Toronto Access Pass – Things To Do In Toronto
Canada Eh! Talk about an experience gift, this place is a gold mine. Ripley’s Aquarium, Casa Loma, The CN Tower, and more give you a true taste of this beautiful city. This pass will get you into some of the must-see sites and things to do in Toronto. Caution, you may not want to come back!
Background
I recently took a trip to Canada, and wished I would have known about this pass before we got there. My lady friend and I are on a baseball stadium tour, and figured we’d cross Canada off the list (I keep it real, I’ve actually been). In true American style, we got the airline tickets, and snagged a sweet pad off of airbnb that’s real close to the stadium. We did little more than pack our bags and go.
So, after we landed we spent literal hours in the airport figuring out our next move. Not my best moment, but we got it fuggered and made our way to our temporary home. I do recommend getting a HOHO pass (I made that acronym up, it’s actually the Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour Bus) to get around town for a couple days once you’re in the city. We were only there Friday, Saturday, and left Sunday.
Things To Do In Toronto
Rogers Center, CN Tower, and Ripley’s Aquarium are within walking distance of each other. Casa Loma is a different beast and you’ll have to get some kind of transport to reach it. Hence why I suggested the HOHO. However, I highly recommend making this site a priority. The grounds are beautiful, and the building — it’s actually a castle — is SICK! (P.S. that featured photo is an original I took from the back patio of Casa Loma)
Oh I almost forgot, another benefit of the HOHO is that it gets you a free (I think it’s free?) harbor and island cruise. Hopefully you get an entertaining tour bus guide. If your tour guide is not energetic or looks like they depend entirely on cue cards get off the bus and grab another. The bus runs every 15 minutes or so.
I did not see a lot of chain restaurants, but I may have been distracted. The one exception to this is Starbucks. They love their coffee up that way. By the way, we stayed at the Maple Leaf Skyline. I only mention this because I forgot the name of every restaurant we went to, but there were some good ones in the surrounding area.
Also, there’s this “supposed” underground shopping complex called “The Path.” We looked for this thing for an hour, walking around looking for the signs. I’m convinced it’s a joke that locals like to play on tourists. We never did find it despite trying to follow signs. If you do find it, more power to you. Apparently the above ground stores threw a hissy fit and signage was made scarce. It had the intended effect.
Final Thoughts
Between catching the Blue Jays vs. Red Sox game, cruising the sites on the HOHO, and spending a majority of one day at Casa Loma there are plenty of things to do in Toronto. We didn’t get to see everything this access pass offers. However, I do know that the cost of Casa Loma alone for 2 people was more than I expected. So do yourself a solid and get this pass in advance!
Lest you forget, contact your bank before you leave so you don’t get locked out of your account when trying to use the plastic money. Also, remember that there’s a conversion from USD to Canadian Dollars. It will be charged to your card in USD, so the amounts will not match. Another lesson learned in our airport fiasco.
Pro Tip: It’s kinda cold in the always-time so bring layers if you’re going any other time than the heart of summer!
Update: 2018-08-15
Hey there fans, so I’m going through and adding some more media to the site. I’ll be embedding my personal experience photos and videos in the main review of the product. The product gallery will likely be artwork that isn’t my own. However, this product didn’t come with any stock artwork, and I had planned to include a bunch of photos from my trip. Unfortunately, last week I lost my phone and with it a ton of memories from trips to Hawaii and Toronto. So unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures to share anymore :'( Good news, is that I got the Pixel 2 and so far I’ve found it to be a great phone, and I’m also working on a youtube channel so hopefully there will be a lot more media in the future. Stay Tuned!
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