Trip Report: Canada
Visited in June 2022
It probably does not happen very often that someone visits 136 countries and Canada was not one of them. For me, Canada was actually the 137th country. I had my reasons for waiting so long to visit the second largest country in the world, but more about that later…
Canada was our last stop on a trip of almost three weeks. We spent the first two weeks on five islands in the Lesser Antilles and in Jamaica before flying to Toronto. For most people I know, this route caused confusion. Why would someone fly from the Caribbean to Canada first and not directly to Europe was the question they asked. However, it made perfectly sense for two reasons.
First, the multi-stop KLM flight from Europe to Sint Maarten and back to Europe from Toronto was dirt cheap (less than €600). Second, after two weeks of small Caribbean islands, we were itching for a real city. The cities in the Lesser Antilles are often rather small villages with zero urban feeling. The countless food options and good coffee alone were reason enough for us to enjoy a city like Toronto after the Caribbean (finding decent coffee in the Caribbean is hard, believe me).
We landed at Toronto Pearson Airport on a late Saturday afternoon. In summer 2022, this airport was the North American equivalent of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Or even worse. An airport that is regularly in the negative headlines due to heavy delays and many cancellations. So it also happened to us that we had to remain seated on the plane for almost two hours after landing, because no staff could be found to connect the boarding bridge to the plane.
The situation in the terminal was unfortunately not really better. There was chaos and it became obvious that the airport lacks plenty of staff to keep the passenger flows under control. At least, after we had mastered the long queue at immigration, we were not selected for a random Covid test. You always have to look on the bright side.
The UP Express took us from the airport to downtown Toronto in 25 minutes. My first impressions were positive. Admittedly, if you haven’t been in such a modern city for a long time, the many skyscrapers are quite impressive. Additionally, Toronto’s most iconic landmark greeted us as we left the Union Station: the CN Tower, once the tallest building in the world.
What I had already noticed before this trip were the very high hotel prices in Toronto. A room in a decent hotel downtown for less than 400 CAD (~300 EUR) per night is not easy to find. Only by luck (and by long searching) we found a great deal from the Omni King Edward Hotel on King Street, where we ended up paying 824 CAD for three nights. Normally, the prices at this hotel are twice as high. Anyway, the location of the hotel couldn’t have been better. In the middle of downtown, surrounded by numerous restaurants and bars, and within walking distance of the Union Station.
The next day we explored Canada’s largest city. Travel blogs often mention that Toronto is too big to explore on foot. However, we did just that and took 33,600 steps that day, equivalent to 26km. We visited the most important landmarks of the city and also took the ferry to Toronto Islands, where we admired the skyline of the city at sunset.
I have already heard from a few people that Toronto is not a must-see city. If this refers only to the sights, I understand this criticism a little. After all, none of the attractions of Toronto has blown me away, apart from the skyscrapers in downtown and the CN Tower, which you can see from a different perspective every now and then.
On the other hand, it wasn’t at all that places like Toronto Islands, the Distillery District, Chinatown or Kensington Market were a waste of time. They certainly offer a good contrast to the financial district. In addition, there is the Ripley’s Aquarium, the Hockey Hall of Fame or the Art Gallery of Ontario. Sights that we didn’t visit, but that might be interesting for others.
All in all, I still found Toronto to be a great and vibrant city. There is a lot going on, you encounter people from all different backgrounds and the city has a cool atmosphere. There is also a huge selection of restaurants with food from all over the world, there are good bars and cafes where you can pass the time. This is exactly what we were looking for when we decided to end our trip in Toronto.
The next day we took the bus (Megabus Canada, CAD 47.50 return ticket) to one of Canada’s biggest attractions: the Niagara Falls. These waterfalls are without a doubt among the most famous in the world. Having already seen Victoria Falls in September 2021 and Iguazu Falls in November 21, Niagara Falls was the next mega-waterfall in just nine months.
The drive from downtown Toronto to Niagara Falls took about two hours and you can easily see the falls within a day. In fact, a few hours is enough. We arrived at the falls at 11.30 am and the bus left again at 4.15 pm. This short time was enough to see the falls from different perspectives and to have lunch and coffee as well.
What is a visit to Niagara Falls like? As soon as you leave the car park, you are already at Horseshoe Falls, probably the most photographed part of Niagara Falls. Afterwards, you can walk along an estimated 2km-long path and view the falls from different viewpoints. There are also some activities, such as ziplining or the Skylon Tower.
The most popular activity, however, is a boat trip directly to the falls. The boat on the American side is called “Maid of the Mist”, the boat on the Canadian side has a different name that I have forgotten. Anyway, you get completely soaked on this boat trip, even though you get a poncho for free. Still, it’s totally worth it. Seeing these gigantic waterfalls up close is quite impressive.
What we couldn’t do was seeing the falls from the US side. In fact, the falls are the border between Canada and the USA, but I didn’t have a US visa and am no longer eligible for an ESTA after visiting several countries blacklisted by the US. This was quite a pity, as it was also a highlight to see the Victoria Falls or Iguazu Falls from two different countries.
Sometimes I even had the feeling that the Americans were getting a bit more out of their site. For example, there are various paths that lead you down to the falls. Otherwise, the experience is probably more or less similar. You can also do a boat tour and other activities from the American side, as already mentioned.
But the trip to Niagara Falls was great even without the American side. Since we went on a Monday, it was also much less busy than I would have expected. Of course, there were still a lot of people, but I imagined it to be much more touristy.
How would I rank Niagara Falls compared to Victoria Falls or Iguazu Falls? Honestly, Niagara Falls is not quite as amazing as their counterparts in Southern Africa and South America respectively. They are definitely impressive and worth a visit, but both Victoria Falls and Iguazu Falls are on another level. Whether it’s the waterfalls themselves or the activities you can do there.
Our Canada trip more or less ended after we returned from Niagara Falls. We had one more evening and half a day in Toronto after our return. However, the weather was so lousy from then on that we couldn’t really do anything outside. So we skipped the trip to the top of the CN Tower and spent the last half day in malls. Certainly not a perfect ending, but apart from the CN Tower we had seen everything we wanted to see anyway.
As I have already written, there are enough travellers who don’t really find Toronto exciting. Funnily enough, we found the three days in Canada to be the highlight of our trip. Whether that speaks for Toronto or rather against all the Caribbean islands we visited before is another question. If we had visited Toronto after New York, Boston and Chicago, the conclusion might have been different. This way, however, it was a great fit for us. It was absolutely the right decision to take the detour via Canada after the Caribbean before flying home again.
In any case, it was a good debut for me in the second largest country in the world. Besides, it was certainly not my last trip there. The question is rather why it took so long for me to visit Canada. The reason is actually quite simple. When I look at the highlights of Canada, many things look similar to those in my home country of Switzerland. Banff and Jasper, for example, don’t really look any different than when I get on a train and drive for two hours to Central Switzerland.
This does not mean that nature in Canada is bad in any way. It’s more like Canada just wasn’t the very highest priority for me because of that. For this reason, areas like Newfoundland and Labrador or Nova Scotia are more interesting for me than the most popular national parks in Canada. At the same time, I have to say that for me as a Swiss, the United States of America is definitely the more exciting destination than Canada for exactly the reasons I described.
Nevertheless, I will certainly return to Canada again. Next time probably to the West Coast. And even the places I describe as “similar to Switzerland” I will probably visit sooner or later. After all, Canada is a country that offers something for every traveller, if only because of its sheer size. Consequently, the first three days in Canada will be well remembered and I hope to be back again soon.
Click here to find the trip reports of the 170+ other countries I have visited so far!
