Best Budget Tips for Toronto and Ontario?
 

We're all trying to stretch our (American and Canadian) dollars and I'm looking for your best tips for savings while visiting Toronto and Ontario.

Some of my favorite free things to do include wandering St. Lawrence and Kensington Markets in Toronto and, of course, watching Niagara Falls. I also love all of Toronto's great inexpensive ethnic restaurants, yum.

What are your budget tips for Toronto and Ontario?

Shoppers Drug Mart offers discounts on lots of otherwise fairly high-priced tourist attractions.

TTC day passes.

Hot dogs and fries from the eastern-most ruck in front of Toronto City Hall.

Free refills of coffee at Starbucks if you use a Strarbucks card. And free internet withthe same card, for a couple of hours each day.

Free concerts at the Music Park at Harbourfront.

The Outdoor Art Festival at Nathan Phillips Square.

BAK

I second TTC passes - check out their website to see which type is the best deal (there are day, weekly, monthly, etc.).

Do your research and math before buying citypasses, etc. Make sure that the price you pay for the pass will actually save you money over buying individual entry to the sights you want to see. For example, if the pass covers 10 sights, but you are only interested in 3, the pass may or may not be a deal - do the math.

Visit the local parks. Canada in general has a wonderful selection of city parks, and Ontario is no exception. It's a great way to enjoy a picnic lunch, relax for a few hours, or burn off some excess energy from the kids.

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) offers free ROM Walks on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

More information here

http://tinyurl.com/ne7zkk

Look for the Daily Events section of NOW magazine, lots of free things to do and NOW is free - it's all over the place in newspaper boxes and libraries.

Toronto Field Naturalists have free walks in the city; www.torontofieldnaturalists.org; so does the Bruce Trail Association www.brucetrail.org.

Some library branches have free passes to local sites such as the ROM, Science Centre, Black Creek Pioneer Village, etc. Only some branches - the passes are courtesy of Sun Life. I believe you just go in ask for one...I've seen people do it and finally remembered to ask about it last week at the College Street branch in Little Italy. I'd go early in the day to pick them up.

City swimming pools are free. http://www.toronto.ca/parks/recreati...ming/index.htm

BAK and toedtoes - I agree TTC day passes are great. Especially since you can use them for up to 6 people on the weekends (2 adults max).

knickerbocker and SallyCanuck - I love all the free outdoor ideas---it must be summer.

Any good savings tips for winter too?

Don't forget the 'Dream In High Park' put on by CanStage and this year featuring "The Tempest". It's 'Pay What You Can' and can be an excellent way to spend a warm summers evening.
That whole part of town (Bloor West Village) is a neat place to ramble, shop and eat.

Also, 'Summerlicious', the city's summer dining program is a great way to eat in some excellent restaurants where prix-fixe menus run between $10.00 - $35.00, when you might pay triple that regularly. Many restaurants keep their menus and prices after the program complete it's run after 2 or 3 weeks. It began yesterday I believe.

Another bargian tip is the city's many festivals : The Greek festival on the Danforth (early August), The East Indian one on Gerrard Street (mid July), The Italian one on St. Clair, the African one (AfroFest) in Queens Park (usually the 1st or 2nd weekend in July) and others. Here you can experience culture, crafts, music, buy ethinc wares, clothing and trinkets and lots of good food inexpensively. Check "NOW" magazine for details and schedules.

Free concerts at Harbourfront (aside from the music park). Check the www.harbourfrontcentre.ca website. Also the International Market there and various festivals.

Festivals all over the city -- e.g. this weekend is Salsa on St.Clair.

Cheap lunches upstairs and downstairs at St. Lawrence Market

There's free music and dancing at Mel Lastman Square on Sunday evenings - a different band every week, starts July 12 (as long as the strike is over?). http://www.toronto.ca/special_events...ades/index.htm

The Pride parade is this Sunday (it looks like they're going to get rained on); the Dyke march is Saturday. There's a whole week of events: www.pridetoronto.com

Wednesdays at City Hall on Queen West there's a farmers market - you could buy your lunch and eat near the reflecting pool. There are many markets in the city in the summer including at....

The Don Valley Brickworks has a market on Saturdays and is especially interesting, IMHO. There's a free shuttle bus on Saturdays from just outside the Broadview subway station - it picks up and drops off at the first street north of the station. http://www.lostrivers.ca/BrickWorksPark.htm. The TTC also runs a bus there on Saturdays only from Davisville Station.

Here's a list of city-sponsored events for the entire year: http://www.toronto.ca/special_events/index.htm

Nuit Blanche is October 3. http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/home.shtml

City Hall, Harbourfront and Ryerson all have free outdoor skating rinks.

Toronto Field Naturalists and the Bruce Trail group run walks and hikes all year round. So does the Lost Rivers group http://www.lostrivers.ca/. The Don Valley ravine walks are always surprising to me...you wouldn't know you're in the city.

Riverdale Park has a small working farm in the heart of Cabbagetown - it was formerly the zoo and some of the old cages still exist. www.friendsofriverdalefarm.com

There's a farm at Centreville on Centre Island, too. Free but the ferry ride isn't but not expensive.

Heritage Toronto has free walks in the summer. http://www.heritagetoronto.org/

Swing dance AND a lesson at Toronto Swing Dance Society for $10: http://dancing.org/tsds/ - all year round. And I'm signing off and going there right now!