Ontario, Toronto, and Montreal: A Canadian Sprint

I know that headline reads a bit intense, but it’s doable. Hear me out! 😁

For context, the Toronto excursion was part of my and my hubby’s Schitt’s Creek road trip. You can read all about our adventure here. And because of a long layover on the way back to LA, it was also a chance to revisit the city that first sparked my love of old architecture 15 years ago. Spoiler: she’s still a stunner.

Hey there! Just a heads up – this post includes some affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only share products I actually use and love! Thanks for supporting this blog. ❤️ Full disclosure here.

Ontario and its majestic waterfalls – The Niagara Falls

We followed some of the budget and vacation hacks to maximize our time. We flew a red-eye the day before the 4th of July and landed in Toronto early morning of the 4th. We got in our rental, grabbed breakfast at the Canadian institution that is Tim Hortons. Fueled by coffee and Timbits, we pointed our rental car straight toward Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls has been on my bucket list of places to visit, so it was a no-brainer to drive about an hour after flying six hours from a different country and a different timezone to see this jaw-dropping waterfall IRL, finally. Who wouldn’t be fascinated with these facts from the Niagara Falls Canada website¹:

• The crescent-shaped cataract is 54 M (177 ft) high.
• It carries nine times more water than its United States counterpart.
• The Falls at Niagara are about 12,000 years old.
• There are actually two waterfalls in Niagara, the American Falls and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

As we drove down Murray Street in search of parking, we could already hear the gushing, powerful sounds of the falls. Once we got on Niagara Falls Highway, we were mesmerized by the view. We busted a U-turn (aka bust a b**ch, if you’re an LA native 🤣), found an all-day parking lot by the Skylon Tower, and strolled down through Queen Victoria Park for that picture-perfect view.

Of course, we had to do the classic tourist thing: we hopped on the City Cruises boat to get the full immersive experience. It was approximately a 20-minute ride on the Hornblower and WE. GOT. DRENCHED. Those plastic ponchos? Adorable, but useless. We got soaked and loved every second.

After drying off in the sun, we walked around the area, mainly in search of poutine. We walked by Clifton Hill, which is an amusement park. If you have little ones or enjoy rides, this might be a worthwhile stop for you. We finally found Smokes Poutine a few blocks away. Their poutine was the perfect comfort food. The cheese was gooey, and the fries were crispy even though they were drenched in gravy.

We checked into our hotel in Toronto, our home base for this weekend trip. We scored a table at R&D, a Canadian-Asian fusion spot co-founded by Eric Chong (Rebel) and Alvin Wong (Demon). The relaxed ambiance perfectly suits millennials as they also played 90s and early 2000s hip-hop and R&B music. And of course, the food and drinks were delicious. The fried rice alone was worth the trip. Pro tip: Summerlicious (Toronto’s prix-fixe dining festival) is the best excuse to try new restaurants without blowing the budget.

The day after our Schitt’s Creek road trip, it was all about exploring the city by public transit. For $10 CAD, the day pass gave us unlimited rides on streetcars, buses, and subways—such a deal. After walking to Union Station for our day passes, we headed to St. Lawrence Market.

St. Lawrence Market is a must-stop for first-time Toronto travelers like us. Its history is fascinating. St. Lawrence Market has been a cornerstone of Toronto life since the early 1800s, originally serving as the city’s main marketplace and even housing city hall for a time. Today, it’s famous for its bustling food halls, specialty vendors, and the iconic peameal bacon sandwich, which we got to try, and browsed stalls of local goods. Just south of the market, we stumbled onto vintage vendors (soon moving to a permanent space).

We wandered on, this time using our passes, to the Distillery Historic District. It was once home to the Gooderham & Worts Distillery, founded in 1832 and once the largest distillery in the British Empire. Today, its preserved Victorian-era industrial buildings have been transformed into a lively hub for arts, culture, dining, and shopping. Cobblestones, 19th-century architecture, and plenty of shops, art, and history. It’s like stepping into a preserved piece of Toronto’s past—with great photo ops.

Up next on our itinerary was exploring Kensington Market for lunch. It’s a completely different vibe from St. Lawrence Market. Funky, colorful, eclectic. Street art, indie shops, global eats. It’s the kind of place where you discover treasures like sugar apple (atis, for my fellow Filipinos). I mean, NGL, my mouth is watering right now just writing about it! One of the disappointing parts of this trip was that we were unable to bring some back with us to share it with our family and friends in LA. We devoured every bite of it.

Chinatown was conveniently next to Kensington, where we grabbed egg tarts and pork buns from Mashion Bakery for the early morning snack to the airport.

Because summer humidity is a beast, we swapped Casa Loma for Graffiti Alley in Queen West. Think two blocks of walls splashed with vibrant street art and quotes—it felt like walking through Toronto’s creative pulse.

For our last meal in Toronto, we ventured to Little Italy and opted to try some Spanish-inspired tapas at Bar Isabel. The bone marrow and squid? Absolute heaven. Even other diners were eyeballing our plates.

Did I trick you into thinking we were going to an Italian spot? We had a couple of backup Italian spots in mind, but if you’ve been perusing through this blog, one of the main things we did was eat. Our bellies were filled with good food, and pasta was not calling our name. However, we did read that Cafe Diplomatico and Sotto Voce are great spots for Italian food in the area.

And with that, we packed our bags to head back home. But first, a stopover in Montreal.

For someone who prefers flying non-stop, this idea of leaving the airport to wander a city with a heavy rainfall forecast was very foreign to me. Armed with research (and optimism), I was convinced that a quick day trip to Montreal was possible. We grabbed a day pass right at the Montreal airport and hopped the 747 bus (45 minutes to downtown).

Old Montreal (Vieux-Montreal) greeted us with cobblestone streets and European charm:

• Crew Collective & Cafe – Once a grand bank, now a café with incredible details. I ❤️ that they repurposed those tables where you write your deposit slips! (Side note: I wonder if GenZs and GenAlphas even know what deposit slips are?! 🤔)
• Notre-Dame Basilica – Unfortunately, they were renovating and weren’t able to fully explore it.
• Place Jacques-Cartier – A square filled with restaurants and history. But since we arrived around 11 am, most places were still closed.
• Bonsecurs Market – a shopping souvenir area where we took maple syrup shots with other tourists.

Since rain was in the forecast, we headed to Plateau Mont-Royal to eat “the real poutine” at La Banquise. Yes, there was line filled with both tourists, students and locals. The weather gods were with us that day because as soon as we sat, the rain POURED!

La Banquise is a 24-hour poutine destination with a variety of options. We were impressed with how rich and flavorful the poutine was, especially the gravy.

Although the weather tamed a bit once we finished devouring our poutine, we didn’t want to risk missing our plane back to LA. Our last stop was at a local French bakery, Boulangerie Première Moisson, for some scromptous croissants. Fresh croissants, broken French, and Google Translate wrapped up our Montreal dash.

So, was it worth leaving the airport during layovers? Absolutely. Here’s what we learned:

• Toronto: Perfect for a mix of big landmarks (Niagara Falls, St. Lawrence Market) and hidden gems (Kensington Market’s fruit stalls, Graffiti Alley).
• Montreal: Even with rain, Old Montreal charmed us with its European flair, and the poutine at La Banquise was the ultimate comfort food. And they still start their day late! 😁
• Pro tip: Grab those all-day transit passes. They’re cheap, easy, and make city-hopping a breeze.
• Foodies rejoice: From fusion fried rice to bone marrow tapas to gooey poutine, Canada knows how to feed you well.

Three locations, 2 1/2 days, one unforgettable adventure. And yes—our bellies were very happy.

I hope this blurb inspires you to keep wandering in a new city, friends – even if it’s just for a few hours.

1. Niagara Falls Facts ↩︎