5 Days in Toronto and Beyond
Five Days: Ottawa Finally Fits, But Only as a Day Trip
Five days is the shortest trip where seeing the actual capital makes sense, and I mean that narrowly: a long day trip, out on an early train and back on a late one, not an overnight. If you want to linger in Ottawa properly, you need six days minimum. Here’s the version that fits in five without you sleepwalking through the last morning.
| Day | Focus | Getting there |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Union Station, Queen’s Park, Hockey Hall of Fame | UP Express, 25 min from Pearson |
| 2 | Kingston, out and back | VIA Rail, 2 to 2.5 hrs each way, 60-140 CAD |
| 3 | Toronto’s Canada 101 (CBC, Argonauts, one neighbourhood) | On foot and TTC downtown |
| 4 | Niagara Falls, out and back | GO Transit, 2 to 2.5 hrs each way |
| 5 | Ottawa, out and back | VIA Rail, 3.5 to 4.5 hrs each way, 40-100 CAD |
Book these before you go
- VIA Rail’s Ottawa seats climb fastest on Friday afternoon and Sunday evening trains, book weeks ahead.
- Check downtown rates on Booking.com before picking a hotel near Union.
Day 1: Arrival and the correction that matters
UP Express to Union Station, about 25 minutes, adult fare 12.35 CAD cash or 9.25 CAD with PRESTO, seniors half price, kids under 12 free, beats a 60-70 CAD taxi through traffic. Ten minutes in Union Station’s Great Hall, a 1920s Beaux-Arts rail palace built jointly by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific, the hub the rest of this trip depends on.
Walk to Queen’s Park, the Ontario Legislative Building, free, and remember why: Toronto is not Canada’s capital, Ottawa is, chosen in 1857 as a compromise between four cities that couldn’t agree the job belonged to any one of them. Afternoon at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Brookfield Place, 45 CAD adult admission, the actual Stanley Cup on site. Dinner downtown, early night, you’ll want it.
Day 2: Kingston, out and back
Early VIA train to Kingston, roughly two to two and a half hours each way, fares commonly 60-140 CAD depending how far ahead you booked. Old limestone downtown, Fort Henry, the start of the Thousand Islands, lunch on Princess Street. Evening train back to Union.
Day 3: Toronto’s Canada 101
CBC’s headquarters and broadcast centre on Front Street produces content for the entire country, and most visitors walk past without noticing. The Toronto Argonauts, the CFL team, formed in 1873, played under the same name longer than any other pro sports club in North America, older than the NHL. The Tim Hortons myth needs correcting too: Hamilton, 1964, founded by an NHL defenceman, not Toronto, despite what the location density downtown suggests.
Spend the afternoon properly in one immigrant neighbourhood rather than several in passing. Canada’s multiculturalism policy dates to 1971, the first country to adopt one officially, and Toronto is where it reads as daily life instead of a pamphlet: roughly half the population born outside Canada, 160-plus languages spoken. The in-city guide breaks down the neighbourhood options. Dinner there.
Day 4: Niagara, the lightweight rail option
GO train to Niagara Falls, about two to two and a half hours each way. Be honest about what this is: still Ontario, a legitimate scenic day trip, not the different-culture payoff Ottawa delivers tomorrow. If the falls and wine country deserve more of your time than a quick look, the Ontario-focused guide covers that in full. Evening train back.
Day 5: Ottawa, a long day, not a rushed one
Take the earliest VIA departure you can book, roughly three and a half to four and a half hours each way, one-way fares commonly 40-100 CAD and climbing if you booked late. This gives you five to six real hours in the capital: Parliament Hill and the Peace Tower, a proper national museum if timing allows, lunch in the ByWard Market, or book an Ottawa tour if you’d rather not plan the walking route with a train clock running. Catch the last reasonable evening train back to Toronto; this is the one day on the trip where you don’t linger over dinner, you watch the departure board.
Before you go
Loonies and toonies are in your pocket within the hour of landing, and Canadian dollars aren’t US dollars despite the shared symbol, check the actual rate. Federal bilingualism (official since 1969) explains the English-and-French signage at the airport and on the trains even though Toronto itself runs almost entirely in English. Every rail leg here is domestic, no passport, a photo ID covers you if VIA asks. If Ottawa-as-a-day-trip left you wanting an actual night there, the 6-day version builds in the overnight, and the full guide has the booking mechanics for both cities.