Toronto + Ontario Offbeat: 4 Days
Four days is enough to stop pretending Toronto and its surroundings are one trip. This version gives the city one day, then spends three straight days working a westward loop out of it: Niagara Falls first, since it’s the one everyone already expects, then Hamilton and Elora on one day, then Stratford as its own dedicated day. All three sit roughly the same direction from downtown, which is exactly why doing them as a run makes more sense than scattering them across a longer trip.
Book these before you go:
- A GO Train plus WEGO combo ticket for Niagara; weekend departures fill up, book ahead rather than morning-of
- A rental car for Day 3 (Hamilton and Elora have no transit substitute); check rates on Discover Cars
- Stratford Festival tickets for Day 4, since the strongest shows sell out weeks ahead
| Day | Focus | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downtown: CN Tower, St Lawrence Market | CN Tower from ~45 CAD adult |
| 2 | Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake | GO+WEGO 22-40 CAD |
| 3 | Hamilton’s waterfalls, then Elora Gorge | Hamilton ~16 CAD/car; Elora tubing 21.50-55.50 CAD |
| 4 | Stratford Festival | Tickets from ~10 CAD, average ~120 CAD |
Day 1: Downtown, then straight to bed
Land, UP Express from Pearson into Union Station (28 minutes, about 9.25 CAD tapped), and check into a hotel within walking distance of Union, since it’s the departure point for the next three mornings. Spend the afternoon on the CN Tower and a walk through St Lawrence Market if you land with time to spare (not on a Monday, the South Market building is shut that day). Keep this day light; three consecutive road-trip days start tomorrow.
Day 2: Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake
Budget the full day. By car or tour bus it’s 1.5 to 2 hours each way, by GO train closer to 2 to 2.5 hours with the WEGO bus connection factored in. A GO Train plus WEGO combo ticket runs 22 CAD on weekends up to 34-40 CAD for other packages, kids 12 and under free on the GO train. If you’ve got a car or a tour with flexibility, fold in Niagara-on-the-Lake for the back half of the afternoon, otherwise treat the falls as the whole day and save the wine town for a future trip.
Day 3: Hamilton’s waterfalls, then Elora Gorge
Rent a car for this one; neither stop has a workable transit connection from Toronto. Websters Falls and Tews Falls sit about 70km southwest, roughly an hour via the QEW, run by the Hamilton Conservation Authority (about 16 CAD per car, 8am to sunset). Worth knowing before you go: as of early 2026 the trail to the base of the falls and the gorge floor is closed, so you’re viewing from the top rather than the classic bottom-of-the-falls shot.
From there, continue to Elora, about 110km from Toronto and a further drive from Hamilton, for the gorge and the stone village itself. In tubing season (late June through early September) registration runs about 21.50 CAD per person or 55.50 CAD with full equipment rental, plus a 1.3km walk each way along the road between the put-in and take-out. Outside that window, the village and the gorge lookouts still justify the drive on their own.
Day 4: Stratford
About two hours from Toronto by car, or take VIA Rail directly, or a dedicated return bus for around 42 CAD if you’d rather not drive a fourth straight day. The 2026 Stratford Festival season runs April 21 through November 1 across four venues, tickets to book ahead from about 10 CAD up into four figures (average closer to 120), with Pay-What-You-Can performances back for 2026 if you’re planning around cost. The town’s genuinely named after England’s Stratford-upon-Avon, and there’s a real, much smaller Avon River (with swans) running through the Ontario version too, so the naming isn’t the empty gesture it sounds like. Spend the rest of the day wandering the riverside parks and the compact downtown before heading back to Toronto for a flight out or an extra night.
Getting around
Tap PRESTO or contactless for 3.30 CAD a TTC ride within the city on Day 1. For Days 2 through 4, a rental car covers the Hamilton-Elora day fully and gives you the Niagara-on-the-Lake option on Day 2; if you’d rather not drive at all, swap the GO train for Niagara and VIA Rail or the direct bus for Stratford, and treat Hamilton-Elora as an optional cut for a car-free version of this trip.
Watch for taxi drivers at Pearson quoting a flat “special rate” instead of running the meter on arrival; confirm the fare before the doors close, or skip the guesswork and take the UP Express into Union Station.
For a shorter version, the 3-day itinerary drops Stratford; for more depth, the 5-day itinerary adds an overnight up in Muskoka. The full guide covers every region on this list in more detail.