Things to Do in Ontario

Designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie, Ottawa’s glass-and-granite National Gallery of Canada (Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada) showcases an exquisite art collection. As well as an extensive display of European and Canadian art including an assortment of indigenous artworks, the museum also houses the reconstructed 19th-century Rideau Street Convent Chapel.

Located in downtown Toronto at the base of the CN Tower, the Rogers Centre is a sports and entertainment complex that is home to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team. The Rogers Centre is a great place to catch a Major League Baseball (MLB) game or other event held under its fully retractable roof—the first of its kind in the world.

Ottawa’s historic food-focused ByWard Market houses hundreds of vendors hawking farm-raised meat, fresh produce, and arts and crafts. Hungry visitors and locals alike flock to this social and shopping hub, where takeout vendors sell ready-to-eat goodies and sit-down eateries offer prime seats for patrons to take in all the market action.

A foodie paradise, the long-running St. Lawrence Market occupies the historic South Market House building, which previously served as Toronto’s city hall and jail. Since 1803, residents and visitors have come here to meet, eat, and shop for food items ranging from Prince Edward Island oysters to peameal bacon to Montreal-style bagels.

Located in the heart of downtown and a hub for the city’s Chinese-Canadian community, Toronto's Chinatown is a bustling neighborhood lined with an appealing range of small businesses. Visitors and Toronto residents flock here to dine at the area’s popular eateries and shop for produce and imported specialty items at corner grocers.

Explore the Great White North’s many wonders at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Set in a historic castle in Ottawa, this five-story museum focuses on the country’s natural history with a fossil gallery, a water gallery (where you can see a blue whale skeleton), mineral displays, and an array of other exhibits.

Gatineau is a city of about 300,000 right across from Ottawa on the northern shores of the Ottawa River. While Gatineau belongs to Quebec and Ottawa to Ontario, together they form Canada’s National Capital Region. Gatineau is a popular place to live, especially for young families and professionals and is actually the most bilingual city in Canada with over 60% of inhabitants speaking both English and French. The city is also known for its cultural value and is home to a variety of events and venues, such as one of the largest hot air balloon festivals in the world, filling the sky with hundreds of passenger balloons in every shape and color and the Casino du Lac-Leamy. The casino isn’t only a posh gambling hall though. Each year in August, the location hosts an international firework competition called the Sound of Light, where countries demonstrate their pyro-musical skills in the sky.

At the Canadian Museum of History, visitors can get a detailed look into the origins and human history of Canada and walk through whole recreated townscapes, including pre-European settlements. Although there is quite some culture and history to be discovered, the city of Gatineau is also associated with its many parks, as there are plenty of green areas ranging from wild nature to playgrounds and recreational parks. The biggest and most well-known of these parks is Gatineau Park, a massive conservation area north of the city. Apart from having a rich biodiversity, including black bears, beavers and wolves, the park is also an outdoor paradise, where anything from hiking, camping, biking to cross country skiing, horseback riding and snowshoeing is possible.

Niagara Falls is an incredible sight from land and by boat, but at Journey Behind the Falls visitors who wish to truly experience its massive power can get up close and personal—and wet. Standing on an observation deck behind the falls, where more than one million bathtubs of water thunder over the edge every second, is a truly unforgettable experience of Niagara.

Housed in a castle-like structure, Canada’s original mint no longer produces currency for circulation—that now happens at Winnipeg’s Royal Canadian Mint. However the Ottawa facility is still functioning, churning out special-edition collector coins and precious metal bullion. Tours of the facility reveal the processes of coin-making.

Your visit to the natural wonder that is Niagara Falls begins at the Table Rock Welcome Centre. Here you’ll learn how to make the most of your time at the falls, plus you can buy tickets for some area attractions if you didn’t book a tour in advance. The complex has viewing platforms, restaurants, shops, and attractions.

Dating back to the 1840s, Ottawa Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica is the oldest church in Canada’s capital. The Gothic Revival structure is full of eye-catching design details, from its two shimmering, silver tin-covered steeples to the interior’s soaring vaults and star-studded blue ceiling.

Once home to the 1832 Gooderham and Worts’ mammoth distilling facility, Toronto’s charming arts and entertainment quarter is now a popular strolling spot for off-duty creatives. The cobblestone streets are lined with Victorian-era industrial buildings, which have been repurposed to serve as contemporary art galleries, third-wave coffee shops, concept boutiques, restaurants, and bars.

Ewald Reif founded this classic Niagara-on-the-Lake estate in 1977 and the popular winery known for sweet ice wine and bold Cabs opened to the public just five years later. Since then, locals and travelers have been gathering to sip glasses of red and white inside its historic coach house. The Reif Estate’s wines have also received dozens of national and international awards.

Travelers who want to sample the flavors of Reif Estate have a number of options to choose from, but perhaps one of the best experiences is the Annual Harvest BBQ that blends food, drink and fun with the Niagara Wine Festival kick off each September. Tastings are available daily, including a sensory wine option, that includes blind taste testing and optional chocolate pairings. Group options are available for larger parties, too.

Visitors can tour the vineyards on their own, or take a comprehensive tour of multiple estates by bus or bike. Foodies can opt for wine pairings and gourmet meals alongside Niagara-on-the-Lake’s famous wines.

The Canadian War Museum is an architecturally unique building showcasing the history of Canada’s past conflicts. Honoring those who have served the country and putting focus on the topics of regeneration and building a better future, this Ottawa museum is home to themed exhibits, historical artifacts, military tools, weapons, and vehicles.