Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from Toronto to Taipei. Left side wins at both ends of the flight. The polar routing takes the aircraft over northern Canada and the North Pacific, where right vs left matters less over open ocean, but the bookend views — Toronto's lakefront skyline on departure and Taipei's mountain-backed basin on arrival — are both on the left.

During takeoff from Lester B Pearson International (YYZ), sit on the Left side for the best views. YYZ primarily departs westbound on runway 23 or eastbound on runway 05/06. On the dominant westbound departure (Rwy 23), a left-side seat gives you the Toronto skyline and Lake Ontario to the south as the aircraft banks north. On eastbound departures, left side still captures the city core and the lake shoreline as you climb out over the suburbs. Notable sights include: Toronto downtown skyline and CN Tower, Lake Ontario shoreline, Toronto Islands, Highway 401 interchange grid visible below.

When landing at Chiang Kai Shek International (TPE), sit on the Left side for the best views. TPE's Taoyuan airport sits on the Taoyuan Plateau west of Taipei. The dominant arrival is from the north or east on runway 05/06, meaning a left-side seat faces south toward the Central Mountain Range and the Taipei Basin. You get a clear view of the densely built Taipei metro area and the mountains rising sharply behind it. Notable sights include: Taipei Basin and city grid, Central Mountain Range (Zhongyang Shanmai) peaks to the east, Tamsui River estuary, Taoyuan urban plateau.

The flight from Lester B Pearson International (YYZ) to Chiang Kai Shek International (TPE) takes Approximately 15 to 16 hours nonstop.

The great circle route tracks northwest over Hudson Bay, then across the Yukon and Alaska Range, over the Aleutian Islands chain and the North Pacific Ocean, descending toward Japan's Ryukyu Islands before crossing the East China Sea into Taiwan. Hudson Bay ice or open water is visible early in the flight, and the Alaska Range and Aleutian volcanic peaks are occasionally visible on clear days before the long oceanic stretch.