Going to Toronto or Montreal for Sept. mini-moon...I think

[Maura]

All you Toronto ladies, I need some info from you!

 

I think my DH has conned me into taking a second mini-moon trip to Toronto over Labor Day weekend since we only get 3 days to be totally alone during our honeymoon week (because several of his friends were too rude to take the hint to stay somewhere other than our hotel after our wedding day). We were randomly talking about Toronto last night after looking at a map - he's only been there once for a Rush concert last fall so he didn't do anything but go to the concert with his friend, and I've never been at all. I think it sounds like a fun getaway weekend just when we will be hit with the post-wedding blues (ok at least me haha).

 

Before I commit to letting him spend all the money to fly there and stay in a hotel and all that stuff, I'd like to know a little more about the city. I would like to go, don't get me wrong, I just dont know much about the city! I want to get excited about it if we go.

 

Can you fill me in about what kind of fun stuff there is to do? (Other than a baseball game, because I already checked and the Jays are not in town that weekend) What kinds of things would you recommend? Places to eat, things to do, etc etc. Should we rent a car, or would we be okay without one?

 

We found a really good package deal through travelocity and it would be about $1200 for both of us to fly and stay in a nice hotel for 3 nights, 4 days. I'd like to keep the spending at $2K USD or below...what do you suggest? TIA!

[Davematthews16]

Well, I was in Toronto in April and although it's a couple hour drive, I would recommend going to Niagara Falls. It's one of the cutest towns, is very romantic and the falls are absolutely breath-taking. We ate some really good food in down-town Toronto, but I can't think of the names for the life of me. I know the Italian food is very good down there! Sorry, not much help...

[JaimeLynne]

I have never been so I have no advice for you. I just wanted to say that I've always wanted to go to Canada! I lived in WA for 1 year and never went and have always regretted it!

[~Kate~]

Hey Maura!

 

Glad you're thinking of making the trek up to Canada!!

 

I think the main attractions, from a tourist point of view, are the CN Tower, Casa Loma, the Ontario Science Centre (more for kids), the Royal Ontario Musuem, the Toronto Zoo, and the Hockey Hall of Fame….not sure if you’re interested in any of those. The ROM is pretty cool now that they've redone it. You can get access to all of them with a CityPass from TO Tourism. I really like the cultural side of TO – the arts scene is pretty great…if you are into theatre, check out torontolivetheatre.com. The Distillery District is a cool place to go for dinner and to walk around, I love it down there. The TO islands are nothing special IMO.

 

You can also go on a day trip to Niagara Falls or Niagara-on-the-lake. When FI and I were last in NOTL, we did a cycling winery tour that was fabulous.

 

Hope this helps. Keep us updated on your mini-moon plans.

 

Kate

[Chiquita]

CN Tower for sure.. but don't go if you don't like heights

[Alyssa]

Maura,

 

I have been to Toronto and it is really cool but really big city-like. Honestly (no offense to any Toronto peeps!) you should go to Montreal - Montreal is so chic and romantic - very parisian - perfect for a mini-moon. I wonder if you could get a similar deal there!?!

[*Heather*]

Hey Maura! I have tons of info for you, but I'm heading out the door so I'll have to log on later or tomorrow and fill you in.

 

No worries Alyssa, I actually agree with you...Montreal definitely is more "romantic." Toronto is great to live, but for a "vacation" Montreal probably is better. There are some gorgeous areas, amazing restaurants, and good shopping too. You don't have to speak French to be able to get around either.

 

I'll write more later! If you decide to consider Montreal I can give you some ideas for things to do there as well...

[JulieG]

Maura, Toronto is awesome. Its so much fun and there is soooo much to do and amazing places to eat and shop. I agree that Montreal is more romantic, but Toronto is more fun, so it depends on what you are looking for. At the same time, Toronto can be very romantic. Like the 360 restaurant at the top of the CN Tower is a very romantic and great place to eat. I can also recommend many cool shops on Queen Street West and great places to eat. There are lots of shows to take in, we have Dirty Dancing right now which I have heard great things about. Its just a funky fun city with lots of cool stuff to do. So, if you do decide to come here, please message me and we can get a plan set up for you, or just give you lots of ideas of things to do. There is also a really cool bus tour of the city that you could go on that tells you lots of history and cool things about the city that most people don't know. So I saw come come come to Toronto and message me and I can get a feel for where you want to go and what you want to do and help you out with that.

[MissyR]

Maura there are sooo many wonderful things to do here in TO - Some of the "non-touristy" stuff you could do includes Kensington Market (great food and gift outdoor/indoor market) - Queen's Quay boat tours - lots of good shopping like the Eaton Centre and Queen West.. and TONS of great restaurants...

 

Which hotel will you be staying at? I can give you a ton of great recommendations!

[Jen5372]

Maura-I wonder if it would be easier for you to fly into Buffalo and drive up to Toronto? ( 1.5-2 hours only by car) Then you dont need a passport to cross the bridge (but its great if you do-easier)...and you could rent a car cheaply at Buff airport. Then you could do niagara falls for a day and Toronto as well. Theres 2 casinos that are fun in Niagara, ON and one awesome on in Niagara falls NY side. Buffalo is boring-but there is amazing food joints ( like ted's hotdogs LOL)

 

I am from Buffalo so if you need info let me know. I bet airfare to Buff might be cheaper and then maybe you could save money or have more to spend?? I also have an 800 number that tells you bridge traffic so you can decide which bridge to use to cross into canada in case you were to drive. I go thru CA all the time to Michigan...so I use the bridges all the time and the traffic number saves me so much!

 

HTH