How to spend a weekend in Toronto

Hi Besties, welcome back! Let’s get into a weekend getaway I went on recently. I had the best time exploring Toronto! I had to give you gals a breakdown of a really cool city, from travel to hotel to the food, I’m giving you the entry you needed!

Living next to Canada has perks, we’re only a short drive away to visit an incredible county. I’ve been wanting to explore more of Canada and Ontario is the best place to start. Famously known as the hometown of Drake and other incredible artists and actors. Pictured above is the CN Tower which is the background in Drake’s Album “Views”. We’ve heard a lot of positive things in Toronto and decided to check it out!

Wait, I can drive here?

I notoriously do not enjoy a road trip. However, living so close to the border, we drove to Toronto. Crossing the border was a simple process with our passports. I think crossing over the Ambassador Bridge was the only scary part! Heights and bridges are my downfall. But, luckily we were able to head over with ease.

I am famously a passenger princess so I was able to check all of the scenery and also DJ! Listen to my road trip playlist here. I also help navigate even with the GPS, so I’m on duty the whole trip. We headed out Friday afternoon and made the 4 hour trip in no time. Driving in the city of Toronto is no issue, it felt like driving in most major US cities. The drive was not too bad I will say.

Where should I stay?

We stayed at the 1 Hotel Toronto. Featured on the Michelin Guide for hotels with one key, it lives up to the hype. Known for its sustainability and eco-friendly design, this hotel puts those elements into a gorgeous hotel. The check in desk it one of the more unique I’ve been to. The expansive lobby includes a bar and access to their restaurants. From the lobby you can take elevators to the fitness area which was so much larger than gyms in other hotels. The restaurants are also accessible from the lobby and elevator.

We booked with American Express Fine Hotel and Resorts. Automatically with booking with Amex I receive at $100 resort credit to use at the hotel. When we checked in, the hotel offered an additional credit for food at the hotel. My husband and I each have an American Express Platinum card so we get double the credits. Most of the hotels we’ve stayed at offer a variety of restaurant options to use the credits, which makes finding food in new cities easier.

1 Hotel Room

I can’t get over the hotel staff! On the reservation my husband said it was my birthday and they left me with a note and a dessert. It was so kind and unexpected. The fruit and chocolate dip was so tasty! We had a really easy check in and headed up to our room. We stayed on the 4th floor in a City View King room.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the inside of our room but we were barely there! Walking into the room there was a closet with hangers. The espresso machine was right by that with a selection of snacks to purchase. Inside the room there was a connected bathroom, a king bed, a table with a couch and of course a TV.

The best feature of this room were the windows. Heading into the room there are large floor to ceiling windows. During the daylight the light poured in and brightened the room up a lot. The greenery from the lobby continued into the room and even included a monstera plant.

The bathroom was really nice as well. The only complaint we had was the shower, it didn’t have a full door so a ton of the water leaked all over the floor. The towels and robes were nice quality. Overall, the room was great!

Where should I eat?

There are four restaurants on site, 1 Kitchen Restaurant, Flora Lounge, Casa Madera, and Harriet’s Rooftop. Don’t forget room service! Naturally, we had to check out as many as we could!

In Room Dining

Our first morning, we got room service. There is nothing better than having a slow morning and eating breakfast in the room in robes. The food was still warm when it arrived, which was a perk. I ordered a Farmer’s Market Scramble (pictured right) with a cappuccino. My husband ordered the 6ix (pictured left) with orange juice and a Berry Bliss smoothie. We shared a Chocolate Croissant. This was good, but next time I would skip the croissant.

Flora Lounge

Flora Lounge is a bar located in the lobby and features more greenery. Behind the bar there is a expansive floral backing that brings everything together. There are a lot of seating options that make for a really unique space. Walking through the lobby at night, the lounge was really busy with a lot of people mingling around. My husband and I don’t drink outside of the occasional celebration or dinner so we did not check out Flora Lounge any further.

Casa Madera

Casa Madera is on the first floor and matches the vibe of the hotel. The restaurant features live music, more greenery, and warm interior. Casa Madera serves up a menu of Mexican and Mediterranean cuisine with bold flavors and options for plant based eaters, like myself. I had no trouble finding menu options for myself, as I eat plant based.

We started with the Casa Guacamole. It came with plantain chips which was a really tasty switch up from traditional tortilla chips I usually see. I also had a margarita which had a perfectly salted rim. For our mains, I had the Jackfruit Al Pastor tacos, which were incredible. They featured onion, pineapple, salsa and cilantro. My husband eats meat and he got the Arrachera tacos. They featured wagyu skirt steak, pineapple, red onion, avocado cream, and cotija cheese. He enjoyed them but after trying mine, he preferred the Jackfruit Al Pastor.

For dessert, our waiter sold us on the Brown Butter Tarta. This ranks as one of the better desserts I’ve had. It will go down as one of my favorite desserts I’ve had in a really long time (don’t worry tiramisu I still love you). I’m so glad I didn’t forget to take a picture of this or forget to get my picture with it! Casa Madera had a fantastic looking dessert menu, I would go back to try their Matcha Mango Cheesecake and Corn Tart.

Overall, I loved the vibe Casa Madera had to offer. I also felt so special with my featured birthday dessert. Our service was fantastic and I would go back.

1 Kitchen

1 Kitchen is home to one of the best brunches I’ve had. The intrerior matches more of the hotel with a bright and open concept. As you continue into the restaurant you will find even more greenery on the tables and surrounding the seats and hanging from the rafters. You can enter either from inside the hotel or outside.

The menu features a lot of options for both plant based and meat eaters. This menu also is home to a lot of different pressed juices, smoothies, flavored coffees, tea selections, and brunch cocktails. I wasn’t feeling anything too adventurous on this morning so I stuck with my usual cappuccino.

Our waiter was amazing, they were so funny and made sure we had everything we needed throughout our time dining. Usually, I have a savory breakfast. This time, I couldn’t pass up this matcha french toast. I was not led astray, this was fantastic. Pictured below, it was almost (I mean almost) too pretty to eat. in between layers of french toast was a strawberry cream that really tied this together. Topped with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar.

My husband opted for Chicken and Waffles that featured sweet chili glazed chicken and sweet potato waffles. He was really happy with this choice. Overall, our experience was really good and we enjoyed our brunch!

Harriet’s Rooftop

If you stay at 1 Hotel or anywhere in Toronto, you have to check out Harriet’s Rooftop. Located on the top floor of the hotel, this features a bar with seating throughout the top floor. More themes from the hotel find its way to the rooftop. Surrounded by windows, the seating is

The rooftop is also home to a pool that opens in the warmer months. I would love to come back and check out the pool in the summer to get even more of a skyline view. I love skylines so seeing this one while eating dinner was fantastic. The atmosphere was inviting with dimmed lighting throughout the restaurant to get a view of the skyline.

The rooftop also features a DJ, who played some great music. The only thing I need to touch on was the placement of our table in relation to the DJ. If we do return, I would request a table elsewhere to have better flow of conversation.

Food Experience

The menu features Asian fusion dishes with seasonal ingredients. The menu is also home to craft cocktails. I had to start with an espresso martini, which is a favorite.

To start we had the salted Edamame and Asparagus Tempura. Anytime we see Edamame on a menu, we are getting it. This was pretty standard, nothing too crazy or new. The Asparagus Tempura was divine, the sauce that accompanied was the best part.

I knew going to Harriet’s that I would only have a few options on the menu. I mostly wanted to go for the views. However, there is a Spicy Veggie Roll on the menu, which immediately called my name. The roll has avocado, cucumber, asparagus, truffle paste, shallots and topped with a spicy aioli. I devoured this, I almost forgot to share!

My husband loves bao buns so he got the Kakuni Bao. It features pork belly, Japanese BBQ sauce, cucumber slaw, yuzu dressing and mango salsa in a bao bun. This received rave reviews from my husband.

The true star of this show was the dessert. Recommended by our server, we got the Matcha Roll cake. They weren’t lying, it was great, perfect matcha flavor.

Overall, the vibe of Harriet’s matched with the food made for a perfect night.

What should I do?

One of the things I enjoy about traveling, is the wandering. I love to walk around a new city without an end location in mind. It really helps to immerse into a new location. I find that it even helps get a feel for the city, also finding hidden gems you may have missed before. However, I do try and map out the locations of places to try and activities to do.

St. Lawrence Market

All that to say I did a deep dive into things I couldn’t miss in Toronto. One place that kept coming up was St. Lawrence Market. The market began in 1803 and is one of the oldest markets in Canada. Known for housing over 120 vendors who specialize in meats, dairy, baked good, veggies and fish. On Saturdays St. Lawrence Market has a farmers market that has been going on for over 200 years. Sunday’s you will find an antique market.

We made our way on a Sunday morning. 1 Hotel offers a car service that happily takes you to any destination in a 10 minute radius. We arrived and started a browse around the outside. Filled with vendors selling food and coffee, it was perfect to walk around. I immediately saw people holding cute cups of coffee and I knew I needed to get what they were having.

Balzac’s Coffee Roasters

Right outside of St. Lawrence Market is Balzac’s Coffee Roasters. This coffee shop was so cute! I knew this popular spot, there was barely any room ro move around. I opted to try the Canadian maple latte. I’m still thinking about how perfect this was. It did not have an overpowering flavor and was mildly sweet.

We explored the antique market that was filled with vintage clothes, homemade candles, and jewelry. It was a giant building and filled with people and vendors. I enjoyed walking around and seeing what was there.

After, we found out way inside the market. It is massive but also packed with vendors, upstairs and downstairs. I felt like I was at Pike’s Place Market in Seattle. It was awesome. I would love to live near a market that large to purchase fresh produce every week. You can definitely get lost in here! We were full from brunch so we just browsed around. I would love to go back in the warmer months and go on a Saturday for the farmers market!

Hockey Hall of Fame

If you like hockey, you can’t miss the Hockey Hall of Fame. The name speaks for itself, it’s a building with a ton of hockey memorabilia and artifacts. This was a really cool experience. Roughly about $25 CAN per person, but pretty worth it for the amount you get to see.

Each hockey team from the USA and Canada are represented. Also, there is memorabilia for stand out players from each team. There are rows of older hockey gear, old stadiums items, like seats, and even past Stanley Cup rings. You could spend several hours browsing all of the items this place has stored.

Arcadia Earth

If you are looking for an activity to do indoors, Arcadia Earth is for you. Located inside The Well, this was an interactive museum featuring installations that take you around the globe. From land to sea, there is a no corner of the earth this doesn’t take you to. There is an app that you take from room to room unlocking more information for each installation.

We spent about an hour and a half going through the rooms. One of our favorites was the bee room. It featured all of the smells that bees help make possible.

It was unique and a great way to get out of the cold. Each room was informative, the app was vital in guiding you along. It was a really enjoyable time and I recommend to do this with kids!

Kandl Artistique

One of my favorite places on this trip was Kandl Artistique. This is a candle making experience. In a small group, you are led through the process of making a candle. You can select three different scents that will make up your candle. There is a great explanation for each scent and detailed instructions for each step. This was one of the better candle making classes I’ve been to. The engagement of our instructor and the setup of this class was so good, I would go back.

Anything else?

I couldn’t go without sharing the 2 places that didn’t fit into a category. My favorite coffee and lunch!

If I had to pick one place I wish I could go to more often it would be Japadog. I was so impressed by this veggie dog. These hot dogs featured Japanese flavors with some incredible toppings.

Final Thoughts

I loved exploring Toronto and seeing what we could in a 2 day span! I really want to go back for a longer time and see more of the city. Definitely everyone should check out Toronto! Until next time, besties. <3