Toronto - Niagara Falls day trip

[Djgr]

Dare I say it here but car rental is an option for a hassle free trip to Niagara...let me explain a bit

Myself and my wife did a Toronto add on to a Cunard transatlantic crossing in August 2019. After a few days in New York, we took the Maple Leaf from Penn station to Aldershot (Ontario, not Hampshire!), as I had chosen a nice hotel away from the centre of Toronto, at Burlington Ontario.

I chose Burlington as it was (a) a cheaper hotel compared to central Toronto) and (b) because it is 'on the way' towards Niagara. In order not to be restricted to public transport and to be able to see some countryside 'on a whim' we hired a car in Burlington and dropped it off at YYZ immediately before flying home to LHR.

One of the days we had the car we drove to Niagara. (on another day we drove to Mount Nemo park). The car proved the ideal way to get to Niagara with no hassle and on our 'own schedule'. It also allowed us to see the rest of the Niagara area 'on spec'

Our route that day was as follows - it was one of may favourite tourists days in 60 years or world travelling):

Burlington - Queen Elizabeth Way - Glendale - 405 - Queenston Heights Park (large car park with loads of space) - walk to Floral Clock which is the northern terminus of Niagara Falls Canada bus route which runs all the way down the river to the falls. We walked or used the bus all day before returning to Queenston, then driving along the river to Niagara on the lake, Mississauga point (view across the lake to Toronto including curvature of the earth!) - 87 to Lakeport and back on Queen Elizabeth Way.

As an aside, as members of the RHS we were pleased to find that Burlington was a stones throw away from Canada's RHS main HQ in Hamilton. The difference between Wisley and Hamilton is that at Wisley there is no garden through which run triple headed GEs on heavy freight!

Presumably you didn't drive much in the centre of Toronto?

 

[sannox]

Presumably you didn't drive much in the centre of Toronto?

I've driven in Ontario loads and done into Toronto to see a friend. Driving anywhere near Toronto is awful.

Even leaving the airport area on the 401 is horrible - rubbish drivers and horrendous traffic.

 

[matt]

If traveling on a weekend or public holiday, GO Transit sells a $10 day pass good for one of the weekend days. Unlimited riding across all GO Transit rail and bus lines. It is NOT a 24 hour pass.

This pass must be bought online via their website. Can’t purchase at ticket machines or via Presto card.

Oddly they ask you to input your origin and destination (never seen any day pass with such requirement); I suspect it is for statistical tracking.

The wording was very confusing but I used the group tickets on GO the other year which has the same description as the weekend ticket. My understanding it was only unlimited travel between your origin and destination not the whole network.

 

[Watershed]

The wording was very confusing but I used the group tickets on GO the other year which has the same description as the weekend ticket. My understanding it was only unlimited travel between your origin and destination not the whole network.

The Group tickets definitely allow unlimited travel across the Go network, I used one that way only a couple of months ago.

 

[Gordon]

Presumably you didn't drive much in the centre of Toronto?

Yes, that's correct. Another benefit of staying down the coast at Oakville or Burlington. For visits to Toronto itself, we parked the car in the park and ride at Burlington GO.

On the final day, we toured around the countryside north west of Toronto in the car, stopping here and there including at a rural level crossing, then just drove to YYZ. Some roads were busy at times but overall the driving was fine - some nice wide roads in countryside far less populated overall than my home area. I'd much rather drive in that area than Tooting, Balham and Clapham!

 

[Djgr]

Yes, that's correct. Another benefit of staying down the coast at Oakville or Burlington. For visits to Toronto itself, we parked the car in the park and ride at Burlington GO.

On the final day, we toured around the countryside north west of Toronto in the car, stopping here and there including at a rural level crossing, then just drove to YYZ. Some roads were busy at times but overall the driving was fine - some nice wide roads in countryside far less populated overall than my home area. I'd much rather drive in that area than Tooting, Balham and Clapham!

Well it is worth saying that I found accommodation costs in downtown Toronto pretty scary.

 

[Kingsman]

An option not mentioned so far, I think, is to take a boat ride from Toronto straight across Lake Ontario to Niagara (Canadian side).

 

[sprunt]

An option not mentioned so far, I think, is to take a boat ride from Toronto straight across Lake Ontario to Niagara (Canadian side).

Does such a service exist? I can't find anything when I search.

I did find a website for a proposed commuter hovercraft service across the lake, which seems optimistic but I wish them luck.

Hoverlink Ontario Incorporated | Home

Hoverlink Ontario Incorporated, the first modern hovercraft transit service of its kind in North America

hoverlinkontario.com

 

[sh24]

The traffic isn't great, and Canadians don't drive that well, but hiring a car means you can also visit Niagara on the Lake and one or more of the wineries.

 

[Gordon]

You are correct - no service exists. The hovercraft is a proposal. In advance of my 2019 trip I must say I was somewhat surprised that there was no ferry route as it seems a rather obvious link for summer tourism, but I guess ferries on the Great Lakes went the way of everything else in the 'steam era'

Does such a service exist? I can't find anything when I search.

I did find a website for a proposed commuter hovercraft service across the lake, which seems optimistic but I wish them luck.

Hoverlink Ontario Incorporated | Home

Hoverlink Ontario Incorporated, the first modern hovercraft transit service of its kind in North America

hoverlinkontario.com

 

[m0ffy]

I did a one-way, 24hr rental from Pearson to Niagara Falls with Avis in April as part of a journey from Toronto to Tampa, Florida. I explored every public transport option, but none really worked with our travel plans, amount of luggage, etc.

 

[Mikey C]

You are correct - no service exists. The hovercraft is a proposal. In advance of my 2019 trip I must say I was somewhat surprised that there was no ferry route as it seems a rather obvious link for summer tourism, but I guess ferries on the Great Lakes went the way of everything else in the 'steam era'

It was 26 years ago but I'd forgotten that I did the day trip from Toronto to Niagara as a organised tour, which started with a boat trip across Lake Ontario to Niagara-on-the-lake, then a coach to the falls, which was a much more interesting day than going all the way by tourbus.