2 Days in Toronto With Kids: A Realistic Family Itinerary

2 Days in Toronto With Kids: Our Itinerary at a Glance

Our trip technically stretched across 3 calendar days, but our arrival and departure days were both partial days. Altogether, it worked out to roughly 48 hours in Toronto.

Arrival Day

• Drive to Toronto and cross the Canadian border at Niagara Falls
• Check into Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre
• Walk to IKEA for lunch and exploring
• Dinner at the hotel
• Swim and spend the evening at the hotel

Full Sightseeing Day

• Breakfast at the hotel
• City Sightseeing Toronto Hop-On Hop-Off Bus
• CN Tower
• Lunch at Kelly’s Landing
• Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada
• Attempted Harbour & Islands Cruise
• Weather changed our plans
• Bus back to the hotel
• Chinese takeout and swimming

Final Day

• Breakfast and hotel checkout
• Royal Ontario Museum
• Drive to Harbourfront
• City Sightseeing Harbour & Islands Cruise
• Lunch at Pie Bar
• Drive home

If you were recreating this itinerary, I would give ROM more time than we did. Otherwise, I liked the way the attractions eventually grouped together, especially on our full sightseeing day.

Arrival Day: Cross the Border, Check In, and Keep the First Afternoon Easy

We live near Rochester, New York, so Toronto is only about a 3-hour drive from home.

My kids and I left around 9 AM, drove about 30 minutes to pick up my niece, and then headed toward Canada. We crossed the border at Niagara Falls both ways.

Because I was crossing an international border alone with children, I had more paperwork than just our usual passports. I brought a notarized travel consent letter from my husband for my own kids, along with my niece’s birth certificate and a notarized consent letter from her parents.

Before crossing the border, we stopped at the duty-free shop to use the bathroom and exchange some U.S. dollars for Canadian currency. I mostly wanted some cash on hand for things like hotel housekeeping tips and restaurant tips.

The bathroom stop was also strategic. When I am the only adult traveling with several kids, I would much rather get everyone into a bathroom somewhere easy than wait until someone announces an emergency from the back seat.

Where We Stayed: Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre

Once we reached Toronto, we drove straight to Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre, where we stayed for both nights.

For this particular itinerary, the location worked really well.

The hotel has its own parking garage underneath the building, so I could unload the kids, luggage, and our side-by-side double stroller and take the elevator directly upstairs. Once I parked on arrival day, I left the car there until we checked out on our final morning.

The rooms are on the smaller side, but the hotel gave us the things that mattered much more for this kind of trip: a central downtown location, breakfast downstairs each morning, an indoor pool, an on-site restaurant, parking, and easy access to walking and public transportation.

The kids also loved the pool enough that it became our evening activity both nights, which meant I never felt like I needed to plan another attraction after dinner.

You can read my full Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre with kids review for the room, pool, breakfast, parking, restaurant, stroller logistics, and everything else we experienced there.

Lunch and an Unexpected First Stop at IKEA

After getting settled, our first Toronto stop was… IKEA.

This was not something I would normally put on a Toronto must-do list. We just don’t have an IKEA particularly close to home, my niece really wanted to go, and there happened to be one within walking distance of our hotel.

We walked over and turned IKEA into both our first activity and our lunch stop. The kids explored the displays while we wandered, and we finally tried the Swedish meatballs everyone always talks about. I had expected it to be a relatively quick stop, but we ended up spending much more time there than I planned.

We took our time, and by the time we were finished, everyone was much more interested in heading back to the hotel than continuing with the rest of the plan I had made.

The Cabbagetown Plan We Let Go

My original idea for that afternoon had been to continue over to Cabbagetown.

The neighborhood is close to the hotel, and I had wanted to wander around a bit, look at the shops and houses, and take the kids to Riverdale Farm, which is free to visit.

I still think that would have been a great addition to our first day.

But after the drive, border crossing, hotel check-in, walking around IKEA, and lunch, the kids were done. I did not see much value in forcing another activity into the afternoon just because I had written it down before the trip.

Instead, we walked back to the hotel and let arrival day stay easy.

Dinner, Swimming, and an Early Night

We ate dinner at the hotel’s Thirty Restaurant, then changed into bathing suits and went swimming.

The hotel also has an outdoor patio area where the kids played for a while before we went back upstairs for the night.

Nothing about that evening was particularly complicated, and that was exactly why it worked. We had a much bigger sightseeing day planned for the next morning.

Day 2: Hop-On Hop-Off Bus, CN Tower, Kelly’s Landing, and Ripley’s Aquarium

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and were ready to head out around 9 AM. I had originally planned to use our City Sightseeing Toronto Hop-On Hop-Off Bus tickets to go to the Royal Ontario Museum first, then continue toward Harbourfront for lunch and our boat cruise, with CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium saved for the following morning.

Once I looked at the route in real time, though, I realized CN Tower, Ripley’s, and Kelly’s Landing were all clustered together near one of the bus stops, while ROM did not even open until 10. Since I had already bought timed tickets for the tower and aquarium, I asked at both ticket desks whether we could switch them to that day. Thankfully, they let us, so I moved ROM to our final morning instead.

City Sightseeing Toronto Hop-On Hop-Off Bus With Kids

We walked from our hotel to Sankofa Square, where we started our City Sightseeing Toronto tour.

My son had been excited about riding a double-decker bus before we ever arrived in Toronto, so the bus was as much an attraction for him as it was transportation.

We sat on the open upper deck, listened to the live guide, and watched the city go by. He pointed out buildings, asked questions, got excited when the guide spotted a Ferrari, and generally treated the entire ride like part of the sightseeing day.

The logistics were surprisingly easy too.

We had our side-by-side double stroller with us. At the staffed boarding point, an employee took the folded stroller and stored it downstairs for us, which meant I could focus on getting all 3 kids onto the bus instead of juggling everything myself.

Our bus even broke down near Casa Loma at one point, and the staff handled the transfer so smoothly that it barely affected us. An employee moved our stroller to the replacement bus while I moved the kids.

We rode a little over an hour before getting off near the CN Tower area.

The bus worked really well for us because we wanted the sightseeing experience anyway. I would not necessarily choose it if my only goal were getting across Toronto as quickly as possible, since you are following a sightseeing loop and dealing with city traffic.

For our first full day, though, the ride itself was part of the fun.

You can read my full City Sightseeing Toronto with kids bus and boat review for the route, stroller logistics, upper deck, live tracker, and the accompanying boat cruise experience.

CN Tower With Kids

The CN Tower ended up being one of the collective favorites of our trip.

We spent about an hour there altogether, although roughly the first half hour included changing our tickets, getting inside, going through the entry process, and waiting for the elevator.

Once we reached the observation level, my 5-year-old son and 9-year-old niece wanted to look out every single window. They walked all the way around pointing things out below us and spent a surprisingly long time watching airplanes coming in to land.

My son and my husband love watching airplanes together, so he had me record one of the landings and send the video to his dad. My niece took her own video of the view and liked it enough that she later made it the background on her phone.

My daughter was having a hard time by that point because she was tired and hungry, so she spent most of our time there either melting down or sitting in the stroller pouting. The older 2, though, had a great time and probably would have stayed at the windows even longer.

We also went down to the Lower Observation Level to try the glass floor. My niece wanted absolutely nothing to do with standing on it once she realized she could see straight down, while my son thought it was amazing, especially when he realized he could see Ripley’s Aquarium far below us.

The tower was very easy with our stroller. We rolled through the accessible entrance and took the stroller directly into the large elevator with everyone else.

The only time I had trouble was getting between the observation levels because I could not immediately find the accessible route. The kids were already out of the stroller, so I folded it and carried it down the few stairs rather than spending more time searching. I am sure there was an accessible option, but I did not actually use it, so I would check the current accessibility information if avoiding stairs is important for your family.

CN Tower’s standard General Admission is currently sold as timed admission, and the ticket includes the Main and Lower Observation Levels.

For us, it was absolutely worth doing.

Lunch at Kelly’s Landing With Kids

From the CN Tower, we walked to Kelly’s Landing for lunch.

The location could not have fit our day much better. We could walk there from the CN Tower, sit down for a real break, and then walk right back toward Ripley’s Aquarium afterward without moving the stroller in and out of another form of transportation.

I came in with the double stroller and was able to push it right to our table. Once we were settled, the staff offered to take it and store it somewhere out of the way, which gave us much more room around the table.

The staff were especially kind with the kids, bringing them coloring books and little squishy toys to play with while we waited for our food. The kids menu also had far more options than the usual handful of chicken fingers, pizza, and mac and cheese, including salmon, which immediately caught my attention because one of my kids loves it and I usually have to order it from the adult menu.

Naturally, when finally presented with salmon on a kids menu, he ordered a burger instead.

Everyone loved the food, but what stood out most to me was how easy the meal felt. We had already spent the morning sightseeing and going up the CN Tower. The kids were wiggly, hungry, and very much behaving like kids, and I never felt like we were out of place or needed to constantly quiet everyone down.

The restaurant was lively enough that we could relax, the staff were wonderful with them, and the accessible bathroom was another useful little detail when I was managing several kids at once.

It ended up being exactly the kind of sit-down lunch we needed in the middle of a busy attraction day.

If you’re looking for somewhere to eat with kids while you’re in Toronto’s Entertainment District, I really cannot recommend Kelly’s Landing enough. It was in the perfect location for our day, everyone loved the food, and the whole experience felt easy in exactly the way you hope a restaurant meal with kids will.

Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada

After lunch, we walked back toward Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada.

We spent about 1.5 hours inside, and all 3 kids genuinely loved it.

Their favorite areas included the huge spider crab, the jellyfish exhibits, and especially the underwater tunnel where sharks and fish swim above and around you.

My son still talks about the upside-down jellyfish because none of us had ever seen them before.

There were also some really good interactive breaks mixed into the aquarium. The kids crawled through a little tunnel that brought them into the middle of an aquarium display, and there was a larger play structure with climbing areas and slides.

Even my 9-year-old went into the play structure with the younger kids.

The aquarium itself was very stroller-friendly. An accessible ramp took us up from street level, and once we were inside we could move through everything without needing elevators. We also used a family restroom where I could bring the stroller inside with us.

My biggest issue was the crowd.

I cannot remember ever being inside a museum or aquarium that felt as crowded as Ripley’s did that afternoon. There were people everywhere, and we often had to wait just to get close enough to see a display.

Because I was the only adult with 3 kids, I spent a lot of the visit worried that somebody was going to disappear into the crowd. My niece helped keep an eye on my daughter when everyone was out of the stroller, which made a big difference.

That did not stop us from enjoying the aquarium, but it absolutely affected the experience.

Ripley’s currently sells both timed and flexible tickets. Timed tickets let you choose an entry window in advance and receive priority entry during peak periods, while Flex Tickets can be used without choosing a specific reservation time.

Given how crowded it was during our visit, I would personally choose the timed option if I already knew which day I wanted to go.

Why CN Tower, Kelly’s Landing, and Ripley’s Work So Well Together

This entire part of our itinerary worked because once we got off the bus, we did not need another form of transportation for hours.

CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium are essentially beside each other, and Kelly’s Landing was an easy walk away.

The lunch in the middle also broke up 2 paid attractions really nicely.

Instead of going straight from standing and looking around the CN Tower into a crowded aquarium, everyone got to sit down, eat, color, play with toys, use the bathroom, and reset first.

If I were planning this part of the trip again, I would group these 3 stops together from the beginning.

When the Harbour Cruise Plan Fell Apart

Our plan after Ripley’s was to walk down toward Harbourfront and take the City Sightseeing Harbour & Islands Cruise, but the weather started turning as we made our way toward the water. The sky got darker quickly, so we stopped at a Subway, got the kids some cookies, and waited for a while to see if things would improve.

It became pretty clear that the cruise was not going to happen that afternoon, so we changed plans and used our hop-on hop-off bus passes to head back toward the hotel instead. By then it was pouring, the enclosed lower level was packed, and the younger 2 kids were exhausted enough that I eventually unfolded the stroller behind the last row and let them sleep for the ride back.

It was not how I had planned to end the sightseeing day, but it worked out fine and gave us a good reason to move the cruise to our final day instead.

Back to the Hotel for Takeout and Swimming

Once we reached the hotel, we were done sightseeing for the day. We ordered Chinese food, ate at the hotel, went swimming again, grabbed ice cream from the hotel shop, and settled in for the night.

By that point I was really glad we had chosen a hotel with things the kids actually enjoyed doing. After a full day out in the city, swimming and hanging out at the hotel was more than enough for them.

Final Day: ROM, Harbourfront, and the Drive Home

By our final morning, we had 2 main things left to do: Royal Ontario Museum and the Harbour & Islands Cruise.

I spent a little too long trying to avoid paying for more parking and considered a few combinations of walking and subway, but every option involved extra backtracking to the hotel for the car. With the double stroller, my niece walking the whole way, and some accessibility construction around the Museum station, it was starting to feel unnecessarily complicated.

This was one of those moments when I used my Family Travel Support GPT to talk through the options. I plugged in the walking distances, stroller access, parking costs, and the fact that we wanted to leave Toronto directly from our last stop, and driving ended up making the most sense.

So we checked out, loaded the car, drove to ROM, then drove to Harbourfront for the cruise and left the city from there. It cost more in parking, but it saved us a lot of backtracking and made the final day much easier.

Royal Ontario Museum With Kids

We parked at Cumberland Parkade at 148 Cumberland Street and walked a few minutes to the Royal Ontario Museum.

ROM ended up being one of the best stops of the trip because all 3 kids found something they were genuinely interested in, even though those things were completely different.

The giant Futalognkosaurus skeleton near the entrance immediately pulled them in, and once we reached the natural history galleries, my son was in his element. He bounced between dinosaurs, insects, animal displays, the giant spider crab, and the live beehive, while my daughter was much more interested in WonderWorks, the play-based space for younger kids.

My 9-year-old niece tended to gravitate toward the interactive pieces and joined the younger kids in WonderWorks too. That variety was one of the things I liked most about ROM. It did not feel like an attraction that only worked for one specific age.

It was also extremely easy to navigate with our double stroller. We used elevators without trouble, never needed to fold it, and even rolled straight through the Bat Cave.

We only had a little over an hour because of how our itinerary had shifted, and I would absolutely give it more time if I were planning the day again. For a family that enjoys museums, I would plan on at least 2 to 3 hours so you can explore without feeling rushed.

If you are planning a Toronto trip with kids, ROM is one of the places I would very happily recommend making time for.

You can read my full Royal Ontario Museum with kids review for more on WonderWorks, the dinosaur and biodiversity galleries, stroller accessibility, bathrooms, nursing areas, food, and the best ages for a visit.

Driving and Parking at Harbourfront

After ROM, we returned to the car and drove down to Harbourfront. This was the part I had been unnecessarily nervous about.

I do not love driving into unfamiliar big-city parking garages, especially when I am alone with kids. I worry about finding the entrance, whether the spaces will be impossibly tight, whether the garage will feel safe, and whether I will somehow end up trapped in a one-way lane trying to figure out where I am going.

Both Toronto garages we used that day were completely fine.

For Harbourfront, we parked at the Harbourfront Centre Parking Garage at 235 Queens Quay West.

It was clean, easy to navigate, had plenty of parking and reasonably sized spaces, and there were people manning the entrance area. I felt completely comfortable walking through it alone with the 3 kids.

Even better, it was basically beside our cruise departure point. We only had about a 3-minute walk from the garage to the boat.

Parking in downtown Toronto was not cheap, but by that point I was very happy I had chosen convenience over adding several more transit legs to our departure day.

Toronto traffic itself was slow, but otherwise I found driving in the city much easier than I had expected.

City Sightseeing Harbour & Islands Cruise

We had originally planned the cruise for the previous afternoon, but moving it to our final day ended up working beautifully.

The Harbour & Islands Cruise lasts about 45 minutes, which felt almost perfect with kids.

Before boarding, the kids got out of the stroller and we folded it. Staff took it from me and loaded it onto the boat, so once again I was able to focus on getting the kids aboard instead of carrying everything at once.

We chose seats on the upper deck, which is open air but has a large canopy over part of it.

From there, we had beautiful views of the Toronto skyline and CN Tower while the guide talked about the harbour and Toronto Islands.

The commentary came in stretches rather than nonstop, which I really liked with kids. We could listen for a while, then get drinks or snacks, use the bathroom downstairs, take pictures, or just look at the water.

One of my son’s favorite moments came near Billy Bishop Airport when the guide told everyone to watch for an airplane coming in to land over us.

For a kid who loves airplanes, that was pretty hard to beat.

The boat moved slowly and felt calm, and even though I am someone who gets motion sick easily, I had no trouble on this cruise.

It was one of the most relaxing things we did in Toronto and a really nice way to finish the trip.

My full City Sightseeing Toronto with kids review has much more about the boat layout, stroller boarding, upper and lower decks, bathrooms, snacks, and how the cruise compares with the bus experience.

Lunch at Pie Bar Before Leaving Toronto

After the cruise, everyone was hungry, so we stopped at Pie Bar near Harbourfront for pizza before starting the drive home. The food was really good, but the meal took much longer than I expected and ended up lasting about 1.5 hours.

By the time we finally left Toronto, it was around 4 PM and we ran straight into heavy afternoon traffic. We crawled through stop-and-go traffic through Mississauga for quite a while before things finally opened up and the rest of the drive home was easy.

I would happily eat at Pie Bar again, but if I were trying to leave Toronto at a specific time, I would build in more buffer for that final meal and try not to hit the road right at rush hour.

Is 2 Days Enough in Toronto With Kids?

Yes, I think 2 days in Toronto with kids is enough to have a really good trip. We managed to fit in the hop-on hop-off bus, CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, Royal Ontario Museum, a harbour cruise, several meals out, and still had time to enjoy the hotel without feeling like we had barely scratched the surface.

That said, I also would not hesitate to stay longer. There were plenty of things we considered that simply did not fit, and an extra day or 2 would make it easier to add neighborhoods, parks, Toronto Islands, or just move at a slower pace.

For us, 2 nights worked well because Toronto is close enough that we can come back. If you are traveling from farther away or treating this as a bigger once-in-a-while trip, I could easily see 3 or 4 days making sense.

The biggest thing that helped was paying attention to where everything was. Grouping CN Tower, Kelly’s Landing, and Ripley’s together made that whole part of the day much easier, and driving to ROM and Harbourfront on our final day kept us from wasting time backtracking. Once I started planning around the route instead of each attraction separately, the trip felt much more manageable.

Getting Around Toronto With Kids

We actually used a different form of transportation almost every day of this trip.

Walking

Walking worked really well for us around the hotel and within the main downtown attraction areas. We had our double stroller with us every time we were out on foot, and I found Toronto to be a very accessible city overall. Sidewalks were easy to navigate, and I never had trouble getting the stroller into buildings or around the places we visited.

On arrival day, we parked the car and did everything else on foot. On our full sightseeing day, once we got off the City Sightseeing bus near the CN Tower, we walked between the tower, Kelly’s Landing, Ripley’s Aquarium, and toward Harbourfront without needing another form of transportation.

Hop-On Hop-Off Bus

The City Sightseeing bus worked really well for our full sightseeing day because we wanted the tour experience anyway, and it was surprisingly easy to use with our double stroller. At the staffed boarding points, employees helped store the folded stroller, so I could focus on getting the kids on and off the bus without juggling everything at once.

I liked that the ride between attractions still felt like part of the sightseeing rather than just transportation. The tradeoff is that it is not the fastest way to get across the city, especially with Toronto traffic and the full sightseeing loop, so I would book it because you want the tour and then use the transportation piece as an added benefit.

Subway

We did not actually ride Toronto’s subway during this trip.

Our hotel was close to College Station, and I seriously considered using transit on our departure day, but the route simply did not fit our final plans as well as driving did.

TTC has accessible subway stations with features including elevators and barrier-free entrances, but accessibility construction and elevator outages can change. If I were relying on the subway with a stroller, I would check the current TTC accessibility information for the exact stations I planned to use rather than assuming every route would be step-free.

Driving and Parking

Driving ended up being more expensive than I wanted, but easier than I expected. We used the hotel garage during our stay, Cumberland Parkade for ROM, and Harbourfront Centre Parking Garage for the cruise, and both public garages were clean, easy to find using the street addresses, had plenty of spaces, and felt safe.

The harder part was really the traffic. Toronto moved slowly when we were driving around the city, and leaving around 4 PM put us into heavy stop-and-go traffic for quite a while. If you are planning to drive, I would think just as much about what time you are moving the car as where you plan to park.

Where to Stay for This 2-Day Toronto Itinerary

For the itinerary we followed, Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre was a really good fit. The location made it easy to walk around the neighborhood on arrival day, get to the City Sightseeing starting point the next morning, and come back without adding another complicated transportation step at the end of a long day.

The hotel itself also made the trip easier in ways that mattered with kids. Having breakfast downstairs meant we could start each morning without first figuring out where to feed everyone, and the on-site restaurant gave us an easy dinner option on arrival night. The indoor pool ended up being a huge hit too, and both nights the kids were perfectly happy to come back, swim, eat something easy, and settle in.

If your Toronto plans are centered around downtown sightseeing, I would absolutely consider staying here. The combination of location, parking, breakfast, dining, and the pool worked extremely well for our trip, and I would happily stay here again with the kids.

My complete Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre with kids review has much more detail on the rooms, pool, breakfast, parking, restaurant, stroller logistics, and what the stay was like with 3 kids.

What I Would Book Ahead for a 2-Day Toronto Trip

For a short Toronto trip, I would book the major attractions in advance, especially anything that uses dated or timed admission. The CN Tower uses timed General Admission, Ripley’s Aquarium offers timed tickets as well as more flexible options, and ROM encourages advance booking through its Plan Ahead Pricing system. I would also reserve City Sightseeing ahead of time if you know you want to use the bus or harbour cruise as part of your itinerary.

What I would do differently next time is look at the geography before choosing all of those times.

I was glad I had our CN Tower and Ripley’s tickets booked ahead, but I had originally scheduled them for the following morning without realizing how naturally they fit with Kelly’s Landing and the City Sightseeing stop. Once we were actually in Toronto, it made much more sense to keep those stops together and move ROM to our final day instead.

Thankfully, both the CN Tower and Ripley’s let us change our tickets when I asked, but I would not count on that always being possible. If you are building a short itinerary around several timed attractions, I would map out which ones are close together first and then choose your reservation times around that.

That way you still get the benefit of booking ahead without accidentally creating extra backtracking for yourself.

Other Things We Considered for Our Toronto Trip With Kids

There were several other things we seriously considered adding to this trip and would have been happy to do if we had more time. A 2-day itinerary only has so much room, and once we committed to the attractions above, these were the experiences that simply did not make the final cut.

I am keeping this list fairly short because I plan to cover Toronto family activities much more broadly elsewhere, but these were all real contenders while I was planning our trip and are still things I would consider for a future visit.

Cabbagetown and Riverdale Farm

Cabbagetown was actually supposed to be part of our arrival day. I liked the idea of spending a little time in one of Toronto’s quieter neighborhoods, wandering the tree-lined streets and Victorian homes, popping into cafés or local shops, and giving the kids a break from the bigger downtown attractions.

Riverdale Farm was the part I thought they would especially enjoy. It is a working farm right in the city where kids can see animals and spend some time outside, and Allan Gardens Conservatory was another nearby option I had considered if we had more time.

In the end, IKEA took longer than expected and everyone was ready to head back to the hotel, so Cabbagetown was the first thing we cut. I would still very happily add it to a future Toronto trip, especially if I wanted a slower afternoon between some of the busier sightseeing days.

Toronto Islands and Centreville

Toronto Islands came up over and over again while I was planning because there is so much for families to do there that it really could take up a large part of a day on its own. You can spend time at the beaches, walk or bike the island trails, use the playgrounds and splash pads, visit Franklin Children’s Garden, or head to Centreville Amusement Park, which has more than 30 rides and attractions along with Far Enough Farm.

I actually remember going to Centreville as a kid, so this was one I seriously considered for our trip. In the end, though, I did not want to squeeze the ferry ride and island time into an already packed 2-day itinerary and then feel rushed once we got there.

I would much rather come back and give Toronto Islands a good chunk of a day, especially in warm weather when we could combine Centreville with some time outside by the water. For a family staying in Toronto longer than we did, this is probably one of the first things I would look at adding.

Pirate Life

Pirate Life was one of the experiences we seriously considered for this trip. It is an interactive pirate-themed theatre cruise aboard a real pirate ship that sails from Toronto Harbour, which sounded like something my younger kids would have had a lot of fun with.

We ultimately left it off because our 2-day itinerary was already full and I did not want to overpack the trip. It is still something I would consider on a future visit, especially with younger kids who would be excited by the whole pirate-adventure experience.

City Sightseeing Toronto Night Tour

City Sightseeing also offered us the chance to try its night tour, and I do think my kids would have enjoyed the bright lights on the bus and seeing Toronto after dark.

We are just a pretty early-to-bed family at this stage, especially after a full day of sightseeing, so I knew adding another bus ride at night would probably be too much for us. I could absolutely see this being a fun option for families with older kids, or younger kids who are used to staying out later.

Would I Spend 2 Days in Toronto With Kids Again?

Absolutely. Toronto felt very manageable even though I was the only adult traveling with 3 kids, and there was enough variety that all 3 of them found something they genuinely enjoyed.

The biggest planning lesson for me was how much easier the trip became once I started thinking about the route between attractions instead of treating each reservation as its own separate thing. Grouping the CN Tower, Kelly’s Landing, and Ripley’s together made that whole part of the day much easier, and driving on our final day saved us from a lot of unnecessary backtracking even though it meant paying for parking.

If we went back, I could easily build a completely different 2-day itinerary around everything we did not have time for on this trip. For me, that is a pretty good sign that Toronto is worth more than 1 visit with kids.

Have questions about this post or want help thinking through the logistics for your own trip? Join my free Facebook community for parents planning family travel. You can ask questions, share what you’re working through, and get real-life advice from other parents who understand how many little details go into traveling with kids.

More Toronto Family Guides

• 2 Days in Toronto With Kids: A Realistic Family Itinerary
• Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre With Kids Review
• City Sightseeing Toronto With Kids: Bus and Boat Review
• Royal Ontario Museum With Kids: Our Honest Review