Things to Do in Ontario

Dangling above the Niagara River, just north of Horseshoe Falls, is the Whirlpool Aero Car. The gondola travels 1,800 feet/550 meters between two points above the Niagara Gorge, providing unforgettable views of the raging waters below. It’s a thrilling 10 minutes!

To reach the Whirlpool Aero Car, you climb a winding stairwell. Those afraid of heights might be better off on the ground. Then, you’ll board the antique cable car and be transported on six sturdy cables high above the racing Niagara River. Far below, the torrent of water abruptly changes direction and creates one of the world’s most mesmerizing natural phenomenons - the Niagara Whirlpool, which is formed at the end of the rapids where the gorge turns abruptly counterclockwise and the river escapes through the narrowest channel in the gorge.

Next to Niagara Falls, one of the most photographed attractions in the surrounding area is the Floral Clock. Built in 1950, it is one of the largest in the world at a massive 40 feet in diameter. Each year, the clock is planted with over 15,000 carpet plants and annuals. The hands are made from stainless steel tubing and weigh a combined 1,250 pounds, while a 24-foot stone tower with speakers broadcasts the Westminster chime every 15 minutes.

The floral design is changed twice per year, using violas in the spring and four cultivars of Alternanthera along with green and gray Santolina Sage during summer and fall. Next to the Floral Clock visitors will find the Centennial Lilac Garden, which is in full bloom around late May and includes more than 250 varieties of plants and over 1,200 individual shrubs.

The New City Hall is one of Toronto’s most characteristic landmarks. Overlooking the busy Queen Street West in downtown Toronto, the New City Hall is nicknamed “the eye of the government” because of its shape on a plan view. The building’s easily identifiable dual curved and almost identical towers surround a council chamber that is mounted on a raised platform, a creation of Finnish architects Viljo Revell, Heikki Castrén, Bengt Lundsten, and Seppo Valjus, as well as landscape architect Richard Strong, who designed the building after an international architectural competition that yielded submissions from 42 countries in 1958. Part of the competition also included the Nathan Phillips Square below, which is now home to overheard walkways, a reflecting pool, and large concrete arches – it remains one of Toronto’s main gathering places, and New Year’s Eve celebrations are held there every year.

Literally the “House on a Hill,” Casa Loma - a mock medieval castle with Elizabethan-style chimneys, Rhineland turrets, secret passageways, and an underground tunnel - towers above midtown Toronto on a cliff. A walk through the sumptuous interior of this eccentric 98-room mansion is a trip back in time.

Inside, you can wander through the majestic Great Hall, marveling at its 59 foot (18 meter) high hammer-beam ceiling, while in the Oak Room the stately paneling took three years for artisans to create. Elegant bronze doors open up into the Conservatory, which is lit by an Italian chandelier with electrical bunches of grapes. Rugs feature the same patterns as those at Windsor castle. The original kitchen had ovens big enough to cook an ox, and secret panels and tunnels abound. The stables were used by the Canadian government for secret WWII research into anti-U-boat technology.

Well known as the ACC, The Air Canada Centre is home of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). Some of the art deco facade on the outskirts of the arena pays homage to the building’s history previously occupied by Canada Post’s Toronto Postal Delivery Building.

Since its inception in 1999, the outlying area of the ACC has developed into Maple Leaf Square, with the Le Germain hotel and condominiums as well as a number of restaurants, supermarkets and office buildings in the vicinity. The ACC is a premier concert and event venue. The Tragically Hip played ACC’s first concert and other bands like Bon Jovi, U2, The Police and Rush have played up to 4 or 5 concerts in one tour at the ACC.

High Park, with its numerous cultural institutions, sports facilities, playgrounds and even a zoo, is the largest park in the Canadian metropolis Toronto and serves as a recreational area for locals and visitors alike. About a third of the park is left in its natural state and is home to both large groups of trees, shrubs, grasses and Canadian flowering plants as well as the many species of birds that are native to the area. High Park is especially beautiful late April and early May, when the Sakura cherry trees around Hillside Garden are in full bloom and spread their wonderful fragrance. The first of these trees that now make up a huge big pink canopy were given to High Park as a present from the citizens of Tokyo, while later on more and more Sakuras got donated by various sources.

Humber Bay Park consists of two man-made peninsulas, that jut out at the mouth of Mimico Creek just before it joins Lake Ontario. Humber Bay Park East is a great place to go animal watching, as a large number of cormorants, geese, herons, swans and ducks congregate here. Also frequently seen are Great Egrets and Red-Tailed Hawks, and you might even spot a turtle basking in the sun on a nice day. Most people combine this with a walk on the many trails that either lead along the shore of the lake or through the greenery of the park. Along the shore, you will find two sandy beaches and if you are a photographer, Humber Bay Park is also a great spot to see the spectacular Toronto Skyline with the CN Tower rising up in the midst of the skyscrapers. The two peninsulas are connected by a small pedestrian bridge and on the other side at Humber Bay Park East, visitors can find a parking lot and the big marina.

Fort York is one of Canada’s most important and earliest historic sites and was in use between the 1790s and 1880s. The military fortifications consisting of stone and wood barracks, powder magazines and officers’ quarters were put in place by the British Army and Canadian militia troops as the primary harbor defense of the city of York, Toronto’s old name and back then the capital of Upper Canada. It guarded the entrance to Toronto Harbour and Fort York saw action three times, the most notable of these battles being the Battle of York in 1813, when the invading U.S. Army destroyed the fort and the retreating British soldiers blew up the powder magazines, killing hundreds. Of course, the British government was not pleased by the defeat and subsequent ransacking of York and this event spurred the much better known British invasion of Washington D.C. a year later, which resulted in the burning of Congress and the White House.

The center of entertainment in Niagara Falls, Clifton Hill is a bustling mecca of an exciting array of attractions, resort hotels, themed restaurants, shops, and nightclubs. Along this eye-popping promenade, you’ll find a giant ferris wheel, mini golf, interactive games, a haunted house, and a wax museum.

The prominent attractions on Clifton Hill include Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, the Guinness World Records Museum, and The Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks. Tussaud's has long been a staple of the area, and you can see dozens of wax celebrities. If you like haunted houses, check out the Haunted House, the House of Frankestein, or Nightmares. Haunted House is probably the best for kids; the other two are better suited for older kids and adults.

At Niagara SkyWheel, you’ll get a bird’s-eye-view of Niagara Falls as you soar 53 meters (175 feet) high in the air in the largest observation wheel in Canada. It’s most popular to ride the Niagara Skywheel around dusk, when Niagara Falls gets lit up in the colors of the rainbow for the famous Falls Illumination show. At night, you’ll also see Clifton Hills and the city skyline lights.

On the 12- to 15-minute ride, you’ll get four or more rotations in the Ferris wheel, and groups and families get to ride in their own gondola. A popular destination for taking photos of Niagara Falls from a new angle, you can see for miles in every direction, and you’ll be able to capture both Horseshoe and American Falls in one shot. Time your trip for 10 p.m., and you may also get to see the iconic fireworks over the falls from your carriage. Opened in 2006, the SkyWheel is in the heart of Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls' main entertainment district for vacationing families.</;p>

Opened on October 16, 2013, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada is located in the heart of downtown Toronto, next to the Rogers Centre and the CN Tower. It features a total of has 5.7 million liters of marine and freshwater habitats, including a spectacular and crowd-pleasing walk-through tank. It is organized into nine galleries featuring 16,000 animals from different areas of the world: Canadian Waters, Rainbow Reef, Dangerous Lagoon, Discovery Centre, The Gallery, Ray Bay, Planet Jellies, Life Support Systems and the Shoreline Gallery. Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada is home to more than 13,500 exotic sea and freshwater specimens from more than 450 species, including octopuses, eels, sharks, stingrays, seahorses, exotic fishes, sea dragons, and many more. It also hosts many unique events for an additional fee, including a Stingray Experience, Friday Night Jazz, sleepovers, yoga, Sea Squirts for children, and photography classes. There is a store and café on-site.