7 Days: Toronto and Ontario Trips

Seven days is the full run through Ontario using Toronto as your base camp, no shortcuts, no downtown checklist padding it out. Wine country, two waterfall stops, a river gorge, a theatre town, a mountain village, a lake-country steamship, and finally a full day into genuine wilderness. This is the version for anyone who actually wants to see how much Ontario there is beyond the city itself.

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
7 Algonquin Provincial Park, canoeing, moose-spotting Day-use vehicle permit fee (verify current rate)

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, kids 12 and under free on GO. 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; pick one or two rather than rushing four.
  • Evening: Back to Toronto, dinner downtown at your hotel base.

Day 2: Hamilton’s Waterfalls

  • Morning: GO train from Union Station to West Harbour, hourly, roughly 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, taller than Niagara Falls’ own drop. Lunch in Dundas.
  • Evening: Back in Toronto by early evening; a lighter dinner tonight.

Day 3: Elora Gorge

  • Morning: Car-only, roughly two hours west via Guelph. The limestone gorge itself 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-only booking. The mill town of Elora is worth wandering regardless.
  • 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 small city that massively outperforms its population.
  • 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.

Day 6: Muskoka

  • Morning: About 170-190 km to Gravenhurst, roughly 2.25 hours via Highway 400 then 11. Head to Muskoka Wharf.
  • Afternoon: A sightseeing cruise on the RMS Segwun, North America’s oldest operating steamship, built in 1887, running 1-4 hour cruises with lunch or high tea options.
  • Evening: Drive back to Toronto; you’re one day out from the trip’s biggest push, so keep tonight easy.

Day 7: Algonquin Provincial Park

  • Morning: The farthest reach of the whole week, about 250 km and 3.5-4 hours by car via the Highway 60 corridor, no transit option gets you there. A daily vehicle permit fee applies unless you’re driving straight through the 56 km corridor without stopping; verify the current rate before you go.
  • Afternoon: Canoeing on one of the park’s countless lakes, and dawn or dusk are genuinely your best odds for spotting moose along the highway corridor. Fall colour season, late September into October, is the single best-known reason people make this drive.
  • Evening: If you’re pushing back to Toronto same-day, budget over 7 hours of driving total for one afternoon in the park, which is a rough trade. An overnight near the park, in Huntsville or inside Algonquin itself, is the far better call if your schedule allows even one extra night.

Getting Around

  • Days one and two run fine on GO Transit alone; days three through seven all depend on having a car, and Algonquin specifically has zero transit access.
  • Rent a car starting day three and keep it through day seven; that’s the stretch where this whole itinerary lives or dies on having your own wheels.

Things to Know

  • Pack for real range across the week, wine country warmth, waterfall spray, river water, theatre-night dress, mountain-town layers, lake-country casual, and finally proper outdoor gear for Algonquin.
  • Book Niagara Parks passes, wine tour transport, Elora tubing tickets, and Stratford Festival seats before you leave Toronto; all sell out ahead of summer weekends.
  • Algonquin’s day-use permit system only applies if you actually stop inside the park; confirm current pricing and any seasonal notices before you go.

Accommodations

  • Downtown core (nights 1-6): Fairmont Royal York or InterContinental Toronto Centre, both close to Union Station and a fast Gardiner Expressway exit for the daily drives out and back.
  • Night 7 option: A Huntsville hotel or a rustic lodge just inside Algonquin turns day seven into a genuine overnight instead of a brutal same-day round trip.

A full week gives you enough runway to actually feel how much Ontario exists past Toronto’s skyline, wine country to wilderness, and by day seven you’ll understand why the smartest trips here treat the city as basecamp, not the main event. For the downtown core itself, see the Toronto city guide ; for the full Ontario overview with distances and costs in one place, see the Toronto-as-a-base guide .