Toronto

[Midwest Michael]

I've actually got some time off, so I'm thinking of fleeing the country for Memorial Day weekend. Planning to leave from Wisconsin on Friday afternoon, stay overnight somewhere in Michigan, spend Saturday and Sunday in Toronto, and then head back on Monday.

I'm planning on catching a game at the stadium formerly known as Skydome, and I'd like to camp somewhere near the city, but otherwise I don't have any real plans.

Any suggestions for things to do, places to stay, or activities that would keep a 5 year old occupied for a few hours?

[Syv]

Camp somewhere near the city? Have you already looked into this? Not sure how close you mean to find a campground.

For the 5-yr-old - a day at the Science Centre will be fun & educational. Pretty amazing place for kids & lots of hands-on knobs & buttons to fiddle with.
www.ontariosciencecentre.ca

Toronto Blue Jays vs Minnesota Twins - Sat. May 27 4:07 pm game time
www.rogerscentre.com

The CN Tower (world's tallest) is right beside the Rogers Centre (Skydome). If you can afford it, take the ride up. Your 5-yr-old will love this too.

If you have a rental car and have never been, why not drive down to Niagara Falls (Canadian side)?

[Midwest Michael]

I've looked around online some, and I think we'll be staying at Indian Line Campground, which appears to be a city (or regional?) park just north of the airport. That looks like the closest one to the city, but there appears to be a couple provincial parks within 45 minutes or so of downtown if that doesn't work for some reason.

CN Tower will probably be on the list, and we're still deciding between the Science Center or the Royal Ont. Museum. If anyone has been to both, please let me know.

I was just at the Falls last year, and since we're not going to have much time in Toronto as it is, Niagara will be just too far out of the way for this trip.

[Isle of Mine]

Have fun in Toronto, a good site to check out is www.toronto.com.

Well it may look like a 45 minute drive from the campsite be advised weekend traffic in the city can sometimes be very busy. Make sure you budget a few extra minutes for the drive.


Sounds like you will spend your time downtown, a few other activity suggestions are:

A harbour cruise. Many to choose from, here is a link for one of them. http://www.greatlakesschooner.com/

Milk International Children's Festival of the Arts
The finest theatre, dance, music and acrobatics for young audiences comes to Harbourfront, showcasing over 100 performances, in eight full, fun-packed days.
http://www.toronto.com/profile/880069/

St. Lawrence Market http://www.stlawrencemarket.com/

Ontario Place http://www.ontarioplace.com/

[mapleleaf]

I live about an hour north of Toronto, and have been to both the ROM and the Science Center a number of times, both as an adult and when I was a wee one. I remember always having loads of fun at the Science Center when I was a kid - and I've enjoyed my trips as an adult as well. I would think that the Science Center is more fun for kids than the ROm, though I suppose that depends on the kid.

Ontario Place, which was suggested somewhere, is great for kids. Last time i went they had a really great play area as well as a water play area.

Have fun!

[Syv]

I think a 5-yr-old will prefer Science Centre to the ROM. Also Ontario Place is very close to the CN Tower and will be good fun too. I can almost guarantee traffic might double that 45-minute drive.

[Midwest Michael]

Thanks for all the advice, we had a great time.

We had no problems driving there or back, except for delays on the south side of Chicago both ways, and about a 1/2 hour wait to enter Canada from the Bluewater Bridge. Overall, the trip took us about 13-14 hours each direction, which included stops every couple of hours.

Traffic in Toronto wasn't bad at all, at least on the freeways. We did stay at Indian Line Campground, which is right next to Wild Water Kingdom. It was pretty close to the city, but beyond that it was not a very impressive facility, at least not for tent camping. But the trip to Skydome took only about 20 minutes on the freeways. A couple of times we stayed on city streets which, obviously, took much longer, but certainly gave us a better look at the city. I'm also waiting to see if I get a bill for driving on the "photo enforced" 407 tollway.

We ended up seeing two baseball games, had dinner at the 360 restaurant in the CN Tower, and stopped at the ROM and the zoo at high park. We probably would have stopped at the Science Center or the Toronto Zoo if we would have had more time and money. We actually had dinner in the tower as a cost cutting move. Tickets to the observation deck are 20 bucks a piece, but for 30 dollars you can get a ride up the elevator and get a meal out of it. The food was pretty good, and it gives you a nice chance to relax and take in all of the views. However, since we spent 100 bucks there, we ended up cutting costs other places. We ended up going to ROM, which lets you in free during the last hour, where we saw mummy's, dinosaur bones, and Ben Affleck, and then went to the free zoo at High Park. It didn't have many animals, but was worth the price of admission, and seems to be one of the only things in Toronto open after 6 pm.

I was pretty impressed with Skydome, although I wish the roof would have been open for at least one of the games. You can certainly tell it was built between the eras of concrete multi-purpose donuts from the 70's and 80's and the new-retro ballparks from the 90's and 00's. We bought below face value tickets from scalpers for Saturdays game, ending up with seat in the front row right by the bullpen. After the game, the Jays let kids run around the bases and meet the mascot. Then Sunday, we had cheap seats that ended up being in the last row of a section, where you couldn't see much because of an overhang, but the nice folks in the Jays ticket office upgraded us for free into the front row of an other wise empty Club seating section.

All in all, it was a great time, even though we only got to see a fraction of the things the city had to offer, but that's why there's always a next time.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Thanks for all the advice, we had a great time.

Thanks for the field report!

We had no problems driving there or back, except for delays on the south side of Chicago both ways, and about a 1/2 hour wait to enter Canada from the Bluewater Bridge. Overall, the trip took us about 13-14 hours each direction, which included stops every couple of hours.

Wow -- 14 hours of travel -- that is extreme sitting!

Traffic in Toronto wasn't bad at all, at least on the freeways. We did stay at Indian Line Campground, which is right next to Wild Water Kingdom. It was pretty close to the city, but beyond that it was not a very impressive facility, at least not for tent camping.

Good to have the intel.

We ended up seeing two baseball games, had dinner at the 360 restaurant in the CN Tower, and stopped at the ROM and the zoo at high park. We probably would have stopped at the Science Center or the Toronto Zoo if we would have had more time and money. We actually had dinner in the tower as a cost cutting move. Tickets to the observation deck are 20 bucks a piece, but for 30 dollars you can get a ride up the elevator and get a meal out of it.

That is the arrangement for the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas too (buy a burger and the elevator is free).

We ended up going to ROM, which lets you in free during the last hour, where we saw mummy's, dinosaur bones, and Ben Affleck, and then went to the free zoo at High Park. It didn't have many animals, but was worth the price of admission, and seems to be one of the only things in Toronto open after 6 pm.

Ben Affleck? I don't quite understand.

All in all, it was a great time, even though we only got to see a fraction of the things the city had to offer, but that's why there's always a next time.

That is always the case! Thanks for the news.

[Midwest Michael]

Ben Affleck happened to be at ROM the same time we were. I'm not sure, but I think he was there for a barmitzvah.

The 14 hours of travel wasn't too bad. The 700 miles trip was probably only 11-12 hours of driving with 2-3 hours of stops spaced over the trip, and I enjoy driving enough that a really long day behind the wheel is still relaxing for me.