Last weekend I traveled to Toronto for the first time. I have been to a few different cities in Canada but haven’t been to Toronto despite it being a relatively short drive from Pittsburgh at about 5.5 hours. The main purpose of our trip was to see the San Jose Sharks play the Maple Leafs and to add another NHL arena to our list. Luckily, Toronto has so much to offer so we were able to fit a lot into our few days there. I am sharing some of the things we did throughout our trip in this Toronto travel guide.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Toronto Downtown for our trip, which was a nice hotel in a good location. The hotel was situated between Old Toronto, Downtown, and the Distillery District so we were able to walk to most places we went. Toronto is such a large city so there are so many different areas to stay in, but our location was convenient for what we were doing.
Sharks/Maple Leafs Game
I love seeing NHL games in Canadian cities because they are a bit of a different experience than seeing them in the U.S. Toronto is an Original Six team so these fan bases are especially into their teams. The crowd was good but if I am being honest, no crowd has yet to beat the one in Montreal. The arena is nice and it has good sight lines, but the ticket prices are by far the highest I have encountered in the league thus far. The Sharks lost the game which was disappointing, but it was still a fun experience.
Unionville, ON
In my earlier blog post, I talked about how I visited the towns that Schitt’s Creek was filmed in, and one location was in the village of Unionville, ON. I had no plans of going to Unionville if it weren’t for visiting the filming locations and actually I didn’t know it existed, but it ended being an adorable small town. The village was founded in the late 1700’s so it has amazing, old architecture and plenty of charm. There are boutiques, bars, and restaurants that line the street so you can definitely spend a day here and stay busy.
Hockey Hall of Fame
Being the avid hockey lovers we are, one of our top priorities when visiting Toronto was to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Hockey Hall of Fame has memorabilia from all of the teams in the NHL and all sorts of history. If you are a hockey lover then it truly is an experience that is well worth it, and is very reasonably priced at $20 for admission. The best part is the Stanley Cup is kept in their Great Hall for most of the year (along with all of the other trophies), and you can get a picture with it as well. Highly recommend for my fellow hockey fans!
CN Tower
Toronto’s main tourist attraction is the CN Tower, which is the prettiest part of the city’s skyline. You can go up in the tower where there is a lookout that overlooks the city as well as Lake Ontario. There are different admission options for the tower and different levels you can go to. The general admission goes to the two main lookout levels, which feature all glass windows for optimal viewing. The SkyPod requires an extra admission price and goes up 300 feet higher. The views from the tower are amazing but I will say that the admission price is a bit high ranging from $38-$53.
Old Toronto
The neighborhood of Old Toronto was right between our hotel and the arena, Hockey Hall of Fame, and CN Tower, therefore we walked through it a lot. The architecture is older and it features buildings such as the flatiron building which make a statement. Berczy Park is also within the neighborhood and it is a beautiful little park. The park is clean with plenty of trees but also features an adorable dog fountain. I have never seen a fountain like this but it is a very pretty fountain and the dogs features are so cute. Unique indeed!
Food and Drinks
Adam and I are both pretty picky eaters so we aren’t too big into the restaurant scene. We mostly get quick things like pizza but the one night on our trip we did have dinner at Fusaro’s. Fusaro’s is a very small restaurant that has “cafeteria style” seating but has great Italian food. They have pizza, pasta, paninis, and salads so there is plenty to choose from and I recommend it. If you are into the bar scene, the city has a ton of them to offer. We went to the CC Lounge & Whisky Bar which is located in Old Toronto. The bar is divided into two areas and has a decent menu. The music they play is rather loud and despite it being a cocktail bar, it also felt a bit clubby. We had one drink and then closed out. We went a little bit down the street to D.W Alexander which is a speakeasy style of bar. They have a great list of cocktails and have a much quieter, relaxing atmosphere. The drinks were well-made and it was a good bar to hang out in for awhile.
Overall, our weekend in Toronto was a great time and we were able to pack a lot in during our short time there. I would love to go back and experience more that the city has to offer. Until next time!
