6 Days: Toronto and Ontario Trips

Six days runs the full spread, wine country, two waterfall stops, a river gorge, a theatre town, a mountain village, and now a proper Muskoka lake day with a 137-year-old steamship. Same Toronto hotel every night; this is the version for someone who wants to actually see how varied Ontario gets outside its biggest city, not just photograph one corner of it.

Book these before you go

Day Focus Rough cost
1 Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake wine tasting CAD 34 GO+WEGO round trip + Niagara Parks pass
2 Hamilton’s Webster’s Falls and Tews Falls CAD 8-11 GO one-way + local transport to the gorge
3 Elora Gorge tubing, the village of Elora CAD 21.50 registration or 55.50 with gear rental
4 Stratford Festival matinee, Avon River walk Festival ticket price varies by production
5 Georgian Bay and Blue Mountain Village Lift ticket or trail access varies by season
6 Muskoka Wharf, RMS Segwun cruise Cruise ticket price varies by cruise length

Day 1: Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake

  • Morning: Depart Toronto, 1.5-2 hours by car via the QEW, or about 2-2.5 hours by GO train plus the local WEGO bus, from roughly 34 CAD round trip. Niagara Falls, Canadian side, for the full Horseshoe Falls view.
  • Afternoon: Niagara-on-the-Lake, 25 km up the parkway, best with a car or a booked wine tour with transport included; over 35 wineries sit inside the town.
  • Evening: Back to Toronto, dinner downtown at the Fairmont Royal York or InterContinental Toronto Centre if you’re staying centrally.

Day 2: Hamilton’s Waterfalls

  • Morning: GO train from Union Station to West Harbour, hourly, about 70-80 minutes, then a car, cab, or rideshare out to Spencer Gorge Conservation Area in Dundas. Webster’s Falls first, a 30-meter crest.
  • Afternoon: Tews Falls, three minutes away and actually taller at 41 meters. Lunch in Dundas.
  • Evening: Back in Toronto by early evening; a lighter dinner before tomorrow’s longer drive.

Day 3: Elora Gorge

  • Morning: Car-only, roughly two hours west via Guelph. The limestone gorge is free to walk.
  • Afternoon: Tubing the Grand River runs late June through early September, about 21.50 CAD registration alone or 55.50 CAD with gear rental, online booking only. The mill town of Elora is worth wandering regardless of season.
  • Evening: Drive back to Toronto, roughly two hours.

Day 4: Stratford

  • Morning: About two hours by car or a direct bus. The Stratford Festival runs April through October, Shakespeare and contemporary productions in a town far smaller than its cultural weight suggests.
  • Afternoon: A riverside walk along the Avon River, then a matinee if the schedule lines up.
  • Evening: A proper sit-down dinner in town before heading back.

Day 5: Georgian Bay and Blue Mountain

  • Morning: Roughly 160 km, 1.5-2 hours via Highway 400 to 89 to 26. Blue Mountain Village sits directly on Georgian Bay, 11 km from Collingwood.
  • Afternoon: Hiking and the Scenic Caves in summer, skiing and snowboarding in winter, with dedicated ski buses running from Toronto in season.
  • Evening: Drive back to Toronto, or treat this as an overnight if five straight days of driving has you wanting a slower morning.

Day 6: Muskoka

  • Morning: About 170-190 km to Gravenhurst, roughly 2.25 hours via Highway 400 then 11. Head straight to Muskoka Wharf.
  • Afternoon: A sightseeing cruise on the RMS Segwun, North America’s oldest operating steamship, built in 1887 and still running 1-4 hour cruises on the lake, some with lunch or high tea included. Ontario Northland motorcoach service is the fallback if you’d rather not drive.
  • Evening: Drive back to Toronto to close out the week, or, better, spend the night in Muskoka if your schedule allows one real overnight; a same-day round trip from here is a long stretch of driving for one afternoon on the water.

Getting Around

  • Days one and two run fine on GO Transit alone; days three through six all lean on having a car, though Stratford is reachable by direct bus if you’d rather skip driving that leg.
  • Rent starting day three and keep it through day six; that’s the stretch where transit options thin out fast.

Things to Know

  • Weather and packing needs shift daily here, wine country warmth, waterfall spray, river water, theatre-night dress, mountain-town layers, then lake-country casual. Pack for all of it up front rather than doing laundry mid-trip.
  • Book everything, Niagara Parks passes, wine tour transport, Elora tubing, Stratford Festival tickets, before you leave Toronto; all four sell out ahead of summer weekends.

Accommodations

  • Downtown base: Fairmont Royal York or InterContinental Toronto Centre, both close to Union Station and an easy Gardiner Expressway exit.
  • Overnight option: If day five or six’s drive feels long, book one night in Blue Mountain Village or Muskoka instead of pushing straight back to Toronto; both towns have solid mid-range lodging built for exactly this kind of stopover.

Tips and Essentials

  • Don’t try to combine Muskoka and Georgian Bay into a single day even though they’re both north of the city; they’re roughly 90 minutes apart from each other and each deserves its own full day.
  • The RMS Segwun’s cruise schedule is seasonal; confirm current sailing times before building your afternoon around a specific departure.
  • Six days is genuinely enough to feel like you understand how different Ontario is outside Toronto, not just that it exists beyond the city limits.

Six days covers six completely different Ontarios, and by day six you’ll understand why locals treat the city itself as the launchpad, not the finish line. See the Toronto city guide for the downtown core, or push on to the 7-day itinerary to add Algonquin Provincial Park as a proper finale.