So I have landed in Canada, in Toronto, Ontario to be more exact. When I booked my flights the layovers varied from 2-8 hours. Obviously I booked the eight hour layover with the express purpose of squeezing another city into my time in Canada.

After four assurances by airport staff that I could leave my checked luggage at the airport to be transferred to my next flight , off I ran to the airport train station to be taken into the heart of Toronto. 

Overall I ended up with about 5 hours in the city. But, as you can see from several other posts, I’ve become very good at seeing entire cities in only a few hours and Toronto was no exception. 

1) The CN Tower

I arrived in Toronto at midday and the queues to actually go UP the tower were astronomical and would have used every second of my layover. I settled for standing outside in the sunshine and trying to fit the whole tower into the frame of my iPhone camera.

  
  
2) Union Station

My train arrived here from the airport, so an easy landmark to tick off.

  
  
3) The Air Canada Centre

Toronto’s bet known venue, home to the Toronto Maple Leafs among others!

  
4) The Hockey Hall of Fame

I literally couldn’t think of anything more Canadian (except maybe no.5…) Again time constraints prevented me from going into the museum, but I saw the outside and learned lots about hockey masks from the display just inside before the ticket counter.

  

  
5) Tim Hortons

Probably the only thing more Canadian than hockey, $1 iced coffee and free wifi? Yes please.

  
6) Toronto City Hall

Like most city halls, a pretty piece of architecture with a landmark clock tower.

  

7) The Toronto Sign

First the Hollywood sign, then the iAmsterdam sign and now the Toronto sign, I’m slowly signing my way around the world… I actually found this sign by mistake when looking for Chinatown but what a happy accident.

  

8) Chinatown

This was a recommendation from the woman on the plane who gave me her seat and it was a great area of the city. Full of life and more fruits and vegetables than I’ve ever seen in one place.

  
9) Rogers Centre

“Home of the Toronto Blue Jays” As far as I can tell the Blue Jays are one of the most followed Canadian baseball teams and their stadium is certainly impressive. Maybe next time I’ll have time for a game.

  
10) Lake Ontario

By this point I had been traveling for too many hours to count and it was too hot in the city for me to walk any further. So I looked at my map and headed for water. The shores of the lake are beautiful and sitting watching the boats (and the Canada geese) was a perfect relaxing end of my time in Toronto.

  
Back to the airport I go…