48 Hour Toronto Travel Guide

I’m so excited to share my next travel guide! If you’re not familiar with how my travel guides work around here — I typically am only able to jet away for 24-72 hours since I have 2 young children. I try to pack as much as I possibly can into that time period and share it all here in a comprehensive guide. First I’ll outline how we spent our time in Toronto and then list all the resources at the bottom! You can also check out my travel guides: How To Spend 3 Days In Paris , A 24 Hour Travel Guide To Venice, Italy , 24 Hours In Kennebunkport With Kids

For outfit details you can visit my Toronto outfit diary post.

My Toronto trip was created in collaboration with Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. Did you know that Toronto is only a quick 1 hour flight on Air Canada from BWI?! I had never been before and it was such a FUN trip. The food scene in Toronto is incredible!!! SO many adorable spots. We hit up so many in such a short time period!

Here’s the quick run down of how we spent our time

Day 1:

Air Canda flight from BWI
Drop off bags at hotel, COPS for donuts + coffee
Walk & explore on way to lunch at TOCA at Ritz Hotel
Check out local department store, Hudson’s Bay (cool exhibit on 7th floor)
Walk to AGO Museum
Rest & change at hotel
Drink at Coffee, Oysters & Champagne
Dinner at Piano Piano

Day 2

Wake up early & head to Dineen Outpost for baked goods and coffee
Check out Sugar Beach & St.Lawrence Market
Lunch at Figo
Walk around Kensington Market + Yorkville Areas
Rest & change
Glass of rosé on roof of hotel
Dinner at Rosalinda

Day 3

Brunch at Cafe CanCan
Head to the airport to fly Air Canada back to BWI!

And all of the details:

We took an early morning flight out from BWI on Air Canada. I also want to point out that if you’re flying into and out of BWI in the early morning or late night there are great hotel options at BWI where you can also leave your car. Drive over, enjoy checking into one of the many hotels, park your car, many offer free breakfast and take a shuttle over to the airport.

Smooth sailing at the airport we checked in and were on our way to Toronto!

As soon as we landed we dropped off our bags at our hotel and hit the streets to explore. Our first stop was COPS Donoughts. It did not disappoint! Such delicious, fresh donuts and strong coffee, just what I needed after getting 4 hours of sleep the night before! I loved this mural, too!

We enjoyed walking as much as possible in Toronto – and explored on our way to lunch… a decadent and delicious Italian meal at Toca in the Ritz Carlton. It was so good! The perfect way to treat yourself when you are in Toronto. I tried the ‘famous’ ravioli they are known for. So rich and unique. I also tried a glass of Canadian wine — from Two Sisters that I really enjoyed. I wish we had more time to check out their spa which I’ve heard great things about!

After lunch we checked out the local department store, Hudson’s Bay which had a cool exhibit I had seen on Instagram on the 7th Floor.

It started raining after lunch so we ducked into the Art Gallery of Ontario Museum to check out a few exhibits. It was really crowded and you could spend hours here! A great option if you’re visiting in the winter or rain :) The Royal Ontario Museum is another option to check out!

After our lonnnnng day of walking we went back to the hotel to rest and get ready for drinks + dinner! Loved the decor in the Thompson Hotel!

We grabbed a drink at Coffee, Oysters & Champagne. An Instagram dream! It was really crowded so we didn’t break out the camera but I did snap a few iPhone photos.

Next up: the most delicious dinner at Piano Piano. BEST Italian I have had in so long, fun and lively environment and of course awesome decor. I can not suggest this spot enough!!! Really wish we had something similar at home!

Day 2……

After sleeping a solid 10 uninterrupted hours I woke up FEELING amazing!! I think the Thompson beds had something to do with it!

We started the day early and took a car out to get coffee and baked goods at Dineen Outpost. This place….. was my dream. I wish I could decorate my entire home like it! Was seriously in love with every little detail, and they had the best coffee and croissants! It held us over until our lunch.

After fueling up we took another car (we used LYFT while we were in Toronto the whole time) out to Sugar Beach. I had seen this spot on Instagram and knew it had to make our list. So many people sent me messages saying “there’s a beach in Toronto?!?” YES! I can imagine this spot gets packed during the summer months. It’s a great spot to read a book!

From Sugar Beach we walked up to the bustling St. Lawrence Market. We had been told to try the ‘famous Peameal bacon sandwich’ Toronto is known for…Well we found it! Interesting….but good!

From there we walked over to lunch at Figo – another delicious option with a buzzing brunch scene. The interiors (especially the ceiling mural) were really cool. I had the best soft scrambled eggs and wanted a long nap after. But….we kept walking!

We checked out the Kensington Market – which was interesting to say the least and then a few other neighborhoods. In all we walked 8 miles that day!

We rested at our hotel and had a glass of rosé on the roof before our final dinner at Rosalinda – a vegan Mexcian restaurant. We needed the veggies after all our indulging and it was nice change! We discovered this spot when we were exploring earlier in the day and I’m so glad we did!

The next morning we woke up and packed. We had one final meal before heading to the airport and I’m so glad we saved it for last! We indulged at Café Cancan and it was so good. Again the decor… spot on. So colorful and cool. The French inspired menu was also amazing!

We had such jam packed 2 nights in Toronto and I really hope to return, knowing it’s just a quick flight away from BWI leaves me no excuses not to!

Hotels:

I wasn’t overly concerned about where we would stay in Toronto since it was such a quick trip and I knew we would not be in the room much at all!

We stayed at the Thompson. The location was perfect for us as we walked most of the city and it was right around the corner from restaurants, bars, coffee shops etc! Very lively and we didn’t realize it turned into a club at night. Unfortunately we were fast asleep by that time! We loved the roof deck views, friendly staff and modern interiors.

Coffee Shops:

Dineen & Dineen Outpost: So cute and delicious!!! We went to the outpost as we heard it wasn’t as crowded and on a Saturday morning it was pretty bustling. We were lucky to snag a table, and snap a few photos while we enjoyed our coffees + baked treats. I loved every bit of the decor here!

COPS Doughnuts: More of a donut shop but they have delicious coffee and the most amazing freshly made mini donuts. We ate 12 pretty quickly! Definietly worth a stop to this tiny gem!

Kitten & The Bear: This is an adorable tea spot that I’m sad we didn’t have the opportunity to visit!

Her Majesty’s Pleasure: Nail salon, bar + coffee shop. Again we didn’t have time but we walked by and it was so cute!

Ice Cream

There are surprisingly a lot of unique ice cream shops in Toronto but we didn’t make it to a single one! Here are a few that were suggested to me!

Taiyaki Toronto
Labsense Ice Cream
BangBang Ice Cream & Bakery

Food

Food! The food scene in Toronto is overwhelming! Here are some options we didn’t get to!

Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen: Fun ambiance and great food
Oretta: Italian with an Instagramable dining experience.
La Palma: Another Italian option with pretty dining room.
Bar Isabel: Delicious Spanish food
The Good Son: Comfort food
Kiin: Upscale, modern Thai
Lee: Asian fusion

Thank you to Visit Annapolis & Anne Arundel County for sponsoring this trip and post. Thank you to Olivia Reed for the amazing photos used in this post!!