So, what is this post about? This will pretty much be a itinerary post about visiting two places, Niagara and Toronto.
Yes by Niagara I mean the Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side – the best side without a doubt, sorry USA.
As I go about the different activities you can do each day, I’ll show you pictures taken with a Huawei Mate 20 Pro. I’ll show you the before and after editing using Lightroom.
It was my very first time using Lightroom by the way.
An Instagram page reached out to me to share one of my Niagara falls pictures.
Day 1- From Toronto International Airport to Niagara Falls.
This is easy, just book a seat with Niagara Airbus after doing some extensive research, this was the option that made the most sense, especially if you’re carrying two or three suitcases.
Once you pick up your suitcases and exit onto the arrivals section just ask someone to point you in the direction of the Niagara Airbus counter, they’ll pick you up there and take you directly to your hotel or anywhere you’re staying.
On your first night in Niagara I’d recommend you to walk to the falls- depending on where you’re staying, more about that later- and take in the view of the falls at night, this costs no money.
Before you judge, I’m not claiming to be a Lightroom expert or act as if all my editings are perfect and beautiful, I just want to show how you can play around with your photos using lightroom.
I wanted to give the waterfalls a colder look, so I changed the tone to blue, easy right.
This view of the falls is just at the end of Clifton Hill, which is a place full of restaurants, bars, and many other attractions to keep tourists busy.
Day 2- Go Explore the Niagara Falls
Now here’s something you need to know about visiting Niagara Falls in Winter, the amount of tourists is extremely low, therefor many attractions are closed, including the popular Hornblower.
Some restaurants and shops only open on some days and some close as early as 6 PM.
But there’s still so much you can do, one of the coolest Niagara Falls related activities you can do is the journey behind the falls.
You’ll get to see that view below, during summer you can actually go down and see the falls from the viewing deck.
To do this I’d recommend you to get the Wonder pass from Niagara Parks , when I visited, during the fourth week of January, the price was 25 CAD, this varies depending on the season though.
If you’re staying near Clifton Hill, you’ll be 20 minutes away from Niagara Park’s entrance, just follow Google maps and you’ll get there.
I stayed at Days Inn Wyndham Niagara Falls Near The Falls
Make sure you choose the scenic route alongside the falls, you’ll have many opportunities to take amazing photos, and then have fun using lightroom for editing, let me show you some photos.
The journey behind the falls only takes around 30 minutes, after that, if you bought the wonder pass, you’ll have many other activities to do, and you’ll be able to use the You Go bus service to go from one place to the other, it’s fun.
I went to a butterfly conservatory that was kind of cool, and just outside of it I took this pic.
To finish the day, you can go to the observatory wheel or Skylon tower to get a good look of the falls from above, or you can do both if you wish, both views are very impressive.
Skylon tower also has a revolving restaurant, if you’ve never been to one before this might be a good time to try it as you won’t have to worry about making a reservation due to the low affluence of people during winter.
Day 3- Head to Toronto
If you’re driving then drive, you can also get an Uber, and there are public buses connecting both places, if you’re carrying a lot of luggage you can call Niagara Airbus and they will send a car to pick you up and take you to downtown Toronto.
Location, Location, Location, where is the best area to stay in Toronto?? Well I do like to do a lot of research when it comes to selecting a hotel and I found the executive hotel cosmopolitan to be in a premium location.
All of these places are walking distance
- St Lawrence Market
- The Cathedral Church of St James
- A supermarket
- Brookfield place (an office complex with a very nice foodcourt)
- Yonge Street (Full of bars, restaurants, and shops)
- Eaton center (Mall)
- Gooderham building
- The old distillery district
- Toronto Harbour Front Center
Just like in any other city, well the safe ones, there’s no better way to get to know it than by walking, every corner will be a chance to take a photo and edit it in lightroom.
I took these photos during my first night in Toronto
I know these might not be the best edits, some of you might even say it looks ugly, but the point here is that even for someone who is a beginner, it becomes easy to play around with lightroom.
All edits shown in this post were made with the mobile version of light room.
Day 4 – Walking in the city and Oysters
What’s the best way to experience what a city is like? well go walk around and take public transportation.
Toronto is one of the safest cities in the world, it’s in the top 10, so don’t be afraid to go walk around.
Let me show you what might be my favorite edit from this Canada trip, I was just crossing a street and took this photo.
I was on my way to an oyster restaurant, I took the electric cars that run above the street, I just went downstairs to one of the metro stations and got a ticket from a vending machine, a one day pass.
As for the oysters, well they were awesome!!! If I ever go back to Toronto I would definitely pay the place a visit.
This is for you seafood lovers
Another place you can include on this walking day is Saint Lawrence Market, a very interesting place to look at both from the inside and the outside.
There are many stores and restaurants inside, so if you’re into shopping and eating give yourself around 2 hours to comfortably see it all.
And don’t forget to take pictures. I took this one from outside, you can see the market building on the left side and some more of the beautiful architecture of Toronto in the center of the pic.
Day 5- Visit the Old Distillery District.
If you’re staying near Saint Lawrence Market then the old distillery district will just be a 20-minute walk away from you, just use Google maps to get there.
This place is full of restaurants, small eateries and very interesting shops, this is definitely a place where you’ll want to take many photos.
Day 6- Go to the Harbor Front Center
This was also the day I had to check out of the hotel at 11 AM, so I had to check out first, then leave my suitcase at the lobby and then head out.
If you’re staying around saint Lawrence Market, then the harbor front center will be a 20-minute walk away from you, a super safe and entertaining walk.
If you like ice-skating then this is the place to do it, if you’re like me and don’t enjoy it that much then you can just sit down in a nearby bench and watch others do it.
That’s all I got for this post. Toronto is a big city and there’s so much to do, one place I missed was Casa Loma, try to fit in your schedule.
Hope you liked this post.