Toronto is one of Canada's leading tourism destinations. [1] In 2017, the Toronto-area received 43.7 million tourists, of which 10.4 million were domestic visitors and 2.97 million were from the United States, spending a total of $8.84 billion. [2] Toronto has an array of tourist attractions and a rich cultural life.
The city of Toronto consists of many unique and famous museums. The Royal Ontario Museum is Canada's largest museum of natural history and world cultures. It presents various galleries of art, archaeology and natural science from around the world. [3] It is located at 100 Queens Park in Toronto. The Royal Ontario Museum offers a unique platform to engage with cultures from all around the world at the centre of one of North America's busiest cities. [4] The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is one of the largest art museums in North America. Its collection of approximately 95,000 works includes many genres from around the world. [5] The Bata Shoe Museum consists of shoes from many different geographic areas, time periods, and cultural groups. It is located at 327 Bloor Street West, and it contains 12,500 artifacts that are exhibited time to time at specific exhibitions. [6] For hockey fans, the Hockey Hall of Fame is the biggest attraction, as it is more than 57,000 square feet of interactivity, hands-on games, theatres, the Stanley Cup and the finest collection of hockey artifacts from not only Canada but also around the world. [7] Other museums include the Aga Khan Museum, Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Ukraine Museum of Canada, Toronto Police Museum and Discovery Centre, Textile Museum of Canada, the Museum of Inuit Art, Oral History Museum and many others.
The Toronto Zoo is Canada's premier zoo that includes over 5,000 animals, which represent about 500 different species. [8] The High Park Zoo is also located in Toronto, which comprises 399 acres of land that includes animals including peacocks, deers, sheep and others. [9] More than 250,000 people visit the High Park Zoo every year. [10] Various farms are also present in Toronto, which include substantial numbers of farm animals. Furthermore, Ripley's Aquarium of Canada is an attraction that is located in downtown Toronto. [11] It is Canada's largest indoor aquarium, [12] which means that it is easily accessible in not only the summer but also the winter time. It consists of 5.7 million litres of water, representing marine and freshwater habitats from all around the world. [13]
The Niagara Falls is a series of 3 waterfalls between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US State of New York. [14] The falls are visible on both sides. A common tale that is told is that between America and Canada, people would throw things over the falls to the border. The water that falls is mostly flowing in the Horseshoe Falls. The Niagara Falls is the greatest source of electricity in the whole world, and makes up a large portion of the electricity generation for both the Northeastern United States and Ontario. [15]
The CN Tower is Canada's National Tower, and it is one of the attractions that is open the entire year. It is visited by approximately 2 million people every year. [16] In 1995, the CN Tower was classified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and for more than 30 years it was the world's tallest free-standing structure. [17] The CN Tower consists of many inner attractions like the Glass Floor, SkyPod, 360 restaurant and EdgeWalk. EdgeWalk is a full circle hands-free walk on a 5 feet wide ledge encircling the top of the Tower, which is 1,168 feet aboveground. It has also been mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest external walk on a building. [18] Also, the CN Tower provides various services for individuals with disabilities and special needs.
The St. Lawrence Market is a major public market, located along Front Street and Jarvis Street in the neighborhood of the same name, St. Lawrence. [19] To the south of the market, over The Esplande, lies the St. Lawrence Market South, the southern half of the building. [20] The St. Lawrence market was first established in 1803, later being replaced in 1814, from henceforth being used as both a public market and post office before burning down in the Great Fire of 1849. [20] [21] [22] [23] It was then replaced, with the modern St. Lawrence north building being built on the site. [21] The new St. Lawrence market had two floors, with the bottom floor as a market and the upper floor as Toronto's new city hall, designed by E.J Lennox, only replaced in 1899 where city officials moved to what is now called today as Old City Hall. [24] The market today features more than 100 vendors, in addition to once being named, by National Geographic, the world's best food market. [22] [25]
There are a number of tours of different kinds available to visitors in Toronto, giving them the chance to view the city or specific areas of the city, led by local guides. Some of these include:
Bus tours within the city (e.g. City Sightseeing Toronto [26] ), showcasing some of the major attractions and points of interest, as well as day tours to the nearby Niagara Falls [27]
Boat tours on Lake Ontario (e.g. Toronto Harbour Tours [28] ), which show guests the Toronto skyline from the water and give them a close-up view of the Toronto Islands.
Food tours (e.g. Tasty Tours [29] ), walking tours that guide guests to some of Toronto's foodie hotspots for samples and a history of the area. These tours usually aim to highlight the variety of cuisines in Toronto, sometimes focusing on the dense food scenes in specific areas (e.g. Kensington Market [30] ).
Haunted Tours (e.g. The Haunted Walk of Toronto [31] ), these evening tours take guests to some of the city's oldest and most haunted buildings and neighbourhoods (e.g. Black Creek Pioneer Village, [32] where they also offer a séance).
Segway Tours (e.g. Go Tours Canada [33] ), these tours provide guests with their own Segway, helmet, and crash course on Segway driving, before leading them on a short tour of the area. Due to regulations, the tours are not city-wide, often occurring in smaller neighbourhoods with little vehicular traffic (e.g. The Distillery District [34] ).
Bicycle Tours (e.g. Toronto Bicycle Tours [35] ), giving guests an opportunity to see more of the city in a short space of time. They can experience the environment and see the area while also being able to communicate through the microphones.
Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, which straddles the international border of the two countries. It is also known as the Canadian Falls. The smaller American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls lie within the United States. Bridal Veil Falls is separated from Horseshoe Falls by Goat Island and from American Falls by Luna Island, with both islands situated in New York.
Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the Niagara River, which forms part of the Canada–United States border, with the other side being the twin city of Niagara Falls, New York. Niagara Falls is within the Regional Municipality of Niagara and a part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census Metropolitan Area (CMA).
The Golden Horseshoe is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. The region is the most densely populated and industrialized in Canada. Based on the 2021 census, with a population of 7,759,635 people in its core and 9,765,188 in its greater area, the Golden Horseshoe accounts for over 20 percent of the population of Canada and more than 54 percent of Ontario's population. It is part of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, itself part of the Great Lakes megalopolis.
Canada has a large domestic and foreign tourism industry. The second largest country in the world, Canada's wide geographical variety is a significant tourist attractor. Much of the country's tourism is centred in the following regions: Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver/Whistler, Niagara Falls, Vancouver Island, Canadian Rockies, British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, Churchill, Manitoba and the National Capital Region of Ottawa-Gatineau. The large cities are known for their culture, diversity, as well as the many national parks and historic sites.
The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the east to Hamilton, Ontario, in the west. The peninsula is located in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, and has a population of roughly 1,000,000 residents. The region directly across the Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York State is known as the Niagara Frontier.
The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern end of the Golden Horseshoe, the largest megalopolis in Canada.
Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a 330-acre (130 ha) amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life Assurance Company, it was the first major theme park in Canada and remains the country's largest. Cedar Fair purchased the park from Paramount Parks in 2006, and they have owned and operated the park since then. In 2019, it was the most-visited seasonal amusement park in North America with an estimated 3.9 million guests. The park still retains this record, with an estimated 3.8 million guests in 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% of Canada's population of 37 million. The region lies south of the province's other primary region, Northern Ontario, although the exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disputed. However, its core region is situated south of Algonquin Park, the latter being in an area of transition between coniferous forest north of the French and Mattawa Rivers and southern deciduous forest. It covers between 14 and 15% of the province, depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts which also lie in the transitional area between northern and southern forest regions. Southern Ontario differs greatly from Northern Ontario, having a much higher population density, a different climate, and a different culture than its northern counterpart. It is broken into smaller subregions, including Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, the Golden Horseshoe, and Southwestern Ontario.
King Street is a major east–west commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was one of the first streets laid out in the 1793 plan of the town of York, which became Toronto in 1834.
Lakeshore West is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station in Toronto to Hamilton, along the shore of Lake Ontario. Some train trips extend past Hamilton to St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.
Clifton Hill is one of the major tourist promenades in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The street, close to Niagara Falls and the Niagara River, leads from River Road on the Niagara Parkway to intersect with Victoria Avenue, and contains a number of gift shops, wax museums, haunted houses, video arcades, restaurants, hotels and themed attractions. It is a major amusement area and centre for night life, particularly for families and teenagers.
Marineland is a themed zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It is operating on a reduced scale while it is slated for redevelopment. No amusement rides are operating and it is claimed that all land animals have been transferred from the facility, however videos in 2024 showed large numbers of deer and some bears still on site. The park continues to exhibit dolphins and beluga whales.
The economy of Toronto is the largest contributor to the Canadian economy, at 20% of the national GDP, and an important economic hub of the world. Toronto is a commercial, distribution, financial and industrial centre. It is Canada's banking and stock exchange centre and is the country's primary wholesale and distribution point. Ontario's wealth of raw materials and hydroelectric power have made Toronto a primary centre of industry. The metropolitan area of Greater Toronto produces more than half of Canada's manufactured goods. The economy of Toronto has had a GDP growth rate of 2.4 percent annually since 2009, outpacing the national average. Toronto's population was 3.025 million people as of 2022, while the population of the Toronto census metropolitan area was 6.47 million during the same year.
Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the northwest, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don Valley to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west. It is also the home of the municipal government of Toronto and the Government of Ontario.
Ontario is Canada's largest province in population and second largest province in size, covering slightly more than one million square kilometres. It borders the United States to the south, and the provinces of Quebec to the east and Manitoba to the west. Around 250,000 lakes can be found in Ontario, making up approximately one-third of the world's fresh water.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Toronto:
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada is a public aquarium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The aquarium is one of three aquariums owned-and-operated by Ripley Entertainment. It is located in downtown Toronto, just southeast of the CN Tower. The aquarium has 5.7 million litres of marine and freshwater habitats from across the world. The exhibits hold more than 20,000 exotic sea and freshwater specimens from more than 450 species.
Knock Knock Ghost is a Canadian reality television series, which premiered on OutTV in 2015. Hosted by comedian Richard Ryder, the series features Ryder and actress Brie Doyle, as well as a psychic medium. The group travels to various locations across Canada which are purported to be haunted and conducts experiments to test whether it is possible to prove or disprove the existence of the afterlife.
Little Canada, previously known as Our Home and Miniature Land, is a tourist attraction located in the basement of The Tenor, near Yonge–Dundas Square in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its entrance is located next to Dollarama and across from both an entrance to Dundas station of the Toronto subway and The Beer Store. Little Canada contains HO scale replicas of natural and man-made structures located throughout Canada, including Golden Horseshoe, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Toronto.
