Canada - help filling the gaps

Hi,
My family (me+SO+15yo) will be in Toronto for 2 days in August (on weekdays). Currently itinerary looks like this:
Day1: Arrival from NY to YYZ at ~11am, rent a car and go to Niagara falls
Night at Marriott Fallsview
Day 2: Return to Toronto, dinner at CN tower, night at YYZ airport due to early departure next day
Day 3: Early AM flight back to the US.

Questions: on day 1, I assume that drive will take approximately 2 hours, we'll be at the falls at 1pm. What would be recommended activities except walking/looking at the falls. Niagaraparks.com offers the following 4 activities (for $44.95):
Maid of the Mist (available separately for $20)
Journey Behind the Falls
Niagara's Fury
White Water Walk

Are all of them worth doing and can all 4 of them be done in half of the day?

On Day 2 we plan to arrive to Toronoto at about noon so what would be walking/sightseeing activities for ~6 hours in downtown Toronto

What would be the best/not too expensive place to park near CN tower for ~10 hours?

Your advise will be much appreciated
AX

I myself find Niagara Falls ( the town) really tacky and touristy. I'd see the falls and then take a drive over to Niagara on the Lake, perhaps tour a few wineries.

In Toronto there are a number of museums that are worth seeing, depending upon your interests. Some include the Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Bata Shoe museum.

I can't help you with parking, but if you're there on a weekend it will be cheaper than a weekday. I believe most of the downtown parkades will be in the region of $25-$30 a day to park.

I know you didn't ask about this, but I just did this trip (although I had a lot more time in TO than you will). I did lots of research on the rental car situation, and the cheapest rental I could find was with Budget. However, I did Toronto--->Niagara Falls (one way), so YMMV since you're doing the opposite route.

The Maid of the Mist is a must, and I really enjoyed going to the Butterfly Conservatory in Niagara as well. In Toronto, the AGO is not to be missed and I also highly recommend you take a boat tour on Lake Ontario as well... before the tour, make sure to checkout the Harbourfront Centre area also. If you feel like you need some time to chill, you should go to Toronto Island - most (if not all) of the Lake Ontario tours/ferries stop at the Island and let passengers off. You can reembark when your tour/ferry comes back, or there's also a free ferry (that I believe is run by the city?) which takes passengers back from Centre Island for free.

Have a great time - Ontario is awesome, and people are so nice there!

Questions: on day 1, I assume that drive will take approximately 2 hours, we'll be at the falls at 1pm. What would be recommended activities except walking/looking at the falls. Niagaraparks.com offers the following 4 activities (for $44.95):
Maid of the Mist (available separately for $20)

On my one and only visit to Niagara Falls I drove in from Toronto and besides walking to the New York side (don't recommend, unless you want to see how "saving" a town by demolishing its downtown destroys it even faster) only did Maid of the Mist. That I do recommend ^

However, IIRC it was closer to three hours to get to Niagara Falls.

EmailKid

I'd caution that if you're arriving at YYZ at 11 AM, don't realistically expect to arrive in NF by 1 PM. While the drive itself shouldn't take more then two+ hours, traffic permitting, still after arriving at YYZ you'll have to go through Canadian Customs and Immigration, pick up your checked luggage and get to your rental car. If lineups aren't too bad (shouldn't be at that hour of the morning) I'm guessing that you'll be on your way out of YYZ in about an hour or so, so factor that into your first day's planning.

Get a good map if you haven't done the drive before, as there's two ways to get to the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) from the airport for the drive to NF. Either straight down hwy. 427 southbound to the QEW westbound, or hwy. 401 westbound to hwy. 403 which joins the QEW near Oakville, Ontario.

Have a safe trip and enjoy the Falls. Don't know if you'll be able to do all that you've listed on the one afternoon in NF after you've checked in to your hotel, but at least a Maid of the Mist trip should be interesting and fun, weather permitting.

bj-21.

Get a good map if you haven't done the drive before, as there's two ways to get to the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) from the airport for the drive to NF. Either straight down hwy. 427 southbound to the QEW westbound, or hwy. 401 westbound to hwy. 403 which joins the QEW near Oakville, Ontario. I'd recommend the second option. The closer the QEW is to downtown, the more congested (potentially).

Other than viewing the falls (raincoats essential at all times, since some of the highrise hotel construction around the falls has changed the wind patterns it's always heavily misty, and by heavily misty I mean it is drizzling) really only the Maid of the Mist is essential. I would do those things then head north on the Niagara parkway, stop at the butterfly conservatory then go all the way to Niagara on the Lake, if the 15 yo has any interest in history go to Fort George, it's the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 so they'll have something on. Have dinner in that area then head back to the falls to see it with the lights on. With a 15 yo in tow forget the wineries, there's nothing for them to do at any of them so they'll be bored to tears.

In Toronto are you really set on eating in the CN tower? The food is inexceptional (not bad, but not exciting either) and if the weather is poor it's really not worth it. I would make a call on that on the day based on how the weather is.

When you come into Toronto from NF stay on the QEW which turns into the Gardiner Expressway, and go right into the downtown core, take the Jarvis Street exit and keep to the left, you'll turn left under the elevated highway then make the next two left turns, you'll find yourself on a short dead end street that ends at a large municipal parking garage. Park the car there and walk North a block to the St. Lawrence Market, stop there for lunch (there are a few options, on the upper level is Carousel bakery where they sell peameal bacon sandwiches which are considered emblematic of Toronto and Buster's Sea Cove a little stand that makes decent fish and chips and a really good lobster roll or there's an Italian sandwich place on the lower level) once you're finished there walk 1 block north to King Street and turn left and walk a couple blocks to Yonge Street where there is a subway station, go in and purchase a family day pass and get on the Subway southbound and get off at Museum station which is at the Royal Ontario Museum, a really good natural history and world cultures museum. Once done there go two stops south on the Subway (St. Patrick Station) which puts you out near the Art Gallery of Ontario. Once done there keep walking in the direction away from the subway until you get to Spadina Ave, you're now in the middle of Chinatown walk and gawk northbound to College street, cross over to the west side of the street and explore some of the sidestreets in the Kensington Market area, then when you're finished there walk south on Spadina to Queen street, turn left and walk along there to John street then South on John Street which takes you right to the CN tower. Once you are done there you just turn left and walk along Front Street, it's about a 15 minute walk to your car along Front Street, you'll pass Union Station, the Royal York Hotel, the Hockey Hall of Fame (which would make a good substitute for one of the Museums if your 15 yo isn't into them) and the Sony Center for the Performing Arts.

I'd recommend the second option. The closer the QEW is to downtown, the more congested (potentially).

Agreed that the second option (401 to 403 to QEW) is probably better, but I was thinking that if the OP had never driven that route to NF before, there was the chance that they would miss the 403 cut off from the 401 and wind up in Milton or Guelph instead of dropping onto the QEW at Oakville. So straight down the 427 to the QEW westbound is more direct, with less chance of getting lost. And in the early afternoon the OP should be slightly ahead of the early (2:30 PM) rush hour westbound traffic on either route. Just the normal slowdown in Oakville, then a straight shot to NF on the QEW, remembering to keep to the two left lanes after Burlington to stay on the QEW when it splits from the 403 shortly after that point, and swings southward to NF.

Also, Bytepusher's idea of Niagara-on-the-Lake is a good one, as it's an interesting short drive from the Falls area, and is a quaint town with many small shops and lunch/tearooms. Perhaps do the Maid of the Mist on arrival day, then next day an early breakfast before checking out of the hotel and the short drive along the Niagara River to NOTL for a lunch/brunch before the drive back to TO. It's doable but tight timewise if the OP wants to spend more time in TO the last day, as there will also be the rushhour traffic the closer one gets to TO.

And a note to the OP: DO NOT TAKE the 403 on your way back to downtown Toronto from NF, when it splits from the 403 by the Ford plant in Oakville, as that would take you straight back to the airport. Just stay on the QEW/Gardiner Expressway all the way into the downtown Toronto area.

Hope we haven't confused the OP with all the suggestions/routings. Too bad they don't have more time to enjoy all the sights in the areas.

bj-21.

You can save at least 1/2 hr post YYZ arrival by not renting from the off site (shuttle bus) operations.

At your arrival time 427 south to QEW is not bad traffic wise except for one place southbound 427 where the number of lanes is cut down due to interchange upgrade.
This is the easier routing. Airport to 401W and then 403W is more confusing.