Hello,
We live in Cleveland Ohio and will be traveling to Niagara Falls Thursday morning for one night, and then heading up to Brampton for a surprise birthday party on Friday night and staying at the Brampton Holiday Inn.

Does it seem doable to spend the day Saturday in Toronto? Would staying at the Brampton Holiday Inn on Saturday night make the most sense vs. staying IN Toronto? Apparently it's 22 miles from Toronto (40 min). It's probably a better price than hotels in Toronto ($130).

How is parking in Toronto for someone not staying in the city?

Also, (I may need to post this separate), we will be in Brampton on Sunday morning, Mothers Day and the room does not come with breakfast. Is there somewhere nice in the area that we could go to for a nice breakfast/brunch for Mothers Day (is Canada's Mother's Day also May 11th?).

Thank you!

Where would you want to go in Toronto? If you're downtown, one good place to park is right across from Nathan Philips Square (City Hall). It's at Bell Trinity Square, which is 483 Bay Street. I used to work in the building, which is why I know the parking there, but we always park there when we're downtown at the Eaton Centre or wherever. It's $6 for the day, so quite cheap parking.

Sorry, I don't know Brampton at all so can't give advise there.

I'm not sure what we are going to do for the day in Toronto yet, but near the Eaton Center would probably work. Is $6 a day cheaper than parking at the Eaton Centre itself?

That sounds good though.

I always find the parking tricky at the Eaton Centre. I think it's probably the same rate as the Bay & Dundas parkade, but it's cheaper than parking in the parkade you access off Yonge & Shuter Street. They probably have something on the website. I've always used the Bell Trinity Square parking because it's so easy to get in and out of it, and Bay Street isn't as busy as Yonge Street on a Saturday.

Thanks, that's what I want, something easy to get in and out of and I'm definitely worried about the crowds/traffic on a Saturday.

I will definitely mark this down.

Susan, I worked in that building too!!

Amelie, yes Mothers Day is the same date.

You could drive to Yorkdale shopping centre, park the car there for free, and take the subway right downtown for $2.75 each. I'm not sure how long the drive is from Brampton but the subway downtown would take about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on where you're going.

Would that do?

I didn't know about that Bell/Trinity parking. Is it really $6 for the whole day? Including after 6 p.m.? And is that just Saturdays? That's a great price.

Unfortunately that price is just on weekends, and covers the evening. Too bad - it really would have been a deal!

Hi amelie,

I grew up in Brampton, and the area you are staying in is short on restaurants of character. There are some chains, i.e. Red Lobster, but nothing fancy. My guess was that you are booked at the Holiday Inn Select on Peel Centre Dr., and it does not offer a Mother's Day brunch (I called).
You might try a place called Rapini's. It's at 190 Main St. S., about a 15 minute drive from your hotel. Tel: 905-455-7071. They are not offering a special Mother's Day brunch, but they are open from 11:30. Food is largely Italian, and pretty tasty.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks, that was so nice of you!

There was a place about 15 miles away, called The Doctor's House that sounded good. They usually have a 10:30 brunch but it's at 12 for Mother's Day.

Susan, I worked at Bell Trinity Square too! 1985 - 1992
Those were the good old days!

nosocks, it had to be around the late 80's when I was there too. Small world. I loved going through the tunnel to shop and eat.

goddesstogo - I just want to thank you for suggesting the Yorkdale idea, because it worked out perfectly! So easy, and $9 for a day pass for two adults was a good deal (for us).

Thanks!

Great, amelie! I'm so glad it worked out.

So tell us about your visit to Toronto. What did you do?

Well we only had about six hours to explore since we had to be back in Brampton for dinner with family. But we walked around Yonge Street, shopped at Eaton, walked down to the harbour and had lunch at Queen's Quay Terminal outside (nice sunny day), then went to the Bata Shoe Museum (which we all really enjoyed).

I can't wait to go back and spend a larger amount of time in the city.

Sounds like you did a lot in the short time you had. Definitely do come back for a longer visit sometime.

(By the way, we've visited Cleveland and had lots of fun there!)