Toronto + Canada in 6 Days on a Budget
Six Days: Toronto Isn’t the Point, It’s the On-Ramp
The CN Tower hasn’t been the world’s tallest anything since 2007, when the Burj Khalifa took the title; it’s still the tallest tower in the Americas, but “world’s tallest” is a fact fifteen years out of date that keeps getting repeated anyway. That gap between reputation and current reality is a decent way to think about Toronto itself on a trip like this: it’s Canada’s biggest city, not its capital, and not the whole country. Toronto works better as a rail hub for the rest of Canada than as a six-day destination in its own right, and this itinerary takes that seriously instead of padding out more downtown time (for the standard in-city checklist, CN Tower, ROM, AGO, and the neighbourhoods, our Toronto guide covers it properly). Six days is enough to spend two of them in Toronto proper, then use Union Station the way it’s actually built to be used, as the departure point for a former capital (Kingston), the literal US border (Niagara), the current capital (Ottawa), and Canada’s second-largest city and the heart of French Canada (Montreal).
Book these before you go:
- VIA Rail tickets for Kingston, Ottawa, and Montreal, book early since fares climb the closer you get to departure
- A Parliament Hill guided tour slot (book at visit.parl.ca), summer slots fill weeks out
- A Casa Loma skip-the-line ticket (check GetYourGuide) if you’d rather not queue on day 2
| Day | Focus | Getting there | Approx cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival, Nathan Phillips Square | UP Express, Pearson to Union | $12.35 one-way |
| 2 | Fort York, Hockey Hall of Fame, St. Lawrence Market, Casa Loma | On foot / TTC | $10-14 lunch, ~$45 Casa Loma |
| 3 | Kingston, Fort Henry | VIA Rail from Union Station | $45-90 round trip |
| 4 | Niagara Falls, the border | GO Transit + WEGO bus | $22-40 round trip |
| 5 | Ottawa, Parliament Hill | VIA Rail from Union Station | $45-100 one-way |
| 6 | Montreal, Notre-Dame Basilica | VIA Rail, Ottawa to Montreal | $16-37 admission |
Before you fly: non-US visa-exempt travellers need an eTA, $7 CAD, apply online, valid up to five years, required for air arrivals only.
Money: Canadian dollars, not US dollars, don’t assume the exchange rate is 1:1. HST (13%) gets added at checkout. Tip 15-20% pre-tax.
Where to stay: Union Station is the busiest building on this itinerary, arrival plus three separate rail departures, so basing nearby saves real time and luggage-hauling. Budget: HI Toronto Hostel. Mid-range: The Broadview Hotel, Queen East. Splurge: Fairmont Royal York, directly across from Union. Compare current rates for all three on Booking.com before you commit.
Getting around Toronto: PRESTO tap fare is $3.30 across subway, streetcar, and bus, with an automatic 2-hour transfer window. Get the card on day one rather than paying cash fares.
Day 1: Arrival
UP Express, Pearson to Union, every 15 minutes, 25 minutes, $12.35 ($9.25 with PRESTO). Walk to Nathan Phillips Square for the illuminated TORONTO sign (temporary for the 2015 Pan Am Games, made permanent afterward). Dinner at Pai Northern Thai Kitchen.
Day 2: Canadian institutions before the Canadian road trip
Fort York (free, Wed-Sun 11am-5pm), the War of 1812 site that arguably did more to create a distinct Canadian identity than anything before it, British troops, Indigenous allies, and Upper Canadian militia holding off American invasion. The Hockey Hall of Fame (inside Brookfield Place, the actual Stanley Cup on display) if hockey, one of the closest things Canada has to a unifying national institution, interests you. Lunch at St. Lawrence Market, Carousel Bakery’s peameal bacon sandwich ($10-14). Casa Loma (about $45) in the afternoon for a genuine early-1900s mansion with tunnels, if castles beat museums for you.
Day 3: Kingston
VIA Rail from Union, about 2 hours 15 minutes each way, economy fares roughly $45-90 CAD at viarail.ca . Kingston was the capital of the United Province of Canada from 1841 to 1844, before Montreal and then Ottawa got the job, a genuine surprise to most first-time visitors. Fort Henry (daily 10am-5pm in season, roughly $20-25, guided tours every half hour) sits above the junction of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence.
Day 4: Niagara Falls, the border
GO Transit plus WEGO bus from Union, roughly 2-2.5 hours each way, combo fares $22-40 round trip. Skip the wine-country stuff, that belongs to a different itinerary out of Toronto’s Ontario base; this day is about the Falls as the actual international line. No passport needed for the Canadian side (the better view, honestly), only if you cross the Rainbow Bridge to the US side and clear CBSA back into Canada afterward.
Day 5: Ottawa
VIA Rail from Union, 4 to 4.5 hours each way, economy fares roughly $45-100 CAD, first trains as early as 4:13am. Parliament Hill runs free guided tours of the House of Commons and Senate, book ahead at visit.parl.ca since summer slots fill weeks out, bring photo ID if you’re 16-plus. Most summers the RCMP Musical Ride performs free Sunset Ceremonies over a few days in late June, check rcmp.ca for current dates. Stay overnight in Ottawa rather than rushing back, ByWard Market has plenty of dinner options within walking distance of most downtown hotels.
Day 6: Montreal, the other Canada, then home
From Ottawa, a direct VIA Rail train to Montreal takes roughly 2 hours (confirm current schedule and fare at viarail.ca ), no need to backtrack through Toronto first. This is the day the “gateway to Canada” framing really lands: Canada is officially bilingual at the federal level, but Toronto and Ottawa both run overwhelmingly in English day to day, while Montreal genuinely operates in French first. Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal (self-guided admission $16 adult, the AURA light show $37 if you want the evening version) is worth the visit for the interior alone. From Montreal, either fly home out of Montreal-Trudeau if you booked an open-jaw ticket, or take a VIA Rail train back to Toronto (roughly 4.5 to 6 hours, fares $70-150 CAD) to connect through Pearson, budget the full day for it either way.
One last practical note: book every VIA Rail leg online well ahead of travel. Prices on this system climb the closer you get to departure, exactly like airfare, and a Kingston or Ottawa ticket booked a month out can cost half what the same seat runs the day before.