City Sightseeing Toronto With Kids: Bus and Boat Review

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Red City Sightseeing Toronto hop-on hop-off double-decker bus in downtown Toronto — City Sightseeing Toronto’s hop-on hop-off buses stop near many of the city’s major attractions.

When we started planning our Toronto trip, there were 2 City Sightseeing experiences that immediately felt like a good fit for us.

My son had been fascinated by the double-decker buses when we visited London, although we never actually rode one there, and the idea of seeing Toronto from the top of one sounded like something all 3 kids would enjoy.

My 9-year-old niece had a completely different request. One of the things she really wanted to do in Toronto was take a boat ride and see the city from the water.

City Sightseeing Toronto offered us the chance to do both their Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour and Harbour & Islands Cruise, so we ended up experiencing each one during our trip.

We used the bus during our full sightseeing day, riding it from the area near our hotel to the CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium and then back again later that afternoon. The following day, we returned to Harbourfront for the 45-minute cruise through Toronto Harbour and the islands.

They were 2 very different experiences, and I would absolutely recommend both with kids.

City Sightseeing Toronto hosted our family for the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour and Harbour & Islands Cruise. All opinions and experiences shared here are my own.

Is City Sightseeing Toronto Worth It With Kids?

Yes. Both the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour and Harbour & Islands Cruise ended up being really good choices for our family, although I would recommend them for slightly different reasons.

The bus worked especially well because sightseeing was built right into getting around the city. We could sit on the open top of a double-decker bus, listen to a guide talk about Toronto, and see neighborhoods and landmarks we otherwise would not have reached during such a short trip, all while making our way toward the attractions we had already planned to visit.

The cruise was a much more relaxed experience. It gave us beautiful views of the Toronto skyline, took us through the islands, and was short enough that all 3 kids stayed interested for the entire ride. It actually ended up being one of my favorite things we did in Toronto.

I would consider the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour a great fit if:

You want to see a lot of Toronto without walking between every attraction
Your kids would enjoy riding on an open-top double-decker bus
You want an easy introduction to the city
You like having flexibility about where and when you get off
You want transportation between attractions to also feel like an activity
You have 1 or 2 days to explore downtown Toronto

The Harbour & Islands Cruise is a great fit if:

You want to see Toronto from a completely different perspective
Your kids enjoy boats or being on the water
You want a shorter activity that does not take over your entire day
You want something relaxing between bigger attractions
Seeing the skyline and Toronto Islands is important to you

For the bus, the biggest thing I would understand before booking is that it is a tour first. We absolutely used it as transportation, but it is not the fastest or least expensive way to move across Toronto.

The cruise is much more straightforward. You get on the boat, spend about 45 minutes seeing the harbour and islands, and return to the same area.

If a friend asked me whether either experience was worth doing with kids, though, my answer would be absolutely yes to both.

What City Sightseeing Toronto Offers

The Hop-On Hop-Off Bus and Harbour & Islands Cruise are 2 separate experiences through City Sightseeing Toronto, and you can book either one on its own.

The standard Hop-On Hop-Off Tour currently offers 24-hour and 48-hour tickets. The route has 13 stops around Toronto, and you can stay aboard for the entire loop or get on and off throughout the day while your ticket is valid. The full loop takes around 2 hours to 2 hours and 15 minutes, although Toronto traffic can obviously affect that.

The Harbour & Islands Cruise is a separate 45-minute guided cruise through Toronto Harbour and the islands.

If you want to do both, City Sightseeing also sells a Bus and Boat Combo. One feature I really like is that the cruise does not have to be taken during the validity period of your bus ticket, so you can split the 2 experiences across different days.

We had originally planned to do both on the same day, but storms rolled in that afternoon, so we ended up coming back for the cruise the following day.

Our Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Day Started at Sankofa Square

Our first full day in Toronto started with an 8-minute walk from our hotel, Holiday Inn Toronto Downtown Centre, to Stop #1 at Sankofa Square.

There was actually another City Sightseeing stop closer to us at Yonge and Wellesley, but I intentionally chose the first stop for 2 reasons.

First, I wanted the kids to experience as much of the tour as possible rather than joining partway through the route.

More importantly, I was traveling with our side-by-side double stroller.

Before the trip, I had asked City Sightseeing how that would work because even folded, our stroller is not especially small. They explained that storage varies between buses and recommended that we start at one of their more heavily staffed boarding locations so someone could help us get situated.

That turned out to be really good advice.

Sankofa Square itself was easy to find, and the City Sightseeing stop was clearly marked. Several employees were standing nearby with tablets helping people as they arrived.

I pulled up the PDF tickets on my phone, someone scanned the QR codes, and we were given paper tickets and a brochure-style route map for the rest of the day.

And then, before I really had time to figure out what I was going to do with the stroller, an employee told me he would take it.

I emptied it like I normally do, folded it, and handed it directly to him. He carried it onto the lower level and stored it toward the back of the bus near the stairs where there were no passenger seats.

That was considerably easier than some other transportation I have used with the kids, where I am folding the stroller, carrying it myself, and trying to keep track of everyone at the same time.

With the stroller taken care of, we headed upstairs.

Riding on the Open Top Was Part of the Attraction

City Sightseeing Toronto with kids on the open top deck of the hop-on hop-off bus — The open top deck was one of the highlights for the kids and gave us a completely different view of downtown Toronto.

We chose the very back row on the upper level, and the kids immediately loved it.

It was a sunny August morning, but being up there was surprisingly comfortable. There was plenty of airflow while the bus was moving, and although it was definitely windy, the bus travels slowly enough through downtown that it never felt unpleasant.

I also felt completely comfortable with the kids sitting up there.

The sides were high enough that I never really thought about them as a safety issue. My kids are good about staying seated on transportation, though, and I could see feeling differently with a child who constantly wants to stand or climb on the seats.

The stairs between the 2 levels are narrow and fairly steep, but they were manageable for us.

My 3-year-old apparently found the whole experience a little too relaxing because about halfway through the ride she curled up with her head in my lap and fell asleep.

My 5-year-old did exactly the opposite.

He was listening closely to the live guide at the front of the bus and kept asking me questions or pointing out whatever the guide was talking about.

Open top seating on a City Sightseeing Toronto hop-on hop-off bus with the CN Tower in the distance — Sitting upstairs gave us a much better view of the city than we would have had from street level.

The kids loved seeing the tall buildings from up there, and they were especially interested when we passed Casa Loma and later started getting closer to the CN Tower.

At one point, our guide also pointed out a Ferrari driving nearby. My car-obsessed son may have considered that the most important piece of Toronto history discussed during the entire tour.

The elevated view was one of my favorite parts too. We had already spent time walking and driving around downtown, but seeing the city from the top of the bus gave us a completely different perspective.

Our Bus Broke Down, and Somehow Even That Was Easy

Kids seated on the lower level of a City Sightseeing Toronto double-decker bus — The lower level gave us an enclosed option when we were not sitting upstairs.

Somewhere around the Casa Loma portion of the route, our bus broke down.

Obviously that is not something I would expect during a normal tour, but what impressed me was how little work the whole situation created for me.

Another bus pulled in behind us, and everyone needed to transfer.

At that point, my daughter was still asleep.

I picked her up, carried her down the stairs, and focused on getting all 3 kids onto the second bus.

By the time I thought about our stroller, the employee coordinating the transfer had already taken it off the first bus and moved it onto the second one.

I never had to ask.

That small moment stuck with me because traveling as the only adult with 3 kids means I am usually mentally keeping track of several things at once. Having somebody else simply notice the stroller and take care of it meant I could concentrate on moving the kids safely.

We sat downstairs after transferring buses and continued toward the CN Tower.

How We Actually Used the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus

Our sightseeing plan that day was already fairly set.

We were already planning to spend most of the day around the CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium, so we did not use the bus to hop off at every stop along the route. Instead, we treated it as our transportation to that part of the city, with the sightseeing experience built into the ride.

From Sankofa Square, it took us a little over an hour to reach the CN Tower area. That is definitely slower than simply taking public transportation, but we were also sitting on the top of a double-decker bus, seeing different parts of Toronto and listening to the guide along the way. Since that was part of what we wanted from the experience, the extra time felt worthwhile.

Once we got off, we spent the morning at the CN Tower, stopped for lunch at Kelly’s Landing, and then headed to Ripley’s Aquarium for the afternoon.

Our original plan was to continue down toward Harbourfront afterward, take the Harbour & Islands Cruise, and then use the bus to finish the route back toward our hotel.

By that point, though, severe storms had started moving through Toronto, so the cruise had to wait until the following day.

The Ride Back Was a Completely Different Experience

By the time we were ready to head back, the weather had changed completely. We boarded again near Harbourfront while it was pouring rain, so almost everyone was packed onto the enclosed lower level and the upper deck was completely empty.

There were no seats left downstairs, and this stop did not have the same staffed boarding setup we had experienced at Sankofa Square, so I carried the folded stroller onto the bus myself.

The younger kids were completely exhausted by that point, and when I noticed some open space behind the last row of seats, I unfolded the stroller, locked the wheels, put both of them inside, and stood beside it holding on. They fell asleep almost immediately.

My niece was understandably much less interested in this part of the ride, but by then we were not really using the bus as a sightseeing experience anymore. We were wet, tired, sitting in Toronto traffic, and mostly just trying to get back toward the hotel.

When we reached our stop, another passenger helped me lift the stroller out while the kids were still asleep inside. It was a very different experience from our morning ride, but it also showed how much weather and crowd levels can change what the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus feels like from one part of the day to another.

Is the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Good Transportation Around Toronto?

It can be, but I would not buy it only for transportation.

The stops are incredibly convenient for tourists. The current route includes stops near the Royal Ontario Museum, Casa Loma, the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, Harbourfront, the Hockey Hall of Fame, St. Lawrence Market, the Distillery District, and several other popular areas.

It also saved us a lot of walking.

One feature I especially liked was the live bus tracker on City Sightseeing’s website. I could see exactly where the buses were along the route and time our arrival at the stop so we were not standing around waiting. Both times we boarded, a bus was either already there or just approaching.

I was also texting my sister throughout the day, and I sent her the tracker link so she could watch our bus move around Toronto in real time. Since my niece was traveling with me and her mom was back home missing her, that ended up being a fun little way for her to follow along with what we were doing.

The tradeoff is that the bus is still moving through Toronto traffic and following a sightseeing route, so it is not the fastest way to get from one place to another. Regular public transportation will usually make more sense if speed and cost are your only priorities.

For us, though, the slower pace was part of the experience we wanted. The kids enjoy pretty much any kind of transportation, so riding the bus itself was just as much a part of the day as where it was taking us.

The Harbour & Islands Cruise With Kids Became One of My Favorite Toronto Experiences

Harbour Star boat used for the City Sightseeing Toronto Harbour & Islands Cruise — The Harbour Star has open-air seating upstairs and enclosed seating on the lower level.

Because of the storms, we never made it onto the Harbour & Islands Cruise that afternoon. We came back on our final day in Toronto after visiting the Royal Ontario Museum and headed to Harbourfront specifically for the cruise.

In hindsight, I am glad it worked out that way. Trying to squeeze the cruise into our already full bus, CN Tower, lunch, and aquarium day would have been possible, but doing it the following day meant we could enjoy it without watching the clock.

The Harbour & Islands Cruise lasts about 45 minutes and travels through Toronto Harbour and the islands with live commentary along the way.

Boarding With the Stroller Was Easier Than I Expected

Finding the correct boarding location was probably the only part that took me a minute.

Once we had the right location, though, it was easy. The City Sightseeing boarding area was clearly marked, and there was an employee there answering questions and selling tickets.

Harbour Star cruise sign showing ticket prices and departure times at Toronto Harbourfront — The cruise boarding area was clearly marked once we found the correct pier, with current prices and departure times posted nearby.

Because meeting-point information can change or be described differently depending on where you book, I would check the exact location listed on your current ticket before heading over.

We arrived about 25 minutes before the next departure and there was not really a line yet, so we spent some time waiting under the trees nearby.

Around 10 minutes before departure, people started lining up fairly quickly.

We had not reserved a particular departure time. Our tickets were scanned when we were ready to board, and we were put onto the next cruise.

Right before we went up the gangway, I took the kids out of the stroller and folded it. An employee took it from me and placed it beside the boat while we boarded.

Another passenger had luggage with them, and that was placed in the same area.

Once everyone was onboard, the stroller and luggage were loaded too. I later saw our stroller stored downstairs near the captain.

The Boat Itself Worked Really Well With Kids

Upper deck seating and live guide on the City Sightseeing Toronto Harbour & Islands Cruise — We sat on the upper deck for most of the cruise, where the guide shared commentary about the harbour and Toronto Islands.

We boarded directly onto the upper level and chose seats there for the cruise. There is a large canopy over part of the upper deck, so you still get the open-air experience and views while having some cover overhead, and there is also enclosed seating downstairs.

Once we were moving, we could go between the 2 levels as needed. The lower level has men’s and women’s restrooms along with a bar selling drinks and snacks, so at one point we all went downstairs so the kids could get sodas and bags of chips before heading back up.

Bar and snack counter on the City Sightseeing Toronto Harbour & Islands Cruise — The lower level has drinks and snacks for purchase, which came in handy when the kids wanted sodas and chips.

The only part of the boat that made me a little more cautious with the kids was moving around. The stairs between levels felt fairly steep and open, so I kept everyone close whenever we used them, and the railings on the upper deck also felt more open than I personally prefer with young children.

Even my 9-year-old niece decided she would rather sit closer to the aisle because sitting right beside the railing made her a little nervous. My younger kids are good about staying seated when I ask them to, so I told everyone they needed to stay in their seats unless we were all getting up together, and with that rule I felt comfortable.

If I had been traveling with a toddler who wanted to constantly climb, run, or explore, I probably would have felt more on edge upstairs and might have chosen the enclosed lower level instead.

Seeing Toronto From the Water Was Completely Different

Toronto skyline and CN Tower viewed from the Harbour & Islands Cruise — One of my favorite parts of the cruise was getting this wide-open view of the Toronto skyline from the water.

The cruise itself was beautiful. You get some incredible views back toward the Toronto skyline, including the CN Tower, and then the boat travels through and around the Toronto Islands while the guide points out different sights along the way.

I ended up learning more than I expected during a 45-minute cruise. One thing that stuck with me was learning that once the last boat leaves the islands for the night, there is no regular transportation back to the city and very little available there after hours. Our guide joked that if you miss the last boat, you may be spending the night on a park bench.

The commentary was also paced really well. Our guide talked through a good portion of the beginning, then took a break and encouraged everyone to get drinks, use the bathroom, take pictures, or just enjoy being on the water before picking the commentary back up as we headed toward the harbour again.

That balance worked really well for me because it still felt like a guided tour, but not one where someone was talking at you for the entire 45 minutes.

One of my son’s favorite moments happened when we passed near Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. Our guide noticed that a plane was coming in to land and told everyone to get their cameras ready, and a few moments later it flew directly over the boat. Since my son loves airplanes, that immediately became one of the highlights of the cruise for him.

I liked that the experience had enough going on to keep the kids interested without feeling overly structured. We got the skyline views and the guided tour, but there was also plenty of time to just sit, look around, and enjoy being on the water.

Was 45 Minutes Long Enough?

For us, 45 minutes was almost perfect. The cruise went by surprisingly quickly, but we still had enough time to see the skyline and islands, listen to the guide, go downstairs for snacks, take pictures, and simply sit and enjoy being on the water.

It also ended before any of the kids started getting bored or restless, and all 3 stayed interested for the entire ride. I think a much longer cruise might have started to feel like a lot for younger kids, but this length worked really well for our group.

The boat also moved slowly and felt very calm during our particular cruise. I get motion sick very easily and had no problem at all, although water conditions can obviously vary from day to day. For us, it ended up being one of the most relaxing things we did during the entire Toronto trip.

Should You Do Both City Sightseeing Tours?

If you have time, I would.

The Hop-On Hop-Off Bus and Harbour & Islands Cruise felt completely different from each other, so I never felt like we were repeating the same sightseeing experience twice.

The bus gave us a much better sense of Toronto from inside the city. We moved through different neighborhoods, passed major attractions, and listened to commentary that helped everything make more sense geographically.

The cruise felt much more relaxed and gave us a completely different view as we looked back toward the skyline from the water.

We had originally planned to do both in 1 day, and I still think that would work well if you are trying to fit a lot into a short Toronto trip. After the weather forced us to split them across 2 days, though, I also really liked having the cruise as its own slower experience.

City Sightseeing sells the bus and cruise separately, but it also offers a Bus and Boat Combo, and the cruise can be used on a different day from the bus portion. If I were planning the same trip again and wanted to do both, I would compare the combo price with booking them individually and choose whichever made the most sense.

City Sightseeing also offers several other Toronto-area tours, including a night tour, additional sightseeing routes, and Niagara Falls options. We only experienced the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus and Harbour & Islands Cruise on this trip, but it is worth looking at the full tour lineup if you are planning more than 1 day of sightseeing.

A Few Things I Would Know Before Going

There honestly is not much I would change about the way we did either experience.

For the bus, I liked starting at Sankofa Square because there were employees there to help with the stroller and we got to experience the route from the beginning.

I would also use the live bus tracker again because being able to see where the buses were meant we never wasted time waiting at a stop. I would bring the double stroller again without hesitation too.

Even though it required folding during normal boarding, the staff made that process incredibly easy during our main tour, and later in the day the stroller ended up becoming exactly what my exhausted younger kids needed.

For the cruise, I would arrive a little early again so we could get in line before boarding, especially if I cared about where we sat.

With very young or particularly active children, I would also take a look at both levels of the boat before deciding where to settle in. I loved sitting upstairs with my kids, but the enclosed lower level may feel more comfortable for some families.

City Sightseeing Toronto With Kids: Pros and Cons

What I Loved

The bus itself felt like an attraction to the kids
The open top gave us a completely different view of Toronto
We saw much more of the city than we could have covered on foot
The live commentary kept my 5-year-old genuinely interested
The route stops near many of Toronto’s biggest attractions
The live tracker made the buses extremely easy to use
Staff were especially helpful with our double stroller
We did not spend time waiting around for buses
The Harbour & Islands Cruise was a perfect length for our kids
The cruise gave us beautiful skyline and island views
Restrooms, drinks, and snacks were available onboard
Both experiences accommodated our stroller
The bus and boat felt completely different from each other
The cruise ended up being one of my favorite parts of Toronto

What I Would Keep in Mind

The Hop-On Hop-Off Bus is not the fastest way to get around Toronto
Traffic can make even relatively short distances take quite a while
Stroller storage may vary between buses
Weather has a big impact on the open-top bus experience
The stairs on both the bus and boat are fairly narrow
I would supervise very young or active kids especially closely on the upper level of the boat

None of those things would stop me from booking either experience again.

They are simply the things I would want to understand before deciding whether each tour was a good fit for my own kids.

Would I Book City Sightseeing Toronto Again?

Yes, absolutely.

The Hop-On Hop-Off Bus gave us exactly the kind of first-day Toronto experience I had hoped for. The kids got their double-decker bus ride, I got to see much more of the city than I would have managed on foot with 3 kids, and we still used it to reach the attractions that were already part of our plans.

I would especially recommend it to families visiting Toronto for the first time who want to actually experience the city while moving between attractions.

And I would do the Harbour & Islands Cruise again without hesitation.

It was easy, relaxing, beautiful, and interesting enough to keep all 3 kids engaged for the entire ride. Seeing Toronto from the water also gave us something completely different from everything else we had done during the trip.

If I were planning the same visit again, I would happily include both.

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.