Attractions in Toronto
Art Gallery of Ontario
AGO is Canada’s leading art gallery, showing special exhibitions and a large permanent exhibition of international art. A European collection is housed on the ground floor, containing works from the Italian Renaissance, Flemish art, French paintings from the 17th century and Impressionist paintings, as well as works from Chagall and Picasso from the 20th century.
The biggest attraction of the gallery, however, is the Canadian part on the first floor, where a selection of works by the “Group of Seven”, a group of painters from the early 20th century, are shown, which in their pictures show the outstanding beauty of the forested wilderness Canada’s capture. It’s also worth planning a little more time to visit the Henry Moore Sculpture Gallery and The Grange, a restored 19th-century house.
Address: 317 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Phone: (416) 979 66 48
Website: http://www.ago.net
Entrance Fee:
Yes.
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
Bata Shoe Museum
The Bata Shoe Museum is the only museum of its kind in the world. It is housed in an interesting building, suitably shaped like a shoe box, and houses around 10,000 exhibits that are up to 4500 years old. These range from Elvis Presley’s low shoes and Queen Victoria’s ballroom pumps to the pearl-embroidered shoes from 19th century Indians and the wide leather shoes from the Tudor period.
Address: 327 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Telephone: (416) 979 77 99
Website: http://www.batashoemuseum.ca
Entry fee: Yes.
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
CN Tower
At 553 m high, the CN Tower is one of the tallest free-standing buildings in the world and the most famous symbol of this city on Lake Ontario.
On clear days you have a fantastic view that extends up to 120 km over the surrounding city landscape and the lake. An elevator with a glass front leads to the main part – which is around 114 floors high – where visitors can look down through the glass floor at a dizzying 342 m. You can get a more pleasant view from the rotating 360 restaurant, which is one floor higher.
Another elevator leads up another 33 floors to the SkyPod. There are also several entertainment venues on the ground floor of the tower, such as the two motion simulators.
Address: 301 Front Street West, Toronto
Telephone: (416) 360 85 00
Website: http://www.cntower.ca
Entry fee: Yes.
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
Canada’s Wonderland
The Canada Wonderland is located in the northern suburb of Maple and, as the name suggests, is an amusement park. Although it cannot compete with Disney or Universal amusement parks in terms of size, there are over 200 attractions on this 134-hectare landscaped garden. Rides include Cliffhanger, Scooby-Doo’s Haunted Mansion, Mountain Eruption, Shockwave, The Bat, Skyrider, Psyclone, Meteor Attack and the Sledge Hammer. Latest attractions include Dinosaurs Alive! and the giant roller coaster Leviathan and the Wonder Mountain Guardian.
Address: 9580 Jane Street (Highway 400, Exit 33), Toronto
Phone: (905) 832 70 00
Website: http://www.canadaswonderland.com
Entrance Fee: Yes.
Disabled access: Yes
UNESCO: No
Casa Loma
The ascending battlements of the Casa Loma Castle have given the city a certain magic since 1911. The 98-room castle was completed in 1914 by Sir Henry Pellatt, a charismatic financier, industrialist and philanthropist, as his home. A few years later, the castle had to be sold due to financial ruin and eventually became today’s tourist attraction.
With its medieval-style masonry and early 20th century furnishings, the castle is a bizarre hybrid. The small towers and fortress walls attract visitors to the interior of the Oak Room with its carved oak panels, secret passageways and a pseudo-Gothic large hall with an 18 m high ceiling. The two-hectare gardens are open between May and October.
Address: 1 Austin Terrace, Toronto
Phone: (416) 923 11 71
Website: http://www.casaloma.org
Entry Fee: Yes.
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
Fort York
Fort York goes back to when Toronto was still called “York” and was as English as the famous “afternoon tea”. As the colony on the south side occasionally had to defend itself against revolutionaries, Fort York was built in 1793 to strengthen British control over Lake Ontario. Most of the buildings date back to 1814, however, since the fleeing British blew up the gunpowder store and thus the fort during the war of 1812. The explosion, contrary to expectations, was so great that ten of their own people, 250 advancing Americans and a good part of the fort were blown up. Fort York’s highlights include log cabins, barracks, officers’ quarters, and costumed personnel who dramatically recreate life at the time.
Address: Garrison Road, branching off from Fleet Street., Toronto
Telephone: (416) 392 69 07
Website: http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/culture/fort_york.htm
Entry fee: Yes.
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
Ontario Science Center
The Ontario Science Center was opened in 1969 with the mission to “bring science to the public by creating an environment that arouses curiosity, evokes knowledge, and motivates people to learn more about science and technology.”
This complicated matter has been successfully implemented with over 800 fascinating exhibits. The human body and the information superhighway are among the areas of knowledge presented in detail. With the interactive exhibits, you can control a space shuttle or touch a Van der Graaf generator that lets your hair stand on end. The Omnimax cinema has a 24 m wide, curved screen.
Address: 770 Don Mills Road, Toronto
Telephone: (416) 696 10 00 or 3127 (announcement).
Website: http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca
Entry fee: Yes.
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
RC Harris Waterworks
The RC Harris Waterworks is located on the extensive grounds of Toronto’s beach area and is primarily a water filter system – the largest in the city.
The inflow pipes extend 2.5 km into Lake Ontario, where a billion liters of water are sucked up every day for treatment. No matter how interesting it may be to observe the individual phases of water treatment – pre-chlorination, filtration, coagulation, sedimentation, etc. – this attraction deserves a visit because of the fantastic architectural design.
The complex, built between 1937 and 1941, is often referred to as the “Clarification Palace” and is a pearl of technology and Art Deco design. The exterior consists of a Byzantine facade and an Egyptian tower, while the interior with its richly decorated marble and brass surfaces is reminiscent of a bygone era. Michael Ondaatje’s novel In the Skin of a Lion tells the construction history of the facility.
Address: 2701 Queen Street East, Toronto
Phone: (416) 392 35 66
Entry Fee: No.
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
Royal Ontario Museum
The entrance hall with the beautiful golden mosaic ceiling and the two giant Indian totem poles from British Columbia is reason enough to visit the Royal Ontario Museum. Further inside, the museum seems to house a haphazard mix of different collections. A well-known collection of Chinese art includes murals, snuff bottles and ceramic head pads, as well as the only complete specimen of a Ming tomb in the west. On the other levels you can deal with the biosciences as well as the Mediterranean and Canadian early history.
Address: 100 Queens Park, Toronto
Telephone: (416) 586 55 49 or 80 00 (announcement).
Website: http://www.rom.on.ca
Entry fee: Yes.
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are located opposite the city center at the harbor and have long been a popular recreation and leisure center in the city. They did not become islands until a storm in 1858 that separated the former peninsula from the mainland.
Since then, the main islands – Ward Island, Center Island and Hanlan’s Point – have become popular resorts. The city’s famous baseball stadium is also located here. Over the past 50 years, the islands have become popular picnic spots as a 230-hectare public park. Facilities include special picnic areas with fire pits, paddling pools, softball courts, beaches, a farm, many restaurants, and the Centerville Amusement Park. Today, the islands are the ideal place to hang out, stroll along the water, relax in a café, and get an incomparable view of the city skyline. The islands can only be reached by ferry.
Free entry. Ferry and attractions at Centerville theme park for a fee.
Address: Toronto Harbor, Toronto
Telephone: (416) 392 81 86 or 81 83 (ferry information).
Website: http://www.toronto.ca/parks/island/index.htm
Entry fee: No (ferry and attractions at Centerville theme park for a fee).
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
Toronto Zoo
The Toronto Zoo is located on 287 hectares of wooded grounds next to the Rouge Valley in the suburb of Scarborough and is the fourth largest zoo in the world.
The collection of over 5000 animals is truly international, because the zoo has pavilions called Africa, the Americas, IndoMalaya, Australasia, Indian Rhino, Gaur and Malayan Woods.
Underwater exhibitions show polar bears, South African fur seals, beavers in their caves and otters that swim past at eye level.
Address: Meadowvale Road (2 km north of Highway 401), Toronto
Telephone: (416) 392 59 00
Website: http://www.torontozoo.com
Entrance Fee: Yes.
Disabled access: No
UNESCO: No
Tourist offices
Tourism Toronto
Address: 207 Queens Quay West (PO Box 126), Toronto
Phone: (416) 203 26 00 or (1800) 499 25 14 (toll free in the U.S. and Canada)
Hours: Daily 8.30am-6pm.
Website: http://www.seetorontonow.com
Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership
Address: 10 Dundas Street East, Suite 900, Toronto
Telephone: (416) 314 58 99 or (1800) 668 27 46 (toll free in the U.S. and Canada).
Opening hours: Daily 8.30am-5pm (until 8pm from late May to August).
Website: http://www.ontariotravel.net
Visitor passes
With the Toronto City Pass (Internet: www.citypass.com), visitors have discounted entry to six major attractions, from the landmark CN Tower to the Casa Loma Castle and the Hockey Hall of Fame to the Royal Ontario Museum, Zoo and Ontario Science Center . The coupon booklet is valid for nine days. A special advantage: Visitors with a City Pass avoid long queues at the ticket counters. The Toronto City Pass is available at the respective attractions.
The Toronto Museum Passport includes admission to the Royal Ontario Museum, Fort York and seven smaller attractions. It is available from the participating museums and from TicketKing (Tel: (416) 872 12 12 or (800) 461 33 33; Internet: www.ticketking.com) .
