The Best Day Trips from Toronto
Every distance below was measured on the road, not estimated. The times are free-flow, which matters here more than almost anywhere, because the QEW and the 401 rarely are.
What is the best day trip from Toronto?
Niagara Falls, and it earns it. It is 129 km each way, about an hour and forty minutes without traffic, and the falls are genuinely worth the drive. Hamilton is the better trip if you want a half day instead of a full one. Prince Edward County is the one to skip unless you are staying overnight.
The 7 best day trips, ranked
Ordered by how well they repay a full day - factoring travel time, what you can actually see, and how easy they are without a car.
Niagara Falls
The one unmissable trip129 km south · 1 hr 40 min by road without traffic
It is three waterfalls rather than one, and Horseshoe Falls carries the volume that makes the noise and the spray worth standing in. The Canadian side has the better view, which is the reason to do this from Toronto rather than from Buffalo. The boat that takes you into the basin is the part people remember.
Getting there: Driving is the QEW the whole way. Without a car, GO Transit runs a combined train and bus service from Union Station, and in summer a seasonal direct train, which takes roughly two hours. Guided coach tours leave from downtown Toronto and usually bundle the boat trip, which is the single thing worth pre-booking.
Find Niagara Falls toursGuided day trips and skip-the-line tickets- Instant confirmation
- Free cancellation on most tours
- Prices on Trip.com
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Wine and a slower afternoon128 km south · 1 hr 45 min by road without traffic
A preserved 19th-century town at the mouth of the Niagara River, surrounded by the wineries that make the region's ice wine. It is the antidote to the falls: quiet, low and slow, and it works best as the afternoon half of a day that starts at Horseshoe Falls.
Getting there: Same road as the falls, then a further twenty minutes north along the Niagara Parkway. Almost everyone combines the two, and that combination is what most guided wine tours sell.
Find Niagara-on-the-Lake toursGuided day trips and skip-the-line tickets- Instant confirmation
- Free cancellation on most tours
- Prices on Trip.com
Hamilton
Waterfalls and a half day68 km west · 56 min by road without traffic
Hamilton sits on the Niagara Escarpment, and the escarpment is why there are more than a hundred waterfalls inside the city limits. Webster's and Tew's are the accessible ones. It is half the driving of Niagara for a trip most visitors never consider, which is exactly why it is the best value day out from Toronto.
Getting there: The QEW west, or GO Transit trains from Union Station to Hamilton in about an hour. It is the easiest of these trips to do without a car.
Find Hamilton toursGuided day trips and skip-the-line tickets- Instant confirmation
- Free cancellation on most tours
- Prices on Trip.com
Elora and the Elora Gorge
A gorge and a river town115 km west · 1 hr 40 min by road without traffic
A limestone gorge with the Grand River running through it, and a small 19th-century mill town on top. In summer you can float the gorge on a tube, which is the main reason people make the drive.
Getting there: Driving only in practice. There is no useful transit connection, and that is the single fact that decides whether this trip is available to you.
St Jacobs
A market and farm country120 km west · 1 hr 40 min by road without traffic
Ontario's largest farmers' market, in the heart of Mennonite country. It is a genuine working market rather than a visitor attraction, which is both the appeal and the reason it is disappointing on the wrong day of the week.
Getting there: Driving. The farmers' market is the destination rather than the village itself, so check its opening days before setting out.
Stratford
Theatre, in season only150 km west · 2 hr 10 min by road without traffic
A theatre town built around the Stratford Festival, which runs from spring into autumn and is the reason to come. Outside the season there is a pleasant river and not a great deal else.
Getting there: Driving, or a VIA Rail train from Union Station. At this distance the train is the more sensible option because the return leg is late.
Prince Edward County
Wine, if you are staying over212 km east · 2 hr 55 min by road without traffic
Wineries, sand dunes and a slower shoreline than anywhere closer to the city. It has become the weekend destination of choice for Toronto, and the food is better than the Niagara wine region.
Getting there: Driving, on the 401 east. There is no practical transit option.
Niagara Falls: is it actually worth a day from Toronto?
This is the question the whole page exists to answer, because it is the trip almost everyone considers and the one most often done badly. The honest answer is yes, with conditions.
- The drive is 129 km each way, about an hour and forty minutes in free-flow traffic on the QEW. That figure is the floor, not the average: the QEW is one of the busiest corridors in the country and a summer Friday can add an hour in each direction.
- The Canadian side has the view. Horseshoe Falls faces Ontario, which is the entire reason to do this from Toronto rather than from the American side.
- Book the boat, not the coach. The boat into the basin below the falls is the part that justifies the day, and it sells out. The coach tour from Toronto mainly buys you the driving, so if you have a car the boat ticket alone is the thing worth pre-booking.
- Leave early. The falls are busiest between roughly eleven and four, and the difference between arriving at nine and arriving at noon is the difference between a viewing platform you can stand at and one you cannot.
- Do not try to add Prince Edward County or Stratford to the same day. They are in opposite directions and both are close to three hours away.
- If you have a second day, Niagara-on-the-Lake is twenty minutes further north and turns the falls into a full and varied day rather than a single stop.
Day trips from Toronto: FAQ
The questions travelers ask most when planning day trips from here.
Day trips from other cities
Continue Planning Your Trip
Intelligent tools designed to simplify the complex.
Things to Do
Ranked attractions, tips and how to book tickets
Where to Stay
The best area to stay in each city, by neighborhood
Car Rental
Real prices, driving tips and the best routes by destination
Airport Transfers
Getting from the airport to your hotel, by price and time
All-Inclusive Guides
What all-inclusive really means, by destination
Best Time to Visit
Month-by-month weather, crowds and prices
Cheapest Places to Travel
18 destinations ranked by real daily budgets
Route Finder
Find the cheapest way to get there
Hotel Finder
Book the right hotel for your destination
AI Trip Planner
Build a day-by-day itinerary
Budget Calculator
Estimate total cost
Photo credits (6)
Photos via Wikimedia Commons, used under their respective licences.
- Niagara Falls: Saffron Blaze - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- Niagara-on-the-Lake: DimiTalen - CC0 · source
- Hamilton: Mhsheikholeslami - CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
- Elora and the Elora Gorge: عمرو بن كلثوم - CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
- St Jacobs: Allie_Caulfield from Germany - CC BY 2.0 · source
- Prince Edward County: C. Löser - CC BY-SA 2.0 de · source