What’s on your travel bucket list?
Come on, I know you have one.
Mine is filled with all sorts of interesting places to see and visit. Martha’s Vineyard. Israel (with the whole family). Seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland. New Orleans. Scotland. Florence. Portland. Northern Ireland. Maldives. Prague. Portofino. Santorini. Krabi. Toronto.
YES. Toronto.
I moved to Toronto in the summer of 1997. So, if you are doing the math at home, well, that’s a long time.
(What? It’s summer…I can’t really expect you do any kind of math)
In that time I have managed to own three homes and birth three babies, but I have never, ever, been to the top of the CN Tower, visited Casa Loma, or been inside The Hockey Hall of Fame.
That’s a thing, right? A thing that they say…that you’re never a tourist in your own city. I have been a tourist in many cities that I do not live in – all over the US and even over in Ireland. Just not at home.
But! Over the last few years we have tried to break that silly cycle with our kids, because (newsflash!) (if we ignore the hideous weather and that pesky little expressway that is literally falling apart) Toronto happens to be a pretty exceptional city.
Occasionally we break the stay-at-home cycle and explore Kensington Market or Pioneer Village or The ROM or The Toronto Islands or Fashion Week or the TIFF or Buskerfest.
We’re getting better, us suburbanites, who sometimes let life and obligations and traffic get in the way of our exploration.
But then Priceless Toronto and MasterCard dropped an opportunity right in my suburban lap. A chance to explore my city. REALLY take it all in. They are offering packages (and great discounts) that help the tourist or the local tourist eat, play, shop, and stay in Toronto. From enjoying dinner overlooking the city to cruising the lakefront in style to pampering yourself at the spa, there is no shortage of things to do. (And all you need to unlock these awesome packages is your MasterCard. I have one — my husband sometimes hides it from me, though.)
We wanted to do almost everything on the list — except the boats, since I don’t do boats without panic attacks — but since we found ourselves kidless for the first time in years, we chose to save the kid-friendly excursions for another day and we did something totally and completely touristy.
We hopped on to the City Sightseeing Tours double-decker bus in the pouring rain and spent the day stopping and visiting all of its 21 stops, including The Distillery District, Harbourfront, and Chinatown.
We got really, really wet.
And we got really, really (cloudy and wet) touristy shots.
And now we can’t wait to keep exploring with our kids.
And I can’t wait to give YOU the opportunity to be a tourist in my city too.
I’m giving away a $100 Mastercard gift card to use on a Priceless Toronto excursion. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below telling me which attraction you and your family would most like to visit. I will choose a winner at 9pm on Tuesday, July 29th. Good luck!
*updated*
Congratulations Sean B. Pasternak on your win! I will email you today to arrange for gift card delivery. Thank you everyone for entering!

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