Toronto is My Best Place on Planet

The summer is the best time to visit North America, and especially the great Canada. In the peak months of June and July, I spent the best time of my life in Toronto. The largest city in Canada, is also the business and technological hub of Canada. The Toronto’s summer offers a variety of different options and perfect weather. and after all, it was Canada’s 150th Birthday which made my stay in Toronto a memorable thing, that I’ll never forget.

Getting to Toronto

First thing first, there are hundreds of direct flights to/from Toronto to Europe, Middle East, North America, South America and Australia, I recommend checking a cheap flight on skyscanner.com. I went to Toronto from Montreal, which was a 4 hours journey in a train with good speed. that journey costed me $100 CAD (Canadian Dollar) and the reason for the expensive ticket was that I bought the ticket at the last minute. You can travel from New York to Toronto by road for as low as $80 depending on when you buy the ticket at bus station.

toronto-harbour-tour — Myself taking the Waterfront tour in Toronto.

How expensive is Toronto?

Honestly speaking, Toronto is same as New York or any other US city. When I first arrived in Toronto, I stayed in a hostel called “Hi Toronto Hostel“ which was located on the Church street in downtown Toronto and I found that on Agoda.com (which I always use for booking hotels and hostels). That was a great place to stay which cost me $30 CAD per night. Then, I researched for a room on monthly basis using Kijiji.com which is a popular website in Canada for finding anything including rooms.

toronto-waterfront — From our cruise, the Toronto city skyline can be seen clearly.

After few days struggle, I found a room on the Beverly street which was owned by a Chinese. I rented that for $550 CAD a month. it was a nice quite room with shared kitchen and bathrooms. I stayed there for two months. if we consider it in USD then it costed me $435 USD per month at that time, which is like $14 USD a day.

The next thing was food, I usually spent $20 CAD for lunch and dinner in Toronto, and then something like $5 CAD for drinks. actually, I was spending around $30 USD a day in Toronto. and since I was staying in Downtown, so I was always using “feet” to explore the city 🙂 I also took a few paid tours in the city which includes the Toronto Waterfront and city sightseeing bus tour.

For other types of transportation, Toronto is a world class city with Subway Trains, Electrical buses and vast taxi options. The train and bus cost $3 CAD for a single ride, and taxis are expensive, but Uber is available and is much cheaper than regular taxis.

If you are looking for cheap shopping, drinks and food then don’t forget to visit China Town on Spadina avenue which is a great place and always crowded. For reference, please watch my Toronto travel vlog below.

china-town-toronto — China Town on Spadina Avenue in Downtown Toronto.

What to see in Toronto?

There are many attractions you’d like to explore in Toronto which include modern infrastructure, the great CN Tower and historical museums i.e the Casa Loma museum. and the city sightseeing bus tour is a nice experience which will show you almost every place in the city. and if you buy a package then you’ll get the cruise tour free. and the Toronto Islands are wonderful places to explore using that Waterfront Cruise which comes free when you buy a city tour package.

Toronto-city-sightseeing-bus — The Toronto City sightseeing bus is available at Dundas Square.

There are beaches in Toronto; yes you read correctly. there are many beaches in the outskirts of Toronto city. and I can never forget the Dundas square in downtown Toronto which is like the Times Square of Toronto. Lake Ontario is another attraction that you’d like to visit in Toronto. I also visited the Lawrence Market which is a wonderful place near Union Station in Toronto, that’s 200 years old marketplace for household goods.

queen's-park-toronto — The beautiful Queen’s Park in Downtown, Toronto

After all, the Toronto city is a busy and crowded city. and you’ll find people from over 100 countries to chat with and have fun. I was staying near Queen’s Park which was an amazing place. The University of Toronto was just next to my house (my room in the house), so I usually used to go there at the evening times, and that place just amazed me.

dundas-square-toronto — And the badass, Dundas Square which is like Times Square.

The Toronto itself is a central city, and that’s mostly the downtown and some surrounding areas. but the Creator Toronto Area (GTA) consists of many cities such as Brampton, Milton, York, Durham, Peel and many other towns. and you can easily access all these areas by using train and buses. Toronto and GTA are both environmentally clean and safe cities. Toronto got 4th position in recent Economist list of safest cities in the world.

Over to you:

Have you ever visited Toronto? if yes then share one favorite thing you liked in Toronto. I’d appreciate your feedback and any question if you have about Toronto. I loved Toronto, did you too? The best thing about Toronto and Canada is that people are very friendly and the authorities are so professional and polite in every department.

My Travel VLOG on Toronto