The best non-US weekend trips from Toronto (YYZ) for Canadians in 2026: 15 ideas across the Caribbean, Mexico, Latin America, and Europe with typical CAD fares, flight times, and the catch on each.
The best weekend trips from Toronto (YYZ) for Canadians who want to skip the US in 2026 fall into three buckets: Caribbean beach escapes 3–4.5 hours away (Bermuda, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Cancun, Punta Cana, Jamaica), Latin American city or beach breaks 4–6 hours away (Mexico City, Tulum, Cartagena, Havana), and longer-haul European dashes (Lisbon, Reykjavik, London) that work as a 4-night stretch if you redeye out Friday and land back Tuesday morning. Return fares from YYZ run roughly $300–$500 CAD for the close Caribbean, $400–$700 for Mexico and Colombia, and $600–$900 for Europe in shoulder season. None of these require a visa for Canadian passport holders, and most run direct or one-stop from Pearson.
That's the whole article in one paragraph. The rest of this is me telling you which ones are actually worth your three or four PTO days and which ones are more hassle than they're worth from Toronto specifically.
Photo by Sarah Markstaller on Unsplash — free to use under the Unsplash License
Summary Table
| # | Destination | Flight from YYZ | Typical CAD Return Fare | Best For | Days You Need | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Bermuda | 2.5h direct | $350–$550 | Closest beach, no jet lag | 3–4 | | 2 | Mexico City | 5h direct | $450–$700 | Food, art, urban escape | 3–4 | | 3 | Tulum / Riviera Maya | 4h direct (CUN) | $400–$650 | Beach + cenotes | 4–5 | | 4 | Punta Cana | 4.5h direct | $500–$900 (all-in) | All-inclusive reset | 4–5 | | 5 | Reykjavik | 5.5h direct | $500–$800 | Adventure long weekend | 4 | | 6 | Lisbon | 7h direct | $600–$900 | Europe in 4 nights | 4–5 | | 7 | Cartagena | 6h, one stop | $550–$850 | Old-world Caribbean | 4–5 | | 8 | Havana | 3.5h direct | $400–$650 | Different planet, fast | 4 | | 9 | Nassau (Bahamas) | 3h direct | $400–$650 | Easy beach reset | 3–4 | | 10 | Turks & Caicos | 4h direct | $550–$900 | Premium beach | 4 | | 11 | Aruba | 5h direct | $500–$800 | Reliable sun, no rain | 4–5 | | 12 | Montego Bay | 4h direct | $450–$750 | Reggae beach trip | 4 | | 13 | Halifax | 2h direct | $300–$550 | Atlantic Canadian | 3 | | 14 | Quebec City | 1.5h direct | $250–$500 | European feel, Canadian dollar | 3 | | 15 | London | 7h direct | $650–$1,100 | Maximum city in 4 nights | 4–5 |
1. Bermuda: The Closest "Real" Beach Trip
2.5 hours, no time change, pink sand. If you've never been, here's the thing nobody mentions: Bermuda isn't actually in the Caribbean. It's mid-Atlantic, off the coast of North Carolina-ish, which is why the flight is so short. Air Canada flies YYZ–BDA direct, often for $350–$550 CAD return. Stay around Hamilton or Horseshoe Bay.
The catch: Bermuda is the most expensive entry on this list once you're on the ground. A mid-range hotel runs $300–$500 CAD/night, and a drink at a beach bar will be $14–$18. You're saving on the flight and paying for it at the bar.
Find the best YYZ→BDA fares on Expedia
2. Mexico City: The Best 4-Day City Break From Toronto
5 hours direct on Aeromexico or Air Canada. Land in CDMX Friday night, eat tacos at El Califa, sleep in Roma Norte or Condesa, spend Saturday at the Anthropology Museum and Sunday at the Sunday market in Coyoacán. Done. Mid-range hotels in Roma run $130–$220 CAD/night for a properly nice place. Eating well costs $25–$45 CAD a day if you stay off white-tablecloth restaurants.
The catch: Altitude is real (2,240m). Day one will feel slower than you expected. Drink water, skip the run.
Browse Mexico City hotels on Booking.com
3. Tulum / Riviera Maya: Beach With Something to Do
Fly into Cancun (CUN). 4 hours direct from YYZ on Air Canada, WestJet, or Air Transat. Skip the Cancun hotel zone. Cab south to Tulum (90 min) or Playa del Carmen (45 min). Tulum is for the cenote-and-yoga crowd; Playa is denser, walkable, has actual streets. Either gets you a beach hammock and a margarita by Saturday lunch. Return fares are usually $400–$650 CAD, lower in May–early June and September–October.
The catch: Tulum prices have caught up to Miami's. A beachfront hotel is now $400–$800 CAD/night in high season. Stay one street back from the beach. You'll save half and walk five extra minutes.
4. Punta Cana: When You Want Zero Decisions
4.5 hours direct, all-inclusive packages from YYZ run $500–$900 CAD per person for 4 nights including flight, depending on resort and season. The point of Punta Cana is that you don't have to think. You land, you wristband, you're at the swim-up bar by 3pm.
The catch: The beach is great. The food at most all-inclusive resorts is fine, not memorable. If "fine" is what you want, perfect. If you want food to be part of the trip, go somewhere else on this list.
Search Punta Cana all-inclusive packages on Expedia
5. Reykjavik: Adventure in Four Nights
Icelandair and WestJet fly YYZ–KEF direct in 5.5 hours. Land Friday morning (overnight flight), rent a car at the airport, drive the South Coast: Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Reynisfjara black sand beach, Vík for the night. Saturday: glacier walk or ice cave tour out of Vík. Sunday: drive back via the Golden Circle (Geysir, Gullfoss, Þingvellir). Monday morning: Blue Lagoon before the redeye home.
The catch: Iceland is expensive. Budget $300–$450 CAD/day on the ground including the rental car, gas, and food. Grocery-store sandwiches will save you $40 a day; restaurant dinners run $60–$90 CAD per person.
Photo via Unsplash — free to use under the Unsplash License
6. Lisbon: Europe in a Four-Night Window
Air Transat, TAP Air Portugal, and Air Canada fly YYZ–LIS direct in roughly 7 hours. Take the Wednesday or Thursday redeye, land Thursday or Friday morning, you've got Friday through Monday in the city. Stay in Príncipe Real or Chiado. Eat at Time Out Market once. Take Tram 28 once. Do not waste a day on a Sintra tour. Go to Cascais instead. Faster, just as pretty.
The catch: The flight back leaves Lisbon mid-morning and lands YYZ mid-afternoon. You lose a working Tuesday unless you can WFH. Build that into the plan.
7. Cartagena, Colombia: Caribbean Without the Cliché
6 hours from YYZ with a stop in Bogotá or Panama City. Old Town Cartagena is the trip: colonial walls, balconies dripping with bougainvillea, dinner outside until midnight. Stay inside Getsemaní (cheaper, more local) or the walled city (pricier, prettier). Day-trip to Playa Blanca or Islas del Rosario for the beach day.
The catch: It's hot and sticky from May through October. Like, sweat-through-your-shirt-walking-to-dinner sticky. December through March is the sweet spot.
8. Havana: Time Travel in Four Days
Air Canada Rouge and Sunwing fly YYZ–HAV direct in 3.5 hours, often for $400–$650 CAD. Stay in a casa particular in Vedado or Habana Vieja (Booking.com lists them now). Eat at paladares, not the resort buffet. Walk the Malecón at sunset.
The catch: Credit cards from Canadian banks usually don't work. Bring euros or CAD cash and exchange at the airport CADECA. The internet is patchy. Treat both as part of the experience.
9. Nassau / Bahamas: When You Need a Beach by Saturday Lunch
3 hours direct from YYZ on WestJet or Air Canada. Easiest beach trip on this list. Stay on Paradise Island for the resort experience, or in downtown Nassau for cheaper. Day-trip to a swimming-pigs cay if it's your first time and you must do it.
The catch: Nassau itself isn't beautiful. It's a cruise port. The beaches are pretty, but you have to leave the cruise crowd. Out Islands (Eleuthera, Exuma) are nicer but require a connecting puddle-jumper.
10. Turks and Caicos: The Premium Beach
4 hours direct on WestJet. Grace Bay is one of the best beaches in the Caribbean: long, shallow, no seaweed. We have a full guide on whether T&C is worth a 4-day trip from Toronto.
The catch: Pricey. There's no budget option here. Hotels start at $400 CAD/night in shoulder season and go straight up.
11. Aruba: Sun Insurance
5 hours direct on WestJet or Air Canada. Aruba sits south of the hurricane belt and gets almost no rain. If you're booking for a specific weekend and need the sun to actually show up, this is your bet. Eagle Beach is the better one (Palm Beach is the resort strip).
The catch: It's windy. All the time. Great if you windsurf, less great if you wanted a flat-water snorkel day.
Browse Aruba hotels on Booking.com
12. Montego Bay, Jamaica: All-Inclusive With Personality
4 hours direct, often $450–$750 CAD return on Air Canada Rouge or WestJet. MoBay all-inclusives are cheaper than Punta Cana and the food has more flavour. Head west to Negril if you want Seven Mile Beach and a more chilled vibe; stay in MoBay proper if you want golf and resort logistics.
The catch: The drive from MBJ airport to Negril is 90 minutes on a bumpy two-lane road. Pre-book the resort transfer.
13. Halifax: The Underrated Domestic Long Weekend
2 hours direct on Air Canada or WestJet, return fares $300–$550 CAD. East coast time zone. Stay downtown, walk the waterfront, eat at The Bicycle Thief, do a Lunenburg day trip. October for the lobster, June for the long evenings.
The catch: You're still in Canada, which means CAD prices for hotels. $200–$300 CAD/night for downtown is normal. The trip won't feel exotic. It will feel good.
14. Quebec City: Europe Without the Flight
1.5 hours direct from YYZ on Porter or Air Canada. Stay in Vieux-Québec, eat at Aux Anciens Canadiens, walk the Plains of Abraham. Winter is magical (Carnaval, ice canoe race), summer is gorgeous, fall is the move. The whole trip is in CAD, so no currency math.
The catch: Walkable old town is small. Two days is enough; on day three you'll be looking for things to do.
15. London: The Maximum 4-Night Trip
7 hours direct on Air Canada or British Airways. Take the Thursday redeye, land Friday morning, you've got Friday afternoon, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday before flying back Monday night. That's enough for a play, a market (Borough or Broadway), a long walk through Hyde Park, and a real pub night.
The catch: London is the most expensive city on this list once you're there. Hotels under $300 CAD/night exist but aren't where you want to stay. Eat lunch at pubs and dinner at Indian or Vietnamese spots. That's where the value lives.
How We Ranked These
Three filters: 4 hours or less for Caribbean/Latin America, under 8 hours for Europe, and a flight schedule from YYZ that actually lets you protect 3–4 PTO days (so a Friday morning departure or a Wednesday/Thursday redeye that lands at the destination ready to go). Prices are based on 12-month historical fare averages from YYZ as of May 2026. These are typical shoulder-season ranges, not the floor or the ceiling. We weighted destinations by what Toronto travellers actually book in deal data and by how much "time on the ground" you get versus "time in airports" on a 3–5 day trip.
US destinations are excluded by design. The political climate aside, fare deals from YYZ to non-US destinations have tightened in 2025–26 and the alternatives are genuinely competitive on price now.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the cheapest weekend trip from Toronto in 2026? Quebec City and Halifax are usually cheapest because the flights are short and there's no foreign exchange hit. Internationally, the cheapest weekend trips from YYZ are typically Bahamas, Cuba, and Bermuda. Return fares often start around $300–$400 CAD when deals are active.
How many days do I need for a long weekend from Toronto? For Caribbean and Mexico, 3–4 days works (book a Friday departure, fly back Monday). For Europe, you need at least 4 nights to make the flight worth it. That means a Wednesday or Thursday departure to Monday night arrival back in Toronto.
Do Canadians need a visa for any of these destinations? No. Every destination on this list is visa-free for Canadian passport holders for stays under 90 days (most allow longer). Cuba requires a tourist card, which Air Canada and Sunwing include automatically with the ticket.
What's the best non-US weekend beach trip from Toronto? Bermuda for shortest flight, Aruba for most reliable weather, Turks and Caicos for the best beach itself, and Montego Bay or Punta Cana for best all-inclusive value. Pick the one whose catch you can live with.
When should I book a weekend trip from Toronto for the best price? For Caribbean: book 6–10 weeks out for shoulder season, 4–5 months out for Christmas and March Break. For Europe: 8–12 weeks out, with November and February being the cheapest months to fly from YYZ.
Can I do a weekend trip to Europe from Toronto? Yes. Lisbon, Reykjavik, and London all work as 4-night trips if you take a Wednesday or Thursday redeye out and a Monday or Tuesday flight home. Anything shorter than 4 nights and the jet lag eats half the trip.
Current Deals from Canada
Live YYZ flight deals refresh on the FareNorth deals page. Check there for current routes and prices to any of these destinations.
For more weekend trip ideas from Canadian hubs, see our best long weekend trips from Vancouver and where to go for a long weekend from Montreal in May guides.
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Image credits:
- Hero: Yellow tram on cobblestone street in Lisbon — Photo by Sarah Markstaller on Unsplash (Unsplash License)
- Reykjavik: Hallgrímskirkja church — via Unsplash (Unsplash License)