It’s no surprise to make mistakes when traveling to explore a new place. However, some of these mistakes can be stressful and wasteful, and you will end up spending much time and resources fixing them. So, it’s better to avoid them rather than fix them afterwards. Most mistakes that Toronto travelers make are easily avoidable. All you need to do is find out the causes of the problems and establish effective precautionary measures to avoid them. However, we’ve already done that for you. All you need to do now is keep reading.
Toronto is home to many beautiful attractions, including parks, beaches, trails, museums, and zoos. As you travel to visit these sites, you need to take heed of these mistakes.
1. Under-Budgeting Your Expenses
When planning for your trip to Toronto, it’s obvious you’ll budget for expenses like airfare, accommodation, and local transportation costs. However, some of the expenses you may least expect are the baggage fees, booking fees, currency exchange charges, hotel fees, and travel insurance. All these costs can add up to a big amount and raise your bills.
To avoid this, you need to take care of these costs as well by creating an extra room in your travel budget for all unexpected expenses. While most travelers rely heavily on travel insurance for emergencies, it’s also wise to set aside additional funds for emergencies.
2. Mishaps of Travel Documents
Nothing is so disappointing like rushing to the airport to board a flight only to discover that your travel documents are not in order at the counter. The worst mistake you can make is booking flights and accommodation before checking the passport expiry date. Applying for the wrong visa may also inconvenience your travel.
To avoid such mistakes, you need to check your passport’s expiry date. If you’re planning to stay in Toronto for longer than three months, your passport should remain with at least six months to expire. Also, apply for the right type of visa. Some of Canada’s travel visas include work permit visa, student visa, temporary resident visa, and family visas.
3. Preparing an Overstuffed Itinerary
Most travelers are usually over-ambitious when visiting Toronto for the first time until they end up stuffing their itinerary with lots of things. With an overstuffed itinerary, you will end up spending little time in places you would love to spend more time. It may even be worse when you don’t leave time for connecting flights or local transportation.
To avoid this common travel mistake, you need to be more flexible with your itinerary. Be ready to counter unexpected problems that may change your travel plans, like adverse weather conditions, budgetary constraints, traffic delays, and transportation problems.
4. Exchanging Foreign Currencies at the Airport
Most international travelers visiting Toronto usually wait until they arrive at the Toronto Pearson International Airport to exchange their money. That’s one of the biggest mistakes because currency exchange service providers at the airport usually charge high exchange rates for unsuspecting travelers. You may end up losing hundreds of dollars at the airport.
To avoid such a mistake, you should wait until you get into the city and contact a company like Knightsbridge FX to help you with your money exchange Toronto. Alternatively, you can buy the Canadian currency in your home country before travelling to Toronto. That can help you save hundreds or thousands of dollars.
5. Handling Cash and Travel Documents Carelessly
In the past few years, many Toronto tourists reported cases of stolen or lost money and passports. Most tourists are usually more vulnerable to theft as local scammers can easily distract the foreigners and steal from them.
To avoid theft cases, you need to keep your documents and cash safe when touring the city of Toronto. You can keep the documents in a secure hotel safe and carry your cash in a money pouch you can always keep under your clothes.
6. Over-Packing Your Travel Bag
Carrying a lot of stuff in your travel bag can be expensive sometimes because you’ll have to pay more baggage fees. Besides, the heavy bags may limit your movement around the city. When you pack too many things in your bag, you’ll have many items to worry about.
You can avoid overpacking by carrying along only the items you’ll use. Research and find out what exactly you will need for every activity in Toronto. If you are traveling as a group, you can plan to share some things to reduce load.
Final Words
As you plan to visit Toronto for the first time, you need to research more about the city. Find out the best tourist destinations in the city and get to know what they offer before making reservations. Research all the costs you will most likely incur to help you budget.
