Must see places in Toronto

What to do and see in Toronto ?

Find out what the “must see” places are and what you can do in the city. Read the list and pick your choices of the best things to see – also the things that are for free, maybe you will have fun without spending a cent.

Below we have some recommendations for you. You can use the disqus field below to share experiences with other travellers.

Art Gallery of Ontario. The largest art gallery in Canada, recently redesigned by architect Frank Gehry. The Art Gallery of Toronto has strong collections of European and Canadian art.  One of the main attractions of the Gallery is its collection of Henry Moore sculptures, one of the largest in the world. Henry Moore personally designed the exhibit space for this collection in 1974.. The European paintings exhibit has a few excellent pieces including Ruben’s The Massacre of the Innocents.

Bata Shoe Museum. This offbeat museum is housed in a whimsical, shoebox-shaped building designed by architect Raymond Moriyama.  The museum is home to a 4,500-piece, semi-permanent “History of Shoes” exhibit that highlights examples of footwear spanning time and the globe, from ancient Egyptian sandals to the sleekly sexy stilettos of 1990s.  The Bata also has three additional galleries that display special exhibits throughout the year..

Black Creek Pioneer Village is a recreation of life in 19th-century Ontario and consists of over forty historic 19th century buildings, decorated in the style of the 1860s with period furnishings and actors portraying villagers.

Casa Loma is a step back in time to a period of European elegance and splendour. The museum has decorated suites, secret passages, a 250-metre long tunnel, towers, stables and beautiful 5-acre estate gardens.

Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art. The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art was, at one time affiliated with the Royal Ontario Museum.  This specialized museum is home to more than 2,000 pieces of ceramic art.  Their collection features everything from pre-Columbian pottery to classic European porcelains of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Hockey Hall of Fame is both a museum and a hall of fame dedicated to the history of ice hockey.

Ontario Science Centre. This child-friendly museum has several hundred exhibits, many of them hands-on.

Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is the largest in Canada with more than 40 galleries.  The museum displays both art works and natural history items and has the largest collection of avian and mammalian skeletons in the world.  The museum’s Far East Collection, the largest collection of far eastern artifacts outside of China, is anchored by the Ming Tomb, a complete seventeenth century warriors tomb and the only complete Chinese tomb in the West.

Spadina House Museum is in a historic mansion dating from the 1860s. The grounds contain a beautiful garden.

Textile Museum of Canada. For more than thirty years the Textile Museum of Canada has celebrated international fiber art. Their permanent collection contains more than 12,000 textiles, from pieces as much as 2000 years old to modern designs, with samples from more than 200 regions of the world.

CN Tower. At 533 metres tall, the CN Tower is the third tallest free-standing structure in the world, and the tallest in North America.

Rogers Centre is a large multi-purpose stadium with a retractable roof. It is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball.

Toronto City Hall. Two buildings forming a semi-circle overlooking Nathan Phillips Square. Architecturally stunning, and next door to Old City Hall (now a court house) which has a more classical architecture.

Toronto Zoo is Canada’s premier zoo showcasing over 5,000 animals and 460 species.

Take a trip to Santa´s Village

Bracebridge, just north of Toronto, sits on the 45th parallel, halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.  Since 1955, Bracebridge has been home to Santa’s Village Family Entertainment Park, Santa Claus’ preferred summer vacation spot.

Not sure what to do first?  After being greeted by Santa himself in Santa Square guests can catch a ride around the 50-acre park on the Candy Cane Express miniature train and use it to get your bearings.

Santa is not the only one on vacation over the summer; the elves are too.  The park is full of ways to amuse elves (and children).

Enjoy net climbing excitement in the Elves Island Play Area.  Ride Rudolph’s Sleigh Ride Roller Coaster, the Christmas Ball Ferris Wheel, the Merry-Go-Round, and more.

Children can create customized souvenir crafts in the Elves Workshop and Candy Cane Lane features a variety of skill games to hone hand-eye coordination.  Live entertainers perform at the park throughout the season.

Santa’s Village also features a petting zoo complete with goats, sheep, and deer, though not reindeer since Bracebridge is too warm for those hardy animals.

One of the attractions of this summer home away from the North Pole is warm weather and the chance to cool off in Santa’s Splash Zone.  Work up a sweat paddling around lemonade lagoon in one of Santa’s Paddleboats or relax and let someone else do the work when you take Santa’s Summer Sleigh Jetboat Cruise.

The park is open 10am to 6pm from June to September.  For more specific information about Santa’s Village, or to make reservations, visit the park on the web at.

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