Top Day Trips From Toronto For A Fun Time Exploring
Chances are if you are a tourist, you’ve found this blog post by Googling “day trips from Toronto.” While exploring the city is exciting for a day or two, inevitably, you want to get a taste of what the province has to offer.
Ontario Tourism’s slogan for many years has been “Yours to Discover.” It’s still relevant today as native residents and tourists alike have so many places to visit and experience in this province. Day trips from Toronto that take you further north, west and east are doable.
Top Day Trips From Toronto
Having explored numerous spots in the past few years with my husband Frank via day trips, we have tips and recommendations to share based on our experiences.
Without further ado, our list of top day trips from Toronto! The time for how long it takes to get there is based on an early morning start time using primarily country and side roads. So set the alarm for 5 a.m. and get on the road!
| Related: Pack This Self-Purifying LARQ Water Bottle For Your Day Trips
Hamilton – The City of Waterfalls
1 hour drive west of Toronto, QEW/403
This is one of our favourite day trips from Toronto (for us, actually, it’s Burlington). Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Waterdown and Hamilton have waterfalls sprinkled about the cityscape. Exploring this region, you will find over 130 waterfalls, big and small. Some of the key waterfalls are Albion Falls, Tews Falls, Webster’s Falls and Tiffany Falls. Grab a backpack with a lunch, water bottles and comfortable hiking shoes/boots. You can explore the many trails that are part of the Bruce Trail. The Niagara Escarpment runs through this area with shale limestone and rocky trails.
The city of Hamilton has done a wonderful job revitalizing the natural landscape and watershed in and around the city.
NOTE: Recently there have been many cases where people have fallen to their deaths (or luckily to very bad injuries) around the waterfalls. Use common sense and stick to the trails. No photograph is worth getting injured or killed. And if you really want to stand under rushing water, we suggest setting your shower nozzle on full blast. At least you’ll live to see another waterfall.
Links to check out:
Beaver Valley, Meaford, Owen Sound, Blue Mountains and Wiarton
2-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours drive along side-routes
My recommendation for a day trip here is to skip Highway 400 and take side routes. As long as you know where northwest of Toronto is, you will find yourself heading towards the areas of Beaver Valley, Owen Sound and Meaford.
If you head northwest from Toronto, you pass through Orangeville, Shelbourne and Markdale. Turning east from Markdale you will find yourself in the Beaver Valley, passing through the small village of Kimberley. Stop here to stretch your legs at Old Baldy Conservation Area atop of the escarpment overlooking the valley.
If you keep going east you will head into Collingwood and the Blue Mountains. Stop to check out the Scenic Caves nearby. It includes a suspension bridge with spectacular views of the surrounding area, a zip line and of course, the caves themselves.
Even More Daytripping Through Owen Sound
If you veer northeast, you will find yourself in Meaford, a small town on the shores of Lake Huron. You can stop here to explore, have lunch and check out the thriving art community, history, and town. In the fall period, Meaford is a stop for the apple pie trail in the region.
West of Meaford is Owen Sound. In the wintertime this city and the surrounding area get much snow. Skating, cross-country skiing, tobogganing and snowshoeing are top activities. In the summertime, check out the nearby Inglis Falls and Indian Falls. Hike along the Niagara Escarpment and Bruce Trail in this area.
Head northwest from Owen Sound to the area just east of Wiarton. There you will find Bruce’s Caves Conservation Area where you can hike into areas with natural caves that are part of the Niagara Escarpment. Some of these may remind you of the 1981 film Quest for Fire, about Paleolithic cavemen finding out how to make fire.
Read more about day-tripping through the area near Owen Sound.
Also, check out the Scenic Caves near Collingwood.
Links to check out:
Grey Sauble Conservation
| Related: Winter Day Trips From Toronto
Tobermory
3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours from Toronto
This is probably the most popular day trip from Toronto that somebody can do. Although many will spend at least two days exploring the area. There’s so much to do around Tobermory!
Yes, you can do a day trip from Toronto to Tobermory. We’ve done it. You just need to have your must-have snacks, beverages, and other travel items ready the night before and your alarm set to 5 a.m. Getting on the road before 6 a.m. you will have a pretty clear drive up. The trip can take anywhere between 3-1/2 to about 4 hours depending on the route you take – either side roads or whether you take Highway 400 quickly up to Highway 89 that then lets you zig-zag on country roads up to Owen Sound and beyond.
Tobermory is a small place to visit but you must load up on sweets at the Sweet Shop. Not far from Tobermory is the Bruce Peninsula National Park Visitor Centre with its observation tower and trail to Dunk’s Bay. The park also includes the Cyprus Lake trail that leads to you the famous Grotto.
If you get into Tobermory at the right time during the summer months you will see the Chi-Chi-Maun ferry docked and loading for the trip over to Manitoulin Island.
Links to check out:
Explore the Bruce (Bruce County Tourism)
Pinery Provincial Park, Grand Bend, Bayfield and Goderich
3 hours to 4 hours from downtown Toronto (Via Highway 401 Westbound and county roads)
There are sand dunes in Ontario – Pinery Provincial Park is full of them. An increasingly popular choice of day trips from Toronto, the “west coast” is getting busier.
During the summer, this provincial park is full of campers and people using the day-use areas to access the beach along Lake Huron. If you get there before 10 a.m. you are bound to get a decent spot to set up your beach umbrella and get some sunshine.
Getting to the Pinery Provincial Park takes you through some of Ontario’s farmland that looks quite different from areas closer to Toronto. Wind turbines dot the landscape, capturing the winds coming off of Lake Huron, while large solar energy panels capture the sunlight and turn it into energy for local use.
Once you get there, you get to see differences in plant life, with sandy soil and unique species of trees, bushes and flowers native to the area. After a brief visit at the Pinery, you can head up along the shoreline through Grand Bend where you can see how the sand consumes the shoreline. Stop in Bayfield for a bite to eat at the Black Dog Pub and people watch.
Lovely Goderich
4 hours west of Toronto
Just a bit north is the pretty town of Goderich. Its community dealt with a very damaging tornado that ripped through its “downtown” in 2011. In the past few years, it has been rebuilding sites and re-planting trees. It’s one of our favourite places to visit while day tripping.
If you don’t want to enjoy the beach, head to the Menesetung Bridge which was once a rail bridge. It now links up to the Tiger Dunlop Heritage Trail, giving you a good stretch of your legs and a chance to take in the type of plants that can be found in this part of the province.
Links to check out:
Official Grand Bend Area Tourism Website
Bancroft, Barry’s Bay, Algonquin Park, and Huntsville
3 to 4 hours from Toronto depending on traffic (and how early you start)
Why so many spots to hit on this day trip? This is a driver’s dream drive, through some of the most beautiful, hilly landscapes in Ontario. Algonquin Park and the surrounding area are some of our favourite day trips from Toronto.
Heading to Bancroft, you drive into the heart of rockhound’s heaven – it’s called the Mineral Capital of Canada. A stop at the Bancroft Tourism office means you can get more information on rockhounding for rocks and minerals such as mica, apatite, quartz, iron, lead, beryl, and sodalite.
There are approximately 1,600 different types of rocks and minerals to be found in this area. The Rockhound Jamboree takes place annually at the end of July and the beginning of early August, bringing in thousands of people.
| RELATED: Visiting Petroglyphs Provincial Park
Polish Heritage and Winding Roads Near Algonquin
Heading north to Barry’s Bay, you find yourself driving through Madawaska Valley with hills and curving roads. There are also glimpses of the Polish heritage of early settlers in this area. They settled in Wilno, just east of Barry’s Bay. This area is known as the “Ontario Highlands.” As a result, driving through here will make you feel a bit like travelling through parts of Scotland.
Heading west on Highway 60, you are en route to Algonquin Park. This highway will take you through the southern part of the Park.
Although this section is the most developed, it’s the most accessible to many who just want to do a quick pass through the area. It’s here that you find the Algonquin Park Visitor Centre, with an amazing lookout over a river and plateau.
In the distance, you can spot moose feeding and walking through the area. It’s also a great spot for a bite to eat at the Visitor’s Centre’s Sunday Creek Cafe.
On your way out of Algonquin Park, pass through Huntsville, one of the prettiest towns in Ontario. This is an alternative place to stop for food and to stretch your legs before heading back to Toronto.
Links to check out:
Bancroft – Ontario’s Hidden Gem
Don’t forget to check out this list of the best travel hashtags for your Instagram posts and reels!
A Few Other Places To Visit
Hendrie Valley Trail (Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington)
Lowville Park in north Burlington (perfect spot for a picnic and exploring around Bronte Creek)
The Red Rocks of Cheltenham Badlands in Caledon, Ontario
Want to be very adventurous? Do a full-day day trip to Tobermory from Toronto. Yes, it’s doable!
Also, check out the Bruce Peninsula National Park, and check out the Grotto and Cyprus Lake trails.
What are your favourite or recommended day trips from Toronto? Share your comments below.
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My father in law works in Hamilton, lives in Niagara so we have been all over, so beautiful
Wow I would love to go there, looks amazing. Hopefully I can talk my friend in to going. Tobermory or the Waterfalls I’m sure would put me at peace.
I live in the USA so probably not going to make it for a long while (if ever) to take a trip from Toronto – but I want to comment on your post as being so easily to read, follow and get inspired by. I just discovered your blog and social media yesterday – and can’t wait to take coaching from you for my own blog by and by. In the meantime thanks for your help via a contact message with three awesome tips I can work on right now.
I am inspired. :-)