7 Days in Toronto Plus Canada

A full week is enough to turn Toronto from “the trip” into “the launch point,” riding VIA Rail clear across two provinces and landing in a genuinely different Canada by the end. This is the version I’d build if someone handed me seven days and a rail pass mentality: two days downtown, then Kingston, Ottawa, and Montreal, one after another.

Book these before you go

Day Focus Rough cost
1 Arrival, Walk of Fame CAD 12.35 UP Express + free sights
2 Hockey Hall of Fame, AGO, Queen’s Park, a game if the schedule allows Museum tickets + game tickets if catching one
3 VIA Rail to Kingston, Fort Henry VIA fare (book early) + Fort Henry admission
4 Travel to Ottawa, ByWard Market VIA fare, roughly 4.5 hours
5 Parliament Hill, national museums, Rideau Canal Museum admission (Parliament Hill tours are free)
6 Travel to Montreal, Old Montreal VIA fare, shorter than the Toronto legs
7 Old Montreal or Mount Royal, departure Free wandering + return VIA fare if needed

Day 1: Arrival and Orientation

  • Morning: Clear customs at Pearson (YYZ), your only passport check of the whole trip if you’re staying inside Canada. UP Express to Union Station: 25 minutes, every 15, 12.35 CAD one-way (9.25 with PRESTO).
  • Afternoon: Check in downtown at the Fairmont Royal York or Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, both close to Union. Take real time in the station’s great hall; this exact building launches the rest of the week.
  • Evening: Dinner downtown, no wrong answer given how many cuisines sit side by side here.

Day 2: Canadian Identity, Downtown

  • Morning: Canada’s Walk of Fame along King Street West between John and Simcoe, 230-plus maple-leaf stars since 1998. Then the Hockey Hall of Fame inside Brookfield Place, home to the actual Stanley Cup.
  • Afternoon: The Art Gallery of Ontario for the Group of Seven, Canada’s own landscape painting movement. Queen’s Park afterward, Ontario’s provincial legislature, worth a firm correction here since it’s not the national Parliament; that’s in Ottawa, four days from now on this itinerary.
  • Evening: Rogers Centre and Scotiabank Arena sit close together; the Blue Jays are Canada’s only MLB team and the Raptors its only NBA franchise. Catch a game if the schedule lines up, then dinner in the Entertainment District.

Day 3: VIA Rail Day Trip to Kingston

  • Morning: Board VIA Rail at Union Station for Kingston, about two hours and fifteen minutes away, two dozen departures daily. This is the national Crown corporation’s rail network, distinct from the GO Transit trains that handle Niagara day trips.
  • Afternoon: Fort Henry, a restored 19th-century fortress above the St. Lawrence, and a waterfront walk toward the Thousand Islands.
  • Evening: Evening train back to Union, one last night in Toronto before the week’s rail sweep really begins.

Day 4: Travel to Ottawa

  • Morning: Check out and board VIA Rail direct to Ottawa, roughly four and a half hours. Economy gets a reclining seat; Business (VIA1) adds a hot meal and Panorama Lounge access at Union before boarding.
  • Afternoon: Check into a hotel near ByWard Market or Parliament Hill, then a first walk through the market once you’ve dropped your bags.
  • Evening: Dinner in the market area, then a walk toward Parliament Hill lit up after dark, the actual building Queen’s Park keeps getting mistaken for.

Day 5: Ottawa, the National Capital

  • Morning: Parliament Hill properly, checking current tour availability since access has varied by season. Follow it with the Canadian Museum of History or the National Gallery of Canada, both genuinely national institutions in a way Toronto’s ROM and AGO aren’t, since Toronto isn’t the capital.
  • Afternoon: ByWard Market for lunch, Ottawa’s answer to St. Lawrence Market, and a walk along the Rideau Canal if weather allows.
  • Evening: Dinner in the market, then an early night ahead of tomorrow’s onward train.

Day 6: Travel to Montreal

  • Morning: VIA Rail from Ottawa to Montreal, a shorter leg than the Toronto runs, and check into a hotel in Old Montreal.
  • Afternoon: Somewhere around this stretch of the corridor, English-dominant signage gives way to French; by the time you’re walking Old Montreal’s cobblestone streets, you’re in a genuinely francophone city, a different Canada from the multicultural-but-English Toronto you left days ago.
  • Evening: Dinner in Old Montreal. VIA announcements have been bilingual the whole way by federal law, but this is the city where French actually becomes the default rather than the courtesy translation.

Day 7: Montreal and Departure

  • Morning: A last walk through Old Montreal or up toward Mount Royal if you have the energy, a genuinely different skyline and pace from where this trip started.
  • Afternoon: Decide your route home: fly out of Montreal-Trudeau (YUL) if that’s where your ticket ends, or book a same-day VIA Rail return to Toronto (about five and a half hours) if your flight home leaves from Pearson.
  • Evening: Farewell dinner wherever your day ends, Montreal or back in Toronto.

Getting Around

  • TTC in Toronto: 3.30 CAD per PRESTO tap for subway, streetcar, or bus.
  • VIA Rail covers the whole Kingston-Ottawa-Montreal leg; book all three segments before you land, since fares rise the closer you get to travel day, and this is a lot of rail to lock in last-minute.

Tips and Essentials

  • Passport: Checked once, at Pearson on arrival. Every leg after that, including crossing from Ontario into Quebec, has no border checkpoint at all, just a change in the signage language.
  • Currency: Canadian dollar throughout, even in Montreal; cards are accepted nearly everywhere, though keep some cash for market stalls.
  • Language: English dominates in Toronto and Ottawa’s federal buildings run bilingual by law, but Montreal is a genuinely French-first city; a few basic French phrases go a long way there.
  • HST/QST: Ontario charges 13% HST; Quebec’s combined tax rate runs slightly higher, added at the register either way.

Other Things of Interest

  • Shorter trips: A 4-day version stops at Kingston, and a 6-day version goes as far as Ottawa without continuing to Montreal.
  • Niagara Falls: Reachable by GO Transit rather than VIA, and better served by its own dedicated Ontario day-trips guide than a rushed add-on to a corridor-focused week.
  • The downtown checklist: CN Tower, the Islands, Casa Loma, and the rest of Toronto’s in-city sights live in the Toronto guide , worth a return trip on their own terms.

A week like this gives you a real answer to “what is Canada,” not just “what is Toronto,” and there’s still Vancouver, the Rockies, and the Maritimes left for next time.