Most people are shocked when I tell them that I don’t drive. It’s not that I can’t (my dad made me reluctantly get my licence when I was sixteen), I just don’t. Living in downtown Toronto, I don’t find it necessary: I either walk everywhere, hop on the TTC or take advantage of other transit services offered around the city. Services like the amazing Vaughan Mills Shopping Shuttle — which is absolutely FREE…
Yup, the 55-passenger beaut provides free round-trip transportation from Union Station to Vaughan Mills twice a day from June 1st to September 30th and during the holidays from November 24th to December 26th! Woot woot for locals and those visiting Toronto; Vaughan Mills is regarded as one of Canada’s premier outlet destinations so it’s a nice shopping jaunt to add to the itinerary if you’re trying to snag some deals. I’m a super savvy shopper so I’m basically a kid in a candy store at this mall. Speaking of kid, I recently jumped on the Vaughan Mills Shopping Shuttle with Little L for his very first shopping spree! We’ve gone shopping together before (stroller walks in malls are now a regular pastime), but he had never been out on a full-day mall mission with mama until this journey…
Given the shuttle leaves from Union Station I was expecting a bit of chaos — especially with a newborn and stroller in tow. To my surprise, the whole experience was really smooth! Here’s how it works: you reserve a seat on the shuttle by registering with the City Tours Attractions rep at 123 Front Street West on the day-of (it’s first-come, first-served basis beginning at 8:30 am), get an ID bracelet and hop on the bus at 10 am. And if you have a baby like me, they will store your stroller in the compartment underneath — yeay!!
The bus ride itself is about 45 mins and there’s free WiFi on board which is amaze (mama got some work done while baby napped). The driver is an absolute GEM: her name is Anne and she treated us all like family on the bus. She dropped us off at Entry 6 at Vaughan Mills (which happens to be my fave section of the mall) and we had until 3 pm to shop. The amount of time was perfect for us. We devoured some breaky and then launched into a shopping marathon with Little L…
I’ve been to Vaughan Mills before, but never realized how family friendly it was until this trip! They have a nursing room so I could breastfeed and huge seating areas throughout the mall so my mom could bottle feed while I shopped too.
I found so many bargains! Truth is, I probably could’ve stayed until 6 pm when the afternoon bus returns downtown (fun fact: I used to be a personal shopper and worked with designers backstage at Fashion Week so I have a real knack for shopping). Happy to report that our mall mission was a success: we got grandma some amaze shoes at Holts, Hubster some pants at Hugo Boss and lots of cute baby clothes for Luka. There are so many great deals at Vaughan Mills!
We boarded the bus at 3 pm and headed back downtown. Little L slept the entire way home while my mom and I bonded without having to deal with the driving/traffic. Such a stress-free shopping mission!! I’m definitely going to take the Vaughan Mills Shopping Shuttle as much as possible over the summer — it’s a great day trip outside the downtown core.
A huge thanks to Vaughan Mills for inviting us out to the inaugural Vaughan Mills Shopping Shuttle run of the season and for sponsoring this post. As always, reviews and opinions are my own.
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