Are you heading to Toronto, Ontario in Canada and don’t have much time to spend in the city? Don’t worry, I got you! Here is my list of what to do in Toronto in 48 hours!
I had the opportunity to attend TikTok’s first ever #ForYou Summit in Canada and I feel so blessed! The event was held at the Meridian Hall in downtown Toronto and it was such an amazing experience.
I got to meet some fellow creators who are so talented in their respective fields, got to speak in front of 2000 people and connect with so many members of the TikTok community!
It was such a surreal experience and definitely a big highlight in my foodie journey so far.
While I was in Toronto, my husband and I got 48 hours to explore the city.
Here is my full 48 hour itinerary of things to do in Toronto so that you can make the most out of your time in this beautiful city!
DAY 1
Not going to lie, our flight from Vancouver to Toronto was pretty rough. We had to wake up at 3:00 AM and get to the airport by 4:00 AM for our 6:00 flight. After a 4 hour and 20 minute flight, we landed in Toronto at around 1:50 PM local time.
We took an Uber to our hotel, Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto and checked in, showered, and changed before going out to explore the city!
Our first stop was finding something to eat for lunch. I was craving Thai food and got many recommendations for SukhoThai, which was a short walk from our hotel so we had to check it out!
SUKHOTHAI (WELLINGTON)
SukhoTHAI is an authentic Thai restaurant with 3 locations in Toronto. We went to the Wellington location and ordered the Khao Soi, which is a curry dish with yellow noodles, with green onions and cilantro, as well as the Chef Nuit Pad Thai, a classic stir-fried rice noodle dish with beansprouts, tofu, egg, chives, coriander, shredded cabbage, lime and house-roasted peanuts.
They also serve many classic dishes, such as spring rolls, Tom Yum soup and Gaeng Kiaw Wan (green curry), to name a few.
Both dishes were available with no spice, mild, medium, spicy, and thai spicy. The food was good, although we found it to be a little bit overly sweet for our tastes and wished we would have chosen a spicier option when ordering.
The Khao Soi was delicious, it really reminded us of our time in Chiang Mai! However, the service wasn’t particularly great, despite the restaurant being quiet for an afternoon lunch.
The atmosphere and ambience in the restaurant was very chill and we were able to get a table with no reservations, but I hear it can get really busy during the evenings so make sure you double check!
Overall, our experience was decent and I’d come back again to try some spicier options of the food along with some of their $6 cocktails.
GUSTO 101
After a late lunch, we wanted to explore before eating again. We walked around the city and got some great views of the CN Tower. Our next stop was Gusto 101 for an early dinner, and it was about a 30 minute walk from where we were. I’ve been to this restaurant before and absolutely LOVED it.
After dining here again, it is DEFINITELY one of the top things to do in Toronto!
Apparently it’s one of Michelle Obama’s favorite restaurants in Toronto as well! They also have another location called Gusto 501, it’s a little bit newer and located in the Corktown neighborhood.
Gusto stands for “tasty” in Italian and does it ever live up to its name! They serve modern takes on Southern Italian classics, delivering a very memorable dining experience!
The restaurant is situated in a building that used to be an auto body shop, so it still has the old garage doors that lead out into the patio area, creating a timeless and rustic atmosphere.
We sat outside in their patio area and ordered their focaccia bread to share, which they make fresh in-house daily. We also got the Calamarata, which is made with shrimp, pomodoro and chili, along with their famous Mafalde Ai Funghi, made with portobello, porcini and oyster mushrooms, topped with a truffle cream sauce.
Their portions may seem on the smaller side at first, but because the flavors are so rich, I actually found it to be the perfect amount.
The mushroom pasta is famous for a reason and is a MUST-ORDER in my opinion.
Mafalde or mafaldine pasta isn’t particularly mainstream but is so good, the sauce was so creamy and flavorful and everything just pairs so perfectly with all the different types of mushrooms! I get this EVERY TIME I come here and it’s so delicious.
The Calamarata actually blew me away, the sauce went so well with the pasta and the shrimp was so fresh and tasty.
I actually liked this dish even more than the mushroom pasta, which I didn’t think was possible! This is definitely a must-try if you come to Gusto 101.
We also had some Birra Moretti, a lager that is brewed in Italy.
It paired with the meal perfectly as it was refreshing and light. If you like wine, they have a great selection and I would definitely recommend pairing some with your pasta!
This restaurant is definitely on my MUST-TRY list for Toronto and I will be coming back again in the future to try their pizzas and other signature dishes!
KENSINGTON MARKET & CHINATOWN
After stuffing our faces at two different restaurants, we definitely had to walk off all the food! We wandered over to Kensington Market, which was a short under-15 minute walk from Gusto 101.
We passed by the graffiti wall on the way over and got to explore a lot of the vintage boutiques and cool thrift shops in the area. I used to LOVE thrifting so I really enjoyed exploring this part of town. There were a lot of trendy bars and hip restaurants that I will have to try the next time I’m back in Toronto!
Next we walked over to Chinatown and I was so upset that we were still so full because there were SO many yummy looking dumpling shops! Another place to add to the to-do list for the next time I’m in the city.
BARO
To end the night, we walked over to Baro to meet up with my old roommate from university! I actually haven’t seen her since my time at Queen’s so I was SO excited to see her again. We sat at their rooftop patio and absolutely loved the atmosphere there. They had a live DJ, the service was excellent and the drinks were unreal!
We were just chatting for most of the night so we just ordered finger food. We had the Atun Nikkei Ceviche with chips and guac, which was absolutely delicious, and also ordered two of their Street Corn. The coolest part of dining at their rooftop patio is all of the food is cooked on their rooftop grill!
The cocktails were the highlight of the restaurant! I highly recommend the Tulum Triage (Don Julio Blanco, Cointreau, Lime, Pineapple Serrano Syrup, Peychaud’s Bitters) and the Bogota Sour (Grey Goose, Amaretto, Pink Guava, Lime, Honey, Bitters).
We had such a great time here and before we knew it, 4 hours had flown by. This is my new favorite place to grab drinks in Toronto!
DAY 2
COFFEE & HOCKEY HALL OF FAME
The next morning, Dom wanted to start his day with some coffee so he walked over to Dineen Coffee Co. and grabbed an iced americano and a sandwich.
The Hockey Hall of Fame was right beside our hotel, so we spent the morning there and Dom was seriously nerding out!
It was very cool seeing all the hockey memorabilia and history and they even have a section with interactive games.
If you are a hockey fan, this is an absolute MUST VISIT and one of the TOP things to do in Toronto!
CN TOWER + 360 RESTAURANT
The next stop was the most famous tourist spot and at the top of the list for things to do in Toronto – the CN Tower.
It was a short 10 minute walk from our hotel, but there was a Blue Jays game at Rogers Centre that day, so there were lots of people in the area. The tower is also right beside the popular Ripley’s Aquarium, so be prepared for crowds! We tried the “TikTok hack” and I actually thought it was pretty worth it!
You basically make a reservation at the 360 Restaurant instead of booking the general admission for the CN Tower. By doing this, you get to skip the line, have a private elevator bring you up and down (it’s a floor above the observation deck), and enjoy a “fancy” meal!
You also still get access to the observation deck after the meal. The restaurant is spinning super slowly the whole time so you get a 360 degree view of the entire city, the Toronto Islands, and the beautiful Lake Ontario. Plus no one is in front of you so you get the view to yourself the whole time!
One thing to note, you still have to line up with everyone else outside the CN Tower to actually get in, but once you get inside you have your own private line and elevator which really expedites the process.
Normally the admission is $45-55 to go up to the observation deck with timed general admission. If you book with the 360 Restaurant, you have to spend a minimum of $70 per person on food but you get all the “perks” I mentioned earlier along with an amazing view to dine to.
I’ll be honest, the food wasn’t the best. It wasn’t horrible, but not amazing either. For $75 a person, we each got a main course + appetizer and the portions were generous and service was decent. I ordered the onion soup as my starter while Dom got the mussels, which weren’t the freshest. I spent an extra $15 to get the prime rib with my set menu, while Dom ordered the pork chop. My steak was good, but Dom’s pork chop was super dry. You are really there for the view!
We thought it was a good deal because the food at the observation deck with general admission was also super pricey.
The view at the restaurant was honestly surreal and if you have the time and want to spend the extra money, I do find the extra 2 hours there at the restaurant made the whole experience super memorable.
BEAVERTAILS
After we got down from the CN Tower, we saw a BeaverTails truck outside and Dom FREAKED out. We absolutely love BeaverTails and he said he hasn’t had it since his university days in Ontario. We got the Classic – which is covered in cinnamon and sugar.
If you’ve never tried BeaverTails before, I highly recommend trying it as it’s a world famous Canadian pastry!
ST. LAWRENCE MARKET
We walked to the St. Lawrence Market on the way to the Distillery District and it was seriously foodie heaven! There are over a hundred vendors, butchers, bakeries and artisans at this indoor market, with more shops downstairs. I loved looking at the wide variety of cheese, meats, seafood and pastries.
Those of you that know me know that I absolutely LOVE bagels so my first stop was St. Urbain Bagel Bakery where I got a bagel sandwich with garlic & herb cream cheese. It was so good that I bought another half dozen bagels to bring home for my family!
The next stop was European Delight on the lower level, where I got perogies and a potato pancake. It was so delicious that I devoured all the perogies on the spot! If you love perogies or European food, this spot is a definite MUST.
We also grabbed an orange and pineapple smoothie from the St. Lawrence Juice Bar that was right beside it and it was so fresh and refreshing! If it’s hot when you visit Toronto, I really recommend grabbing a juice here.
DISTILLERY DISTRICT
The last spot on our Toronto adventure was the Distillery District. This village is famous for its brick-lined streets and restored Victorian industrial buildings. There are so many bars, boutiques, cafes and award-winning restaurants in this area – there is so much to see! We didn’t get to spend as much time here as we wanted, but we’ll definitely be returning and dedicating a day to explore this area.
REIGN RESTAURANT + BAR @ FAIRMONT ROYAL YORK
And last but certainly not least, we ate at REIGN Restaurant + Bar in the Fairmont Royal York hotel prior to leaving for the airport.
We had a late night dinner here and weren’t sure what to expect, as we just wanted to grab a bite before leaving and this was the best option without having to walk a distance from the hotel.
We arrived at 9:45 PM, their kitchen was closing at 10 and they were still happy to serve us a full meal.
Dom and I were so pleasantly surprised as the food was amazing, portions were good, and drinks were excellent.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures because it was so late. However, I’ll make sure to come back and take some pictures for you guys next time!
I ordered the Lamb Shank, paired with yukon gold mashed potatoes, charred heirloom carrots and gremolata. Dom had the Ontario Duck Breast, with garlic & chili rapini, green lentils, sweet potato and blueberry jus.
The service was top notch, the ambience was amazing, and we will be eating here again every time we come back to Toronto!
This was my post about everything you need to do in Toronto in 48 hours!
If you give any of these places a try, please DM me on Instagram and let me know what you think!
If you have more food recommendations, make sure to comment below.
Like this kind of travel blog and want to see more?
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Love,
Tiffy
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