Falls & Toronto Help
 

My Wife and I will be traveling with my 8 year old daughter and 3 year old son the weekend of November 21-24. You are reading this right, we are driving from Maryland to Niagara Falls planning to arrive around 3pm and stay at the Courtyard Marriott. We plan to checkout on the 23rd and drive to Toronto. It?s a short trip and I know it will be cold, but we still planned to do some things around Niagara but I am struggling with what to do in Toronto. First time there and I was hoping to get help with a Hotel, and maybe a few fun things to do. Short time since we will only be there from about Sun 2pm ? Monday 6pm. Also is it too cold for the Falls, Clifton Hill, etc?

In case you were curious I work as a computer security auditor and I have planned business trips starting Nov 26th @ Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia in that order. Driving gives me the best shot at getting the family on an extended road trip with me.

BadMin

i can't predict the weather but i wouldn't be too concerned about the cold in niagra falls, just bundle up. the falls are pretty spectacular any time of year, even if iced up. in toronto there are a gazillion hotels including ones from the marriott chain if you are so inclined. least expensive downtown is the executive motor hotel. ok but nothing to write home about, in a safe if somewhat seedy (colourful?) part of town. near a great friendly pub (also coulourful) called the "wheatsheaf" which you may need after having the kids in a car for that long. in terms of things to do, given that you have the little ones along, the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) is world renown and fantastic. i'd say a must see for anyone going to toronto. also it's indoors too. if the weather's nice on your second day you might like to take the ferry across to centre island in lake ontario. short ferry ride (15 minutes?) part of the city transit system, takes you to a large park-like island away from town where the kids can run around and have a picnic. inexpensive day and the ferry departs from close to the executive hotel i mentioned. if not those then there's a pretty great zoo too just outside of town. have fun.

The website torontotourism.com offers a search engines for hotels etc. Downtown you have the choice of Fairmont, Sheraton, Hilton, Delta etc.

I would also recommend going to the ROM and on Toronto Island weather permitting as suggested the previous person.

MF

Thanks for the quick reply. First post so I forgot to say that I am looking for a higher end hotel not the four seasons but not holiday inn. I was looking @ the Shearton Centre, Delta Chelsa (loved the Delta in Montreal)Soho, and Metropolitan. We like stylish, morden. Chose the Courtyard based on reviews for kids.

Thanks...

You might also want to check out the Metropolitan if you want stylish and modern. It's close to the Eaton Center and a block from a subway station, and usually has good weekend rates. I found a $72 (U.S.) a night rate there on Hotwire.
The Toronto Hilton (shockingly) is another good option. It's redesigned now in a boutique hotel look, with the minimalist, modern look you'd find at a W hotel.

Someone told me that The Holiday Inn on King St W is "nicer than the usual HI" so you may want to check that out or others here may want to comment on that. It's a great downtown location. Sheraton is centrally located & you can walk underground to shops, restaurants. Westin Harbour Castle ( or whatever it is called these days...BAK...somebody??) is located right on the waterfront if you want to take the ferry across to the islands. I wld not like to be there @ end of Nov which is when you will be there! Cold, grey, dreary.

Various thoughts...

Niagara Falls in November is no colder than Maryland in February on a cold day, so don't worry about the weather. Bring mitts for the kids, and hats.

Now, let's look at the schedule. If I'm right and you're arriving on the afternoon of Friday, November 21, I might suggest you spend Friday afternoon and evening and all day Saturday in the Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake area, perhaps even up to dinner time, and then drive into Toronto on Saturday evening, after dark.

That way, you don't waste daylight hours on Sunday making a fairly dull drive from Niagara Falls to Toronto. Other than a few empty, desolate vineyards (it's November, after all) most of what you'll see are low industrial buildings along the Queen Elizabeth Highway.

In Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake, the falls are, of course, the biggest attraction. Beacause it will be fairly cold, skip the walk behind the falls, which may even be closed for the season. Clifton Hill is a street in downtown Niagara Falls, with tacky but fun shops and museums (of crime, for instance). I've got fairly sophisticated friends in NF, but they take tourists to Clifton Hill just for the fun of it. Kids are welcome there -- iot's not too tacky -- ; they bought my son one of his favorite stuffed toys on Clifton Hill.

In NF there's a great greenhouse, and kids often like to look at beautiful flowers. But in November, once you've seen the falls and the greenhouses and Clifton Hill, you might as well get out of town. Head downriver right along the side of the Niagra River, and you'll come to the Butterfly Conservatory. I guarantee the kids will love this, with butterflies landing on them. Reasonable admission fees.

Keep going to the town of Niagara on the Lake. This is a summer theatre and tourist town, but it's very nice. The kids may want to run around at Fort Niagara, and get down by the river, and you can look back across the the USA, and see the American Fort that counterblanaced the Canadian fort. Your daughter will like this.

In downtown Niagara on the Lake, -- I need a map, but ain't got one, so follow the directions without street names -- get yourself to the the end of the main street near the Shaw Festival Theatre, adjacent to a big park. Just down the side street there, on the way to the river, is the Tricia Romance Art Gallery. (This is the actual name of an actual person) It's a commercial gallery dedicated to selling her paintings, and your daughter wil love this artwork. Sort of Rockwell-like, but for girls and their grandmothers. In the same gallery are some other artists, and there's no admission fee.

Along the main street, the store of most importance to the little guy is the fudge shop. Buy some for him. My preferenece is maple and mint, but I'm not three.

If you make this trip on Saturday, you could either find a fairly fancy restaurant in Niagara on the Lake for dinner, or work your way back to the Queen Elizabeth Way, and head to Toronto. As you leave the Niagara on the Lake area to get onto the QEW, you're at a service center with good fast food restaurants, or you can head on the highway toward Toronto and watch for fast food sings in St. Catherines, or, after crossing a high bridge, in Burlington and in Oakville.

If you want fancier than McDonalds and Wendy's, keep on the QEW through Oakville, past the Ford plant, and exit at Winston Churchill. There is a huge entetainment oriented plaza there, will a variety of mid-priced, family friendly, restaurants. And an in-the-dark mini-golf place that might be a treat for a girl and her little brother before you drive into Toronto..

From there, it's half an hour to Toronto on the QEW in the evening.

Now, welcome to Toronto.

As someone noted, the Holiday Inn on King is an excellent hotel. The Delta Chelsea is the most kid-friendly hotel in town, with a new indoor water park, and a good downtown location. The Sheraton Center has an indoor-outdoor combo pool, a good location, is kid-friendly, etc.

The Metropolitan is a hotel for grownups, in an OK but not much better location. (It's only a couple of blocks from the Sheraton Center or the Chelesa, though.) If you're a Marriott fan, the Marriott Courtyard is fine, the Eaton Centre Marriott is even better.

Skip the Westin Harbor Castle; in November it's a conference hotel, too far from downtown even though it looks close on maps. And the Executive is no-where near the ferry terminal, which is right next to the Westin.

But I'd skip going to Toronto Island in late November.

Kids love the CN Tower, bigger kids love the Royal Ontario Museum (8 counts as older, the little guy will just run around, but will like the dinosaurs, probably)

Take the kids on the subway, and get in the front or back car, so they can look out the windw at the tracks.

The Museum subway stop is, what a surprise, opposite the Royal Ontario Museum. In the same neighborhood, find your way to Cumberland Avenue, behind the Chapters book store on Bloor, where there's a weired northern-Ontario comes to the city public park. The 3 year old will love this, even in November. There's a big rock to climb.

Sundays are pretty quiet in Toronto, but the giant Eaton Centre shopping mall will be open.

Also the harborfront area has lots to do of interet to kids on a Sunday. It's close to the CN Tower, soyou could visit the tower and harbourfront at the same time.

SUNDAY ONLY (Saturday, too, but you won't be in town)The National Fim Board has an animation course for kids in its building at Richmond and John, in the entertainment district, Class starts at 1, runs to 3, costs $5, and would be great for the girl. The boy is too little to get much out of it, but if one parent stayed with the girl, the other could take the boy for a walk, and to visit the book store across the street. My nine year old boy has attended four of the sessions, and loves it.

And on Monday there's still a lot to do of interest to both parents and kids in Toronto. I'd save the Eaton Centre for Monday, because Harbourfront is more fun on Sundays than on other days.

I don't know if the Royal Ontario Museum is open or closed on Monday.

BAK

Actually the Metropolitan (along with Sheraton, Delta Chelsea, Hilton) are in much better spots than the Holiday Inn on King if you're going to be using the subway a lot. It's a bit of a walk from the Holiday Inn to the closest subway station, and the late November air isn't always kind.

I am printing out the page now and stuffing it in my travel folder. Thank you all for the advice and thoughts. I am going to take a chance with the Delta Chelsea. BAK you hit my schedule right on good tip on not wasting the daylight. The Butterfly attraction was a maybe but now it?s a lock. I will provide details on return.