I made sure that Canada (second biggest country in the world) was on my 2023 travel itinerary and it made sense to leave Canada until the very end of my North American trip.

I ran into some minor complications with the planning beforehand, I was coming from Mexico, and due to visiting Iran, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and North Korea, I was excluded from the ESTA visa, unable to even transit in the USA, most of the flights that were leaving Mexico, were transiting in America and then onto Canada, in order to avail of the transit visa, I would have needed to book an appointment at the US embassy , wait a long time, and go through extra screening and all of the other stuff to go along with it . It was all too messy, but I eventually managed to reroute to Toronto.

First impressions- Toronto mirrors New York City in so many ways, they even have a Times Square replica in the middle of the city and lower Toronto resembles lover Manhattan, some amazing river views when crossing over to Humber Bay Park,very similar shops and shopping malls and the streets are almost identical and the standard of accommodation is similar and both cities are expensive.

Niagra Falls(buses available every day from Toronto)- Niagra Falls are the split in the Canada/ USA border, you can take a cruise up and down the river and you can look over at New York State in the distance, only a short stone’s throw away, you could even cross the bridge by foot, or cross the bridge by car, if you have a valid US visa. The Canadian side of the falls is so touristy, lots of amazing coffee shops and restaurants overlooking the falls and the trip from Toronto to the Niagra Falls only takes about 2 1/2hours by bus, a lot longer coming back because of traffic, the traffic in Toronto city in among the worst that I’ve ever seen anywhere in the world.

The CN Tower- You can see the tower from most districts of the city and beyond, it’s about 1,800 feet tall, getting to to the top is a must with amazing views all over Toronto, the best place to start in Toronto to get a much better idea of the layout of the city and to locate the different districts.

Tim Horton’s Coffee- 100% the best coffee anywhere in the world, you’ll find a Tim Horton’s on almost every corner in Toronto, actually in most major cities in the world. I much prefer the coffee when compared to Starbucks and the selection of coffee is great and food is much better.

I still have Toronto in my list of top 10 favourite cities. The whole experience was so good, the train from the airport and the initial Toronto views and then sampling the city for the first time.

Toronto is also a host city for the 2026 World Cup.