Budget Trip Itinerary for Toronto
At the beginning of June, the opportunity to travel to Toronto arose as we discovered we both had off from work on the same days of the month. After going through at least ten different destinations, we settled on Toronto if we could find a place to stay that we could both afford. I am a budget traveler and regularly spend time searching for destinations that we can afford to visit. We considered flying, driving, and even taking a tour but finally found a place in our price range and driving range that would be easy to visit for a few days. That place was Toronto. So, with very little time to plan we were off. This is our budget itinerary for Toronto.
The Drive
We live in Philadelphia, which is a roughly seven-hour drive from the Canada- USA border at any given point. To drive straight from Philly to Toronto, it’s an eight-and-a-half-hour drive through central Pennsylvania to Western New York. The drive itself is very scenic and if you go straight up through Tioga County, PA you’ll see gorgeous mountain scapes and lakes. We spent only $150 round trip on gas and tolls which is fantastic. I drive a Subaru Forester, so our gas costs may be higher than your own if you make this trek.
Our Hotel
We elected to stay in an Airbnb outside of Toronto’s city center near Jane Station. I prefer Airbnb when traveling because it allows us to have more variety and cheaper prices when traveling. Due to us traveling as a couple and it being my birthday, I had ruled out hostels.
I found a relatively inexpensive Airbnb with a big enough bed that we could share. We stayed in a private room that had a queen bed, couch, and desk. They provided towels for us as well. The room itself was nice, with a comfortable bed and desk chair, which is very important. The house has a no shoes inside rule and there is a place next to the front door for your shoes. We shared the kitchen with enough space for cooking a meal or just grabbing a cup of coffee. We shared the bathroom among the vacationers there.
The Airbnb we stayed in is located in the Bloor West neighborhood, a small town with many unique coffee shops and restaurants to try. It’s relatively quiet, but the people who live there are extremely friendly. We ate at a few of the coffee shops and restaurants there and they were all fantastic. The Coffee Bouquets, The Coffee Tree Roastery, and Grillway all were stand out stars for food. Nearby there is a farmers’ market that sells the most delicious fresh produce.
Public Transit
Jane is on the Green line of the Toronto Public Transit system (the TTC) and bisects the Yellow line which covers much of the city. Each of the 4 subway lines and the many trolley lines spans a generous amount of the city. We primarily took the green and yellow lines when we went everywhere to reach most of the city. However, the Spadina trolley line saved us more than once.
Definitely get a transit pass if you’re planning on being there because it’s $3.25 per ride with transfer options anywhere in the city. This was one of the more expensive aspects of our trip, as we primarily use public transit.
Our Budget Itinerary
On our drive to Toronto, we did some research as to what was in the area that we were staying in and the activities in the city that we wanted to do. There is so much to do in Toronto so we made some difficult decisions.
Day Zero
We drove up through Central PA to Niagara Falls on Sunday, June 23rd and then on to Toronto. Our drive was largely uneventful, and we made good time on the drive. When we stopped in Niagara the US side was not very alluring. The Canadian side is much nicer, with an amusement park feel that reminds one of either Las Vegas or Disney depending on who you are.
We crossed the USA- Canada border at the rainbow bridge (yes E-ZPass works here!). The border entry here seemed more relaxed than the one we had coming back from Canada when the border patrol agent opened our bags (yikes!). We continued to Toronto and upon arrival to our Airbnb promptly laid down on the bed and took a short nap.
I made reservations for us at a restaurant called MeNami, a restaurant made famous in a sense by Insider. It’s located at Finch station, and one of the most delicious udon places. They serve either Italian or Asian style udon noodles with a variety of flavors. They are famous for their baked udon, but I elected to have their salmon with cream sauce while Ching had the traditional spicy pork. It was a fantastic birthday dinner that I hope to have again. We finished the night with a slice of strawberry crepe cake which I ate back at our Airbnb.
Day One
We started the day off with a coffee and tea from The Coffee Tree Roastery. I asked about the best poutine in the and the baristas recommended The Grillway Souvlaki restaurant down the street. With that information in mind for lunch, we made our way there a few hours later to have some of the crispiest fries I’ve ever had. Their lunch poutine special is so big you need two people to eat it, and it’s only $5 CAD which is an absolute steal. However, the poutine defeated me and I am better for it.
Following our food adventure, we took the subway downtown to Chinatown and spent a while exploring the different shops there. We took a stroll through the University of Toronto’s campus, but we generally were exploring what is lauded as one of the best Chinatown on the American continent. It was definitely the place to be if you like good food and variety. We spent some time wandering and stopped to get bubble tea at Yi Fang Chinatown.
We then went to the Toronto Public Library in downtown Toronto that has a not-so-secret recreation of Sherlock Holmes study. It’s housed on the fifth floor in Special Collections and it is definitely worth the walk. Here they have thousands of books relating to Sherlock Holmes, the life of Arthur Conan Doyle and various recreations of the famous Baker Street resident. The books here are so interesting as the Detective Conan series and other manga make an appearance on the shelves among first editions.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Mabu Station near Finch Station in York. Here they serve traditional Taiwanese food that is absolutely delicious. The food was so good that Ching wanted to keep trying their food for the next few days.
Day Two
Day two was arguably much busier that the previous day. I woke up early and went to The Coffee Bouquets where Viktor and several customers told me all about Toronto and the best places to do things while there. This was the best idea ever.
Today we started the day with Fuwa Fuwa Japanese Pancakes. It was a delicious option for us as it was both filling and amazing. After brunch, we made our way to Casa Loma, a castle atop a hill that overlooks the city. The entry cost is $30 CAD and was a little too steep to swing with two people. While not exactly a fitting option for a budget trip itinerary for Toronto , Casa Loma is a beautiful place to visit.
We walked to the closest rail station to get to our next spot, Hudson’s Bay where the seventh floor houses a free pop-up outside of Kleinfeld’s. It was a ton of fun taking pictures here as it’s a great spot for a photo op. Once we finished taking pictures, we went outside to City Hall where they have a beautiful Toronto sign. From City Hall we made the walk to see CN tower.
CN tower is located next to a railway museum, the Ripley’s aquarium and the Toronto Blue Jays stadium. We spent some time taking photos here before finally finding somewhere to sit and relax for a few minutes. Utterly exhausted after walking over 10 miles that day we called it a night. With the drive home the next morning, I needed to sleep in order to drive.
Day 3
We began our drive home at 8AM stopping at the Coffee Tree Roastery for one more coffee before the drive home. On our way back, we went to the Canada side of Niagara Falls and it was fantastic. Much nicer than the USA side and I wish we had visited this side on our first day!
