I am back in Toronto! For just about a New York minute, but still. I am in town for the Ontario Library Association annual meeting, and it was the first time we put up our own booth. All around an exciting visit back to my old home town.

When I lived in Toronto, I’ve visited the CN tower a couple of times over the years. Twice I didn’t even take the elevator but sprinted upstairs. Who climbs 1,776 steps voluntarily? For charity of course! I climbed the tower once for United Way, and once for the WWF.  It only took about 20 minutes, which I thought was quite fast. There are many people who can do it even faster though, so I am not even all that exceptional a climber.
The CN tower is conveniently located right next to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where our conference was taking place. After all the work was done and the booth was taken down again, we decided to reward ourselves with a trip up the tower. After all, it was my colleague’s first time visiting Toronto, and the CN tower is a must-see for any first time visitors to the city. This time around no sprinting, just the elevator.

How to visit the CN Tower for free

In my opinion most tourists go up the tower the wrong way. How can you go wrong, you might wonder? One thing most tourists only find out about once they are upstairs is that the CN tower boasts a pretty good revolving restaurant. The restaurant is your free ticket upstairs. Regular prices are $29 + tax for adults, and $22 + tax for kids. When you make a reservation for the CN tower’s 360 restaurant, your trip upstairs is free. You take a different elevator up than everyone else, but after your meal you can walk around the regular viewing platform and enjoy the views before you take the elevator down again with all the other tourists (who paid full price).

Main courses in the restaurant start at $40, and the food is fantastic. If you are normally paying $29 per person to go upstairs, you might as well enjoy a fancy meal that effectively costs you only around $11. Or you look at it differently and just see it as a moderately pricy dinner and a chance to visit the CN tower for free.

Best time to visit the CN Tower

.You have to eat anyways, chances are you will be eating out if you are visiting Toronto. Why not combine a trip up the CN tower with an early dinner? The best time of the day to go up would be the late afternoon: you still enjoy the view with daylight, then while you are enjoying your meal in the revolving restaurant the sun sets, and you get to see Toronto’s skyline light up