Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from San Francisco to Toronto. Left side wins at both ends of the flight. Departure gives you San Francisco Bay and the city, and arrival gives you Lake Ontario and the Toronto skyline. During the cruise over the Rockies and Great Plains the views are broadly similar on both sides, so the left seat's advantage at takeoff and landing makes it the clear overall choice.

During takeoff from San Francisco International (SFO), sit on the Left side for the best views. SFO's primary departure runways (28L/28R) head west over the Bay before turning north or east. A left seat faces south toward the San Francisco Peninsula, giving you a clear view of the Bay, the city skyline, and the San Mateo Bridge. Right seat looks out over the open Pacific with little to see. Notable sights include: San Francisco Bay, San Francisco city skyline and downtown, San Mateo Bridge, Peninsula hills.

When landing at Lester B Pearson International (YYZ), sit on the Left side for the best views. YYZ arrivals from the west typically use runways 23 or 24L/24R, approaching from the northwest over Lake Ontario's northern shore. A left seat faces south over Lake Ontario, giving a sweeping view of the lake and the Toronto skyline including the CN Tower as you descend. Right seat looks north over suburban sprawl. Notable sights include: Lake Ontario, Toronto downtown skyline and CN Tower, Toronto Islands, Mississauga waterfront.

The flight from San Francisco International (SFO) to Lester B Pearson International (YYZ) takes Approximately 4 hours 30 minutes to 5 hours.

The flight tracks northeast from SFO, crossing the Sierra Nevada (visible as a snow-capped range roughly 200 miles from SFO), then over the Great Basin desert of Nevada and Utah, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado or Wyoming depending on routing, the flat agricultural expanse of the Great Plains across Nebraska and Iowa, the Great Lakes region entering Ontario, and finally Lake Ontario on descent into Toronto.