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Awesome Life Hack of the Week: Free shuttles for shopping destinations in the Greater Toronto Area

Thanks to awesome transit and bike lanes, having a car in Toronto isn’t all that necessary most of the time (not to mention, the insane traffic).

Problem is, without a car, getting to certain parts of the city, or going on a major shopping spree, can be a major hassle.

Even if you have a car, travelling long distances might not be your cup of tea. But no worries – your awesome Toronto life hack of the weeks is free shuttles to some of the main shopping destinations in the GTA!

Lights, camera, shop.

Vaughan Mills

Need your fix of high-end fashion from one of the GTA’s best shopping malls? No problem, because you can get there for free. The free shopping shuttle to Vaughan Mills doesn’t run year-round, but it does operate over the Christmas shopping season, which is pretty much perfect for hauling huge bags full of gifts back home from the mall without the struggle of making multiple trips to the car when your arms just can’t carry any more…

The Vaughan Mills Shopping Shuttle schedule is:

Depart Union Station at 10:00 am

Depart Vaughan Mills at 3:00 pm

OR

Depart Union Station at 1:00 pm

Depart Vaughan Mills at 6:00 pm

This schedule is in effect until Sept. 30, then resumes for Nov. 23-Dec. 23.

It’s first-come, first-served. Check in at the City Tours Attraction Desk at Union Station’s Great Hall with plenty of time before departure.

Yay for IKEA!

Ikea

Unless you’re stocking up your entire Toronto apartment from scratch, taking the free shuttle to Ikea is totally worth it. The Ikea in Etobicoke is accessed from Kipling Station, and the Ikea in North York is accessed from Leslie subway station.

While we’re at it, get ideas for your projects during the trip with some Ikea Hacks:

Ikea Etobicoke

Buses depart from Kipling Station, and from Ikea Etobicoke back to Toronto, every 30 minutes.

Mon-Fri 9:00 am-10:45 pm

Saturday 8:00 am-10:45 pm

Sunday 9:00 am-7:45 pm

Ikea North York

The bus departs from Leslie subway station every 20 minutes during Ikea business hours. See the schedule here.

http://www.ikea-canada.com/local_stores/pub/_images/north_york-20150330-073729.pdf

Erin Cardone: Born on the Prairies, Erin Cardone grew up knowing there was more to life than canola fields and AAA Alberta Angus. So she escaped, living in Europe and Australia, white-knuckling it through plates of calf brains and raw horse meat, and learning languages she can't remember anymore. After a stint as a jaded, skeptical journalist, she changed tack and began writing rather awesome blogs and showing businesses that advertising is dead, so long live social media, with her businesses Legendary Social Media. She now splits her time between various Canadian cities, Costa Rica and wherever else the wind blows.