Toronto has an interesting collection of history, modernism and has something for everything.
It is a huge 630 sq.km of piece of land, with pristine Lake Ontario flowing across its shores.
The City bustles with a mix of people from 170 nationalities and is the capital of Ontario Province.
There is no shortage of entertainment, awe inspiring sights and peaceful things to experience.
The city has excellent subway system, taking you across the entire downtown and the outlying areas.
Some of the attractions are listed below.
A must see CN Tower, a dizzying 1, 815 feet into the clouds, one gets a 360 degree view of the city, including Bank of Montreal Tower, tallest office building in Canada (72 storeys high), the lake waterfront, the well laid out urban landscape and the endless greenery all around.
The thrilling Skypod (world's highest public observation desk), the meal at the restaurant at the top where the floor rotates every hour or so, the stationary sitting/stand on the glass floor with nothing below and the scary view down is something to behold and cherish
Casa Loma, the only castle in the city, rare to find in North American cities, has crisp gardens, 800-foot tunnels, towers from which a city view can be had.
Fort York, an old Bristish military garrison, and the site of Battle of York in 1812 when Americans invaded, burned and plundered everything in their sight. It contains the finest collection of authentic structures of that era.
A must see is Black creek pioneer village, open from May to December, gives a spellbinding visual appeal of country living back in 1860's with its elegant church, fresh wine making using the old tools, doctor’s house, local school.
A ferry ride to the three islands on the lake ontario, (Toronto island, centre island and Ward's Island) is enjoyable during summer and fall. More than 1 million visitors flock to these islands every year. One can bike, roller blade here on over 300 hectares of land. During summer especially, one can see bands playing, family picnis, flower gardens, amusement rides, marina etc to whet appetite of everyone.
You could hire a private boat to cruise the lake for hours. That in itself a refreshing treat. Mind you the lake is 300 km long and is almost 275 feet at its deepest point.
Toronto Zoo, contains more than 5, 000 wild animals, yes the white polar bear included, also has Kesho Park, 30 acres of replicated African Savannah where visitors can observe beautiful views of rivers, waterholes, giraffes munching etc. Children will enjoy the waterfall over there.
The Ontario Science Centre, situated at the corner of Yonge and Eglinton, has more than 800 hands-on exhibits and one can enjoy several demonstrations and ever-changing school and public programs. The now immensely popular IMAX theatre format, is developed in Toronto, and this science centre has an OMNIMAX theatre which comes with an eye popping 10, 000 watts plus of sound and images are splashed on a dome screen
Ontario Place, summer family leisure and entertainment complex, right on Lake Ontario waterfront, has numerous land and water attractions geared for all ages. You can also view the Naval Ship over there.
Hockey Hall of Fame (fast and furious ice hockey sport memorabilia and history landmark), has vidoes about how the sport developed, how the equipment has changed, real life games and commercials, and for fun you can have the goalkeeper pads and play against a video monitor which fires sponge pucks at you. Mind you the hockey pucks are so small and in real games, the pucks can be shot from the hockey stick at around 100 miles per hour.
One can also visit Bata Shoe Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario, Canadian Warplane Museum, Toronto Aerospace Museum, Museum for Textiles, Spadina House and Marine Museum of Upper Canada.
For the music aficionado, one can watch concerts at Roy Thompson Hall, Air Canada centre and Molson Amphitheatre. For theatre inclined individuals a visit to Royal Alexandra, Princess of Wales theatre or Hummingbird centre for Performing arts is recommended.
For all other live music, one can have a peek at Bamboo, Rex Jazz Blues, The Horseshoe Tavern, Montreal Bistro, Lee's Palace, Silver Dollar Room etc.
Toronto nightlife is alive and kicking. The entertainment district has many dance clubs and bars to spend the night away.
For shop till you drop folks, you cannot miss the the city's PATH ( world's largest and longest underground shopping complex with more than 1, 200 shops and services). This pedestrian walkway, filled with shops and stores, restaurants and bars, meanders under the city for 10 kilometres
All thru the year, there are so many outdoor events one can enjoy and participate in.
Wintercity festival (Jan to Feb)
Toronto flower and garden show (March 2nd week)
Bloor-Yorkville Wine festival (May)
Gay Pride Parade (June last week)
Toronto Jazz festival (june 3rd-4th week)
Canada day celebrations (July 1st)
Toronto fringe street festival (July 1st week - 2nd week)
Molson Indy Car Race (2nd/3rd weekend in July)
Caribana festival and parade (July 2nd week - Aug 2nd week)
Toronto Beaches Jazz festival (July 3rd-4th week)
Festival of Beer is held in historic Fort York (August 2nd week)
Taste of Danforth - a food festival initially started with Greek cuisine and now envelops many other international cuisines (Aug 2nd week)
Festival of South Asia (Aug 3rd week)
Canadian National Exhibition (Mid-August to Labour day)
Fashion and design festival (Aug 4th week)
Canadian International Air show - (Sep 1st week)
Toronto Vegetarian Fair (September 1st-2nd week)
Dragan Boat Race (Sep 2nd week)
Toronto International Film Festival (1st week-2nd week of september)
Royal Agricultural and Horse show (Mid-October)
Canadian Aboriginal Festival (Last weekend in November)
For short excursions outside of Toronto, you might wish to visit
Niagara Falls - the amazing maid of the mist ship ride and Cave of the winds on the American side - 2 hours South West from Toronto
Niagara-on-the-Lake - A truly romantic spot, the prettiest town in Ontario Province - helicopter rides over Niagara, whitewater rides, endless number of wineries
Canada's wonderland - 1 hour north - Thrilling rides and water park
The Stratford Festival, Stratford - with 15 plays staged in the Festival's four theatres, which run from May through to November, the playbill features a wide range of contemporary and classic plays, including four works by Shakespeare. 1.5-2 hours South-west.
Wasaga beach - world's longest freshwater beach (14 kms) - 2 hours North west of Toronto
1000 Islands, 3 hours east of Toronto, beautiful islands of water navigated thru a 3-4 hours ship cruise in Summer
Lake on the Mountain (Part of the namesake Park) with its turquoise colour water - 2 hours north
Sandbanks Provincial Park (Unique sand dunes and golden beaches form two of the largest freshwater baymouth sandbars in the world here) - 2-2.5 hours east of Toronto
Point Pelee National Park - 4 hours south of Toronto - very famous for bird watching
Georgina - Ice Fishing Capital of Canada- 1.5 hours north of Toronto, Championships are held there every year around start of February
