7 Day Winter in Toronto and Yellowknife

On arrival in Toronto make your way to your downtown hotel and settle in. After freshening up head out and get to know the area, make sure you wrap up though as it can get chilly in winter. If you do not want to walk around you can book one of the hop-on-hop-off tickets which takes you around the city and stops off at some of the major attractions, including the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, Casa Loma, and the Royal Ontario Museum.  

In the evening head to Kensington Market, a bohemian neighbourhood with vintage boutiques, specialty food shops and enjoy dinner in one of the trendy bars or restaurants.  

Enjoy a full day in Toronto. There is no better winter activity in the city than ice skating, so head to one of the city rinks, Nathan Phillips Square or Toronto Harbourfront Rink, there is also the Bentway Trail which is a 1.75km figure of eight skating path, great for those that are a bit more confident with staking. Afterwards we suggest heading to the Distillery District where you will find Toronto’s best Christmas market. Enjoy the festive lights, food stalls, hot drinks stands, and wander the gift stalls, maybe even pick up a souvenir or two. Alternatively, if you are into sports see if there is a Toronto Maple Leafs game on whilst you are here and to the Scotiabank Arena to watch a thrilling game of Ice Hockey.  

You will have most of today to continue exploring Toronto as your flight to Yellowknife does not depart until 9pm so you do not need to leave for the airport until around 5pm. If you did not go to the CN Tower on your first day, we recommend doing this before you leave as it gives you amazing views over the city and Lake Ontario. St Lawrence Market is also a lovely place to wander around or go to Casa Loma and experience the Gothic castle and learn about its history. If you want to get out of the wintry weather, then head to the Eaton Centre, with more than 250 retail stores it is a great place to do some shopping.  

The flight to Yellowknife is just under 5 hours so sit back and enjoy the service onboard. You will arrive at around midnight so head straight to your accommodation and get ready to explore in the morning. 

Why not start your day off with a city tour of Yellowknife, learn about the rich history, highlights include the Old Town, Downtown and the Southside. In the afternoon spend some time at one of the museums, the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Museum offers an overview of the Northwest Territories art, culture and history, or maybe head to the NWT Dimond Centre and learn about how the discovery of diamonds in the 1990’s gave the region a renewed boom after the brief gold rush in the 1930’s.  

You cannot come to the Northwest Territories without seeing the northern lights so make sure you book an Aurora Village experiences, these start at 9pm in the winter and run until 1am. During your Aurora experience you will hopefully get to see the bands of green, blue, and purple dance across the sky in front of your eyes, you will also be able to warm up in the illuminated tipis by the fire and sip on a hot drink.  

After having a sleep in after a late-night last night enjoy some afternoon activities, the options include dog sledding, snowshoeing, ice fishing and for those looking for something more creative dream catcher lessons.  

Tonight, we recommend another Aurora Village experience, this is such a once in a lifetime opportunity and as it is a natural phenomenon it is not always guaranteed so you might not have had a lot of activity the night before so hopefully tonight you do.  

Today is your last day in Yellowknife and check in at the airport for your flight to Toronto is not until around 10pm so you still have plenty of time to see more of what Yellowknife has to offer.  

Maybe if you did not get a chance to do one of the winter activities or have not been to one of the museums then make some time for that today. Alternatively have a wander around the shops in town and grab a late lunch/early dinner in preparation for your flight later this evening.  

Your overnight flight from Yellowknife lands in Toronto at around 7am, connect straight onto a flight back to the UK after a wonderful adventure in the Northwest Territories.   

Alternativity you could fly over to Quebec and enjoy a week in the French speaking cities of Montreal and Quebec City. However, you want to extend your trip, speak to our expects who will be able to build your dream trip.