, this place is an ideal destination for many visitors. And if you are a travel lover, don’t miss Canada! Especially the beautiful, vibrant city of Toronto. Toronto is not only a bustling, economically dynamic city, this is also one of the most beloved tourist destinations in North America that many tourists want to visit once. Today, in this article we will share with you everything related to Toronto tourism to help you planning a wonderful trip to explore this city. So, what to do and how to plan a perfect budget trip to Toronto for the first-time? Let’s check out our Toronto blog (Toronto travel blog, Toronto travel guide blog) with the fullest Toronto Canada travel guide (Toronto guide, Toronto tourist guide, Toronto visitor guide, Toronto travel guide, Toronto city guide) from how to get there, best time to come, where to stay, best places to visit and top things to do to find out the answer!

Toronto blog: Overview of Toronto

The city of Toronto is considered the financial center of Canada with a developed and dynamic economy in many fields from finance, corporate services, aviation to the arts, health, education, tourism and engineering. Toronto is also home to the Toronto Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the Canada’s five largest banks.

Along with the development of the economy, the quality of life in Toronto is highly appreciated and is one of the most livable cities in the world. However, the cost of living in Toronto is quite affordable. It only takes you about 3,000-5,000 CAD/month to pay for living expenses such as housing fees, shopping fees, food costs, transportation fees, etc. This is the reason why many people choose Toronto as a place to study, work and settle for a long time.

Toronto travel blog: What is the best season to visit Toronto?

Toronto’s weather is generally quite nice regardless of the season of the year. So no matter when you travel to Toronto, you will be feel comfortable at anytime. You can travel to Toronto all year round, each season has its own beauty. However, the time of visit will depend on your preference and travel style.

Spring: The spring lasts from March to May. The average temperature is about 12 degrees Celsius, but it is quite cold in the early morning and night and it rains a lot. The lowest temperature is around 3 degrees Celsius, May is warmer, from 11 to 21 degrees Celsius. Most Toronto tours start in mid-late April, when the weather is warmer. If you go in May you will have the opportunity to participate in the tulip festival.

Summer: From June to August with an average temperature of about 25 degrees Celsius, with golden sunshine, quite ideal for you to take a scenic walk, sightseeing. Temperatures in summer months sometimes reach up to 27 to 28 degrees Celsius. Golden sunshine covering the city buildings in the central area, this is an opportunity to sunbathing after cold winter days.

In Toronto in particular and in Canada in general, the summer days are usually much longer than the nights, it has already begun to dawn at 4 am and it’s only get dark at 9 pm. Not only for Asians, but almost everyone in this country loves the summer of Toronto, when the weather warms up, it is an opportunity for the locals to have fun, travel, and participate in festivals. There are many festivals held in the summer in Canada such as coconut festival, street food festival, outdoor art exhibition, VELD music festival, Caribbean Carnival, etc.

Autumn: From September to November. In the fall, visitors will experience the changing of nature, the carpet of maple leaves in all colors of yellow, orange, burgundy,… covered the streets and parks.

Fall is the most beautiful season in Toronto and also the best time to visit Toronto with a bit cold, brilliant fall foliage. A note for visitors when traveling to Toroto this season is to only take photos, not break branches or pick leaves or throw rubbish indiscriminately because if caught, you can be fined up to 200 Canadian dollars.

Winter: From the last month of November to February next year, the temperature drops below 0 degrees Celsius from mid-late November and can drop to -10 degrees Celsius in December, January and February. Although, it’s very cold but this is the ideal time for tourists who love snow activities. Toronto was once voted as the ideal destination for those who love skiing.

Toronto Canada travel guide: Getting to Toronto

The best way to get to Toronto is by air. Toronto Pearson International Airport is about 25km from the downtown (Union Station) which takes about 25 minutes by UP Express with the first trip at 5:40 am, the last trip at 10:40 pm ever day, costs about $2-$10/way and 45 minutes by bus which costs about $5-$14/way. Find out more on how to get from the airport to the city center here.

To find the suitable flights, cheap tickets as well as convenient departure points and routes you can go to Google Flights or SkyScanner to searching.

Toronto travel guide: Getting around Toronto

Toronto is one of the largest cities in Canada, so the transportation system here is also very modern and considered quite convenient, you can travel by many public transport.

Subway: This is a popular means of transport, you can easily go to visit Toronto city. However, a note when traveling by Toronto subway is that the main lines of the subway do not usually go to all of the attractions and sometimes there are sections of the subway rail that are repaired so you will have to find another alternative.

Bus: This vehicle makes it easy for you to traveling because it can pick you up on all routes in the city. With more than 300 bus routes and operating from 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. the next day, this is a suitable means of transport that you should use.

In addition, you can also use Hop-On Hop-Off bus service which takes you to the almost main tourist attractions of the city. Refer to here.

Streetcar: A tram system running along the track in the middle of the streets, with about 11 lines running to all points of the city. But you should pay attention when catching a streetcar, because it does not stop on the side of the road.

Toronto blog: Where to go, what to do?

Niagara Falls

One of the tourist attractions in Toronto that attracts tourists most to visit is Niagara Falls. This is one of the most famous waterfalls in the world with majestic beauty, located on the border between the US and Canada. Coming here in any season of the year, you will also be fascinated with the majestic scenery mixed with charm, creating a wonderful picture of nature. Coming here is sure to make visitors feel like they are lost in the wonderland when admiring the spectacular, overwhelming scenery of the falls both day and night.

The waterfall will release white foam in the sunlight, creating rainbow colors sometimes hidden, sometimes appear, creating extremely beautiful scenes. When night falls, the high-pressure light system with vivid colors projecting into the falls, making the scene of the waterfall become shimmering and fanciful like a rainbow appearing at night. You also can take a boat tour to get closer to the falls or take a helicopter scenic flight tour to watching the falls from above.

Canada’s National Tower (CN Tower)

Inaugurated in 1976, with a height of 553.33m, the Canadian National Tower, also known as CN Tower for short, was the tallest tower in the world at that time and maintained this title for 31 years in a row. This is the most ideal spot to see the panoramic view of the city of Toronto. Especially at its 360 ​​restaurant, you will see a very luxurious and romantic scene.

CN Tower is considered a symbol of the city of Toronto in particular and one of the symbols of Canada in general. In 1995, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) voted CN Tower as one of the 7 wonders of the modern world.

A 3-min walk from the Rogers Centre
Address: 290 Bremner Blvd, Toronto, ON M5V 3L9, Canada
Hours: 10AM–9PM
Opened: June 26, 1976
Floors: 147

High Park

This High Park is one of the largest parks in Toronto, spanning 161 hectares, fully converging as a natural amusement park with sports, cultural, educational facilities, 18 campsites, playground and zoo. The special thing here is that one third of the park is still in its natural state, with the rare old black oak savannah, eco-tourism areas, unique forests and lakes full of romantic. Here you can camping, hiking, entertain with family and friends or take a walk along Grenadier Pond in the western part of the park that will make you forget you are in Canada’s largest city.

Address: 1873 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M6R 2Z3, Canada
Hours: Open 24 hours
Created: 1876

Casa Loma

This is a romantic hilltop mansion designed in Gothic Revival and Scottish baronial architecture styles, was built in 1914. The mansion with 3 floors, has a total of 98 rooms, modern and luxurious interior with many fountains, statues and secret tunnels is one of the top Toronto’s tourist attractions that attract any visitor. In addition, you can also enjoy delicious food in aristocratic style, dance with Summer Music Series, or enjoy relaxing moments at Ghost Tracking.

Address: 1 Austin Terrace, Toronto, ON M5R 1X8, Canada
Hours: 9:30AM–5PM
Founded: 1914

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

Located in British Columbia, the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a great destination for visitors from March to October. The reserve covers an area of ​​​​about 197 square miles including land and sea. Coming here, visitors will be able to participate in many exciting outdoor activities such as climbing, camping, fishing, kayaking and interacting with animals. For those who love bird watching, Pacific Rim Reserve is an ideal place with more than 250 species of birds inhabited here.

Address: British Columbia, Canada
Hours: 8AM–11PM
Established: 1970

Distillery District

For those who love history and want to explore the classic beauty of Canada, Distillery District is the ideal attraction in Toronto which was designated as world heritage site on November 11, 1988. This district owns 40 historic buildings located on 10 streets for visitors to explore and visit. The Distillery is considered a huge collection of North American post-Victorian architecture.

Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG)

Also known as “Big Ideas for Small Gardens”, TBG covers nearly four acres and has 17 “city gardens”. TBG is a horticulture and education nonprofit whose mission is to connect people, plants, and the natural world through education, inspiration, and leadership.

The botanical garden is a sanctuary for rare plant species, mainly focusing on the art of floriculture, fruit and vegetable cultivation and horticulture. The botanical garden has 17 different garden themes covering an area of ​​4 acres. There are also indoor and outdoor activities, including garden tours, camping, walking in the grasslands, etc. to bring interesting experiences for all ages. The garden with beautiful scenery is a favorite place for couples to take pictures. In addition, visitors can also shopping at shops near the botanical garden, stop by at the 4-season cafe or visit farmers’ markets.

The highlight of the garden is the LEED Silver Certified building with a green roof and designed according to biotechnology. Toronto is known as a green city with many green parks designed sustainably in terms of materials and technology to improve drainage.

Address: 777 Lawrence Ave E, North York, ON M3C 1P2, Canada
Hours: 7AM–9PM
Opened: 1958
Building hours: 9am to 5pm daily

Canada’s Wonderland

What to play in Toronto? About 40km from downtown Toronto, opened in 1981 until today. Canada’s Wonderland amusement park attracts more than 3 million visitors to visit, explore and have fun every year. With an area of ​​more than 134 hectares, this amusement park is divided into 8 small amusement parks for you to choose from such as Action Zone, International Street, International Festival, KidZville, Medieval Faire, Planet Snoopy, Splash Works and White Water Canyon.

Address: 1 Canada’s Wonderland Drive, Vaughan, ON L6A 1S6, Canada
Roller coasters: 17

Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada

Referring to the famous tourist attractions in Toronto, it cannot help but mention to Ripley’s Aquarium. With over 20,000 rare marine animals and a capacity of up to 5.7 million liters of water and spreading on an area of 12,500 m2 (135,000 sq ft), Ripley’s Aquarium officially becomes the largest aquarium with the most North America’s underwater tunnels.

A 1-min walk from the CN Tower
Address: 288 Bremner Blvd, Toronto, ON M5V 3L9, Canada
Hours: 10AM–8PM
Opened: October 16, 2013

Harbourfront Centre

Harbourfront is very attractive place to visit because it is an entertainment complex with many cascade programs such as music and dance performances, food festivals, art exhibitions, fun family activities… This center is run by a non-profit organization, with an area of ​​​​about 4 hectares, events take place continuously throughout the year.

Coming to the art center, you will start from York Quay, where there are unique artworks from various art exhibitions, from visual art to architecture, experimentation. Then you will be seated next to the lakeside to admire the beautiful view of Lake Ontario and the Toronto Islands.

Address: 235 Queens Quay W, Toronto, ON M5J 2G8, Canada
Founded: January 1, 1991

Kensington Market

Kensington Market is a tourist place with a quaint feature, capturing much of the city’s historical evidence, the most vibrant and diverse neighbourhood of Toronto. In 2006, this place was recognized as a national historic site of Canada. The reason makes Kensington Market has become an attractive tourist attracion in Toronto is because it marks a unique historical event. In the early years of the twentieth century, the first people to come to this area to live were Jews from Europe who immigrated here, then many other people from other countries also came here to settle. A large part of American soldiers opposed the Vietnam War, so they came here to settle. It is because of the ethnic diversity that has made a colorful Kensington culture, from styles to lifestyles from all over the world converge here.

Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome)

Every year at the Rogers sports complex, many sports competitions with the largest scale in Canada take place, with unique and impressive art and singing performances that attract a large number of visitors.

A 3-min walk from the CN Tower
Address: 1 Blue Jays Way, Toronto, ON M5V 1J1, Canada
Capacity: 53,506
Opened: June 3, 1989
Height: 86 m

Rideau Canal

Built between 1827 and 1832, with a length of up to 202km, the Rideau Canal extends from the capital of Ottawa to the port of Kingston, Ontario. This canal was applied the most advanced construction technology of the Europeans at that time.

In the past, the British built this canal with the original purpose of military service, to protect the Canadian colony against the threat of the United States. It was recognized as a UNECSO World Heritage Site in 2007.

Today, the Rideau Canal is a popular tourist attraction in Canada. With many parks, gardens, museums and romantic walkways along both sides of the canal, in the summer months, this place is bustling with pedestrians and boats back and forth. In winter, the Rideau Canal freezes into the longest natural ice rink in the world.

Toronto blog: What to eat?

Smoky Pea Soup

This dish originated in France, brought with it by expeditors when they came to this new land. The process of making this dish is very simple, which is that the dried peas will be crushed, combined with chopped bacon, and added vegetables and cream to make the dish more delicious, attractive and lively.

Canadian Butter Tarts

This is a favorite cake of many people in the “Land of Maple Leaf”, with a crispy crust combined with a sweet and fragrant filling made from a mixture of sugar, eggs and butter mixed to create an extremely attractive tart. This is considered a traditional dish of the indigenous people, this dish is often enjoyed with a cup of hot coffee. You can taste butter tarts anywhere in Toronto, at cafes or pastry shops.

Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo bar is a typical, tremendously sweet bar dessert of Canada. The cake is named after a city in British Columbia called Nanaimo and bars. The cake is formed from three overlapping layers including a layer of chocolate and coconut biscuits, a layer of vanilla butter and a thick layer of chocolate. Currently, the chefs also process some more flavors to serve diners such as mint, green tea, peanut butter…

Canadian Pizza (Canadian-style pizza)

Pizza is famous as a typical Italian dish, but in Canada this dish is also very popular and is re-processed in a unique Canadian style and flavor. The two most popular varieties of Canadian Pizza are Wayne Gretzky, which includes cheeses like mozzarella, curd, and cheddar with Italian sausage, chili slices, onions and bacon, spicy sauce, and Cronenberg Crash, which includes spicy tofu and bell peppers, cilantro pesto, mango, peanut.

Beaver Tails (Canadian Donuts)

Beaver Tails donuts has a unique shape like the tail of a beaver. This fried cake is kneaded into a shape from flour, then poured on top of fresh cream, jam and strawberries. Currently, to serve the needs of diners, chefs also create Beaver Tails fried cakes with chocolate filling, topped with candy or different fruits.

Fish and brewis

This is also a Canadian bold-style dish that visitors must try when coming to Toronto. This dish is made from salted cod and bread. Before processing, salted fish will be soaked in water to reduce the salinity and soak slices of hard bread in water to soften. Then boil them until tender and soft. Another indispensable ingredient in this dish is cracklings (scratchings). Pork lard diced and deep fried and mixed all three together. The greasy taste of the cracklings mixes with the salty taste of the fish and the slightly sweet taste of the bread, creating an unforgettable attractive taste.

Bloody Caesar Cocktail

Caesar is a very popular drink in Canada. It was created by a restaurant manager named Calgary Walter Chell in 1969 and gradually became a popular drink in this country. Ingredients to make Calgary Walter Chell include vodka, clamato water, a little worchester and a little salt on the rim of the glass.

There is also a restaurant that also created a special food attached to Bloody Caesar glass, which is the Checkmate Caesar. With a huge selection of foods including whole roast chicken, cheese hot dog, chocolate cake, burger, pork and stewed vegetable, make sure you will be hooked and want to eat it as soon as you see it.

Tourtiere (French Canadian Meat Pie)

The intersection of two cuisines of France and Canada, each French Canadian Meat Pie is meticulously prepared. Accordingly, the filling of the pie is made of minced beef, pork, and goat meat. After that, it will be marinated with typical cooking spices, herbs and crispy baked. When enjoying this dish, it is best to add a little ketchup to increase the deliciousness and attractiveness.

Canadian bacon (Back bacon)

This is a popular dish of many Canadians that is prepared in a unique way with meat taken from lean back meat, so less fat, and salted and then rolled over a layer of peameal before being smoked, creating a more distinctive flavor to the dish. Visitors when enjoying Back bacon will feel the flavor is stronger than other types of meat and the tender meat seems to melt on the tip of the tongue.

Toronto travel blog: What and where to buy?

PATH underground shopping mall

Path underground is the busiest shopping place in Toronto in particular and Canada in general. Path Street is located just below downtown Toronto, including 48 high-rise office buildings, 6 large hotels and 1,200 large and small shops. The Path neighborhood has been included in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest underground shopping mall in the world with a total retail floor area of 371,600 m2 (4,000,000 sq ft). Here visitors will enjoy exploring and shopping.

St. Lawrence Market

St. Lawrence is Toronto’s old market with more than 200 years old. This place has become a familiar shopping stop for many domestic and foreign tourists when traveling to Toronto. The market has more than 100 shops selling wholesale and retail everything from fashion to food. St. Lawrence Market is open from Tuesday to Saturday.

Address: 93 Front St E, Toronto, ON M5E 1C3, Canada
Hours: 9AM–5PM/Saturday: 5AM–4PM/Monday, Sunday: Closed
Floor area: 111,458 square feet (10,354.8 m2)

Toronto travel blog: Where to stay?

Below we recommend more best budget, mid-range and upscale hotels with good ratings and reviews you can refer to.

• One King West Hotel & Residence (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• Hyatt Regency Toronto (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• Delta Hotels by Marriott Toronto (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• InterContinental Toronto Centre (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• The Omni King Edward Hotel (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• Le Germain Hotel Toronto Mercer (Agoda.com or Booking.com)

Check out more top and best hotels in Toronto via Agoda.com or Booking.com.

Toronto blog: Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, from and to Toronto you can refer to

• CN Tower Admission Ticket in Toronto
• Toronto Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour
• Niagara Falls Small Group Day Tour from Toronto
• Niagara Falls Day Tour from Toronto
• Scenic Toronto Night Small Group Tour
• Niagara Parks Adventure Pass in Niagara Falls Canada

Read more Canada travel guide here.