Attractions in Toronto
Address: 301 Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5V 2T6, Canada
The CN Tower has dominated the Toronto skyline since its completion in 1976, and at 553 meters (1,815 ft) also maintained the title of world’s tallest freestanding structure for over 30 years before being overtaken. Originally named for Canadian National - the country’s railway company - the tower gets over 2 million visitors a year making it one of the city’s top attractions.
The lower and larger observation deck is at 342 m (1,122 ft), and is mostly enclosed, but there is an outdoor observation deck in addition to a couple of restaurants, one of which revolves. The views can be amazing on clear days, but the highlight for many people is the Glass Floor. This is a section of clear glass on the floor that visitors are encouraged to stand on, and it’s amazing how much nerve it takes to take that step even though your brain assures you all will be fine.
Higher still at 447 m (1,465 ft) is the Sky Pod, which is currently the world’s highest public observation deck. And back in the ground complex is a motion simulator ride, an arcade, and a theater showing a 20-minute documentary on the tower.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, with some shorter hours during winter
Admission: Adults for the lower platform - C$22.78; including the Sky Pod platform - C$27.55; including everything C$35.11. Small discounts are available for ages 4-12 and 65+. Tickets can be purchased in advance on the official CN Tower website.
Address: 100 Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON, M5S 2C6
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM, as it's known) in Toronto, Canada, has one of the most impressive and extensive collections of natural history artifacts and art from cultures around the world in North America.
The museum serves over one million visitors each year, and with over six million pieces in its collection, many of those are repeat customers. In the special hands-on gallery, kids and adults alike can learn about the archeological process while digging for dinosaur bones, learn digitally at one of the interactive exhibits and bend their minds around biodiversity in an exhibit produced by the museum's own research team.
Established in April, 1912, thee ROM is known for its dinosaur collection and exhibits on African art, European history and Canadian history. The building itself is a significant architectural work; coming out of a traditional rectangular building, a pyramid on its side juts up and out of the front as if escaping the pull of the museum.
At the moment, the ROM is undergoing one of the largest expansion and renovation projects in a museum in North America. The expansion will allow the museum to put all permanent collections on display simultaneously and update existing exhibits.
Admission: $15
Discounts for Seniors, Students and Children
Discounts on Friday nights after 4:30
Hours: Saturday to Thursday: 10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Friday: 10:00 am - 9:30 pm
Address: 100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Candada, M5H 2N2
The curving towers of Toronto's City Hall seem to hug the city. The pair is one of the most unique architectural landmarks in the city and it was only after a rejected design and an international competition to choose a replacement designer did the city have an acceptable model.
Built in 1965, the dual towers are actually one building, connected at the bottom by a rectangular base. The East tower is actually taller than the West and the outer concrete is ribbed to allow for expansion of the tower when differing air pressures brought on by the high winds coming off of the Great Lakes force the towers to compensate for the different air pressures on each side.
Viewed from the air, Toronto City Hall looks like a massive, unblinking eye staring straight up. From that design comes the phrase, "The eye of the government."
Construction of the building began in 1961, after a decades long search for an architect and design. The building is located on what was Toronto's original Chinatown, now located North East of the original site.
Decried by the city of Toronto at its unveiling as too futuristic looking, the building has a modern look even when compared to the buildings of today.
Admission: Free
Hours: 9-5 Monday-Friday
Address: 35 Avenue of the Islands, Toronto, ON, Canada
The Toronto Islands are a popular recreation destination in Toronto, Canada.
The islands were formed from erosion deposits over the course of thousands of years, but became a series of islands after a series of storms tore holes through the peninsula and allowed the water to carve new paths through the silt.
The Toronto islands are home to a residential community and the chain of islands makes up the largest car-free community on the continent. Ferries transport bicyclists between islands and police and fire crews patrol the communities via waterways.
The area known as Hanlan's point was once home to a baseball stadium and it was in that stadium that Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run—out of the park, into the waters of Lake Ontario.
A majority of the islands are designated as a state park, with residential areas located mainly on Algonquin and Ward's island. An airport was built in 1939 on the far side of the island and the area is popular with boaters. There are several Children's amusement parks and beaches located near the Centreville area.
Hours: 24 hours - Some areas may have posted limits on stays
Admission: Free
Address: Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Unfortunately, Toronto’s underground city isn’t nearly as cool as it sounds. You couldn’t be criticized for thinking - or at least hoping - that the “underground city” is a series of bewildering caves where mole people go about their day to day lives, but sadly it’s not. Of course, that’s not to say it’s not impressive in its own right.
Toronto’s underground city is a 27-kilometer network of pedestrian tunnels running under a good chunk of the downtown area, but nearly all of them resemble that final lonely section of a shopping mall that connects the main part to the parking garage.
Officially known as the PATH – with each of those letters representing a different direction – the Guinness World Records book declares the system to be the largest underground shopping complex in the world. There are over 1,200 shops represented underground along the PATH, however many of them, and all the large ones, are just basement extensions of their street-level businesses. There are loads of coffee shops and dry cleaners and such that do only exist underground, however.
The purpose for the system is obviously to make the city center easy to get around during the frequent times of inclement weather. It does a great job of that and is interesting to tour through for a while, but that gets old pretty quickly if the weather outside is decent.
Hours: Parts are always open, other parts only during business hours
Admission: Free
