The verdict
$149 for fourteen minutes works out at about $10.64 a minute, which is the kind of number that makes people hesitate. The question is fair. The answer turns on one thing: whether you want the CN Tower in your photograph or under your feet.
Quick answer
Yes, if you want Toronto from the air — there is no other way to get it. An observation deck puts you on top of the tower; a helicopter puts the tower in the frame with the islands, the harbour and the whole skyline around it. It is fourteen minutes and it carries the best rating on this page. If what you actually want is Niagara Falls, book a Niagara flight instead — it costs almost the same and shows you something else entirely.
What you are actually buying
The only view that contains the tower rather than standing on it.
Toronto has an unusually good observation deck, and that is exactly the problem with comparing them. From the CN Tower you get height and distance, and you get everything except the tower itself — which is the building people came to photograph.
A helicopter is the only way to see the skyline as a composition: the tower standing clear of the bank towers, the islands behind it, the lake on one side and the grid on the other. It is also the only way to see the Toronto Islands from above, and they are the part of the city that photographs best and is hardest to understand from the ground.
A Toronto helicopter tour is short. It is also fourteen minutes with no transit leg in it: the subject starts immediately and ends when you land. Compare that with a longer flight somewhere spread out, where half the time is spent getting to the thing.
And the number worth repeating: the cheapest listing on this page carries the best rating on it. 320 people have scored it 4.9.
Who should skip it
It is not for everyone, and the site would rather say so.
Then book a Niagara flight at $151 instead. It costs about the same, it carries four times the reviews, and it shows you something a city flight cannot.
It is a genuinely good view and it costs a fraction of this. If the skyline as a composition is not what you are after, the deck will do.
On a shared flight the seat is assigned by weight. If the listing does not guarantee a window and you are not willing to pay $515 for the private flight, you are gambling on the thing that matters most to you.
Every trip, current fare
The city flight in the context of the whole page
| Flight | Length | Price | Flies over | Cost per minute | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto: City Sightseeing Helicopter TourFourteen minutes over downtown Toronto | 14 min | $149 | Over Toronto | $10.64 | 4.9 · 320 |
| Niagara Falls, Canada: Scenic Helicopter FlightTwelve minutes over the Horseshoe Falls | 12 min | $151 | Niagara Falls | $12.58 | 4.8 · 1,222 |
| Niagara Falls: Helicopter RideFifteen minutes over the falls and the whirlpool | 15 min | $201 | Niagara Falls | $13.40 | 4.7 · 17 |
| Niagara Falls: Helicopter Ride, City Cruise & Skylon TowerFlight, cruise and the Skylon Tower | 5-8 h | $265 | Niagara Falls | $0.68 | 4.8 · 1,041 |
| Niagara Falls: Private Day Tour with Boat & HelicopterA private Niagara day, built around the flight | 6 h | $313 | Full day from Toronto | $0.87 | 4.4 · 35 |
| Epic Daredevil Tour w/ Zipline, Helicopter & Jetboat RideZipline, flight and jetboat in four hours | 4 h | $431 | Niagara Falls | $1.80 | 5.0 · 1 |
| Niagara Falls Canadian Side Helicopter & Boat Ride w/ BuffetFlight, cruise and a Skylon buffet | 5 h | $432 | Niagara Falls | $1.44 | 5.0 · 1 |
| Private Tour w/ Helicopter, Boat, Journey & Skylon LunchPrivate day with the flight and Journey Behind the Falls | 5 h | $489 | Full day from Toronto | $1.63 | New |
| Toronto: Private Helicopter Tour for TwoPrivate, thirteen minutes over Toronto | 13 min | $515 | Over Toronto | $39.62 | 4.7 · 70 |
| Niagara: Private Tour w/ Zipline, Helicopter & JetboatThe Daredevil day, private | 4 h | $532 | Niagara Falls | $2.22 | New |
| Toronto: Niagara Falls Custom Private Tour (Up to 10)Eight hours, private, up to ten people | 8 h | $1,294 | Full day from Toronto | $2.70 | 5.0 · 1 |
| From Toronto: Private Niagara Falls Helicopter Tour & LunchNine hours, private — the price anchor | 9 h | $1,726 | Full day from Toronto | $3.20 | 5.0 · 3 |
The three reasons people say yes
The tower in frame, the islands from above, and only an hour gone.
The tower in the frame. This is the one nobody mentions until afterwards. Every photograph of Toronto taken from the ground either lacks the CN Tower or is taken from so far away that nothing else reads. A Toronto helicopter tour solves that in about ninety seconds.
The islands. The second most common thing people say about a Toronto helicopter tour is that they did not expect the islands to look like that. From the ferry they are a park; from the air they are a lagoon system.
The hour. A Toronto helicopter tour costs you one hour. Most headline attractions in a big city cost you three, and this one leaves the rest of the day intact.
The line that decides it: an observation deck puts you on top of the CN Tower. A helicopter puts the CN Tower in your photograph.
What you fly over→Book direct
The two flights over the city, and the two best ways to see the falls.
★ 4.9 · 320 reviews
★ 4.7 · 70 reviews
★ 4.8 · 1,222 reviews
★ 4.4 · 35 reviews
Common questions
If you want Toronto from the air, yes — it is the only way to get the CN Tower into the photograph rather than standing on it. If you want Niagara Falls, book a Niagara flight instead.
Yes. The harbour, the islands and the core are within a few kilometres of the lift-off point, so there is no dead time in the flight.
It is different. The deck gives you height and everything except the tower; the flight gives you the skyline as a composition, with the tower in it.
For photographs or an occasion, yes. For a first look at the city, the shared flight is the better buy.
The flight is the same and the photographs are worse. If you can move it, move it; if you cannot, it still flies as long as visibility is good.
The fourteen-minute city flight at $149. Cheapest on the page and best rated on it.
Go deeper
From $149 over the city, and why the day tours cost four times that.
The verdictTwo fly over Toronto, six over Niagara. Which one you want.
Over the cityFourteen minutes, and everything under the door in order.
NiagaraYou cannot fly there from Toronto. What actually happens instead.
The fallsTwelve minutes over the Horseshoe, and where it lifts off from.
BookingWindow seats, minimum numbers and what sells out first.
Niagara Falls: Private Day Tour with Boat & Helicopter
★ 4.9 · 646 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h