Best Places to Visit in Toronto

Toronto is the capital of Ontario, Canada. It is also the largest city in Canada and is home to the famous CN Tower. As a former tour guide in Toronto, I learned much about the city and the attractions within in. I took photos last summer for my blog, and some of those pictures are in this hub as well.

Here are some of the best places to visit in Toronto.

The CN Tower is the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere and is 1815ft (553 metres) in height. It is a telecommunications tower which was built in 1976 and at the time, it was the tallest tower in the world.

It is struck by lightning about 75 throughout the year, and also has a glass floor in the observation deck so you can look down below you.

Visitors are more than welcome to take the elevator to visit the observation deck in the tower. The elevator moves at a speed of 22km/hr and it takes exactly 58 seconds to get to the top. Several ticket packages are available, depending on what you would like to do. The ground floor has a gift shop, a motion theatre ride, a small movie theatre and a few other activities.

There is also a restaurant at the top called the 360 which is a revolving restaurant. The ticket to get to the top of the tower is complimentary if you choose to dine at the restaurant. It is also home to the World's Highest Wine Cellar.

The CN Tower is open every single day except for December 25.

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM, for short) is one of the largest museums of world cultures and natural history in North America. Located in downtown Toronto, it contains two unique structures. The original building was opened in 1914 while the newer building was built more recently in 2007.

Some of the permanent collections include several dinosaur skeletons which can be found in the newer building, an extensive collection of ancient Chinese artifacts, and a large simulated bat cave. Every few months, a new exhibit comes to the ROM.

Friday night is the best night to visit the ROM because the ticket prices are significantly lower than the rest of the week.

The University of Toronto is the largest university in Canada. It is located in downtown Toronto near Queen's Park and the Ontario Provincial Legislature. Split into several colleges, the University of Toronto is modelled after Oxford University in England.

It was established in 1827 and since then has become famous for its research, discoveries and faculty and most notably, the discovery of insulin's role in controlling diabetes.

The downtown campus is one of three campuses, the other two located in Mississauga, Ontario and Scarborough, Ontario. About 60,000 students attend the downtown campus. Other facts about U of T can be read here.

Several movies have been filmed at the University of Toronto. Toronto is sometimes called "Hollywood North" because of the amount of movies that are filmed there. These movies include:

• Mean Girls
• Good Will Hunting
• Chloe
• Tommy Boy
• Time Traveler's Wife
• The Prince and Me
• Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
• Cadet Kelly
• Man of the Year
• ...and more!

For a list of all the movies that were filmed in Toronto, click here.

Casa Loma (Spanish for 'house [on the] hill') is a museum dedicated to the life or Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a wealthy man who lived in Toronto about a century ago. He made his fortune by investing in electricity, and at one point was the sole provider of electricity to the city of Toronto. With his riches, he decided to build a mansion in the style of a castle. He chose a lot on top of a hill and chose to name his home Casa Loma.

It has been well-maintained since the early 1900s and is now open to the public. Self-guided audio tours are available in several languages.

Several movies were filmed at Casa Loma such as Chicago, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and X-Men.

The Eaton Centre is located in the heart of downtown Toronto and is one of the largest malls in Canada. It has about 250 stores, 5 levels and a subway stop on either side.

Adjacent to The Eaton Centre is a large public area called Yonge Dundas Square, or more commonly known as Dundas Square. It is an area where people can relax or participate in many events that are held there. Concerts, movies, promotional events, parades and more occur at Dundas Square.

The Historic Distillery District was once a large distillery in the 1800s. Today, the buildings have been preserved and are now home to unique shops, cafés, restaurants and a brewery. Although it is no longer a distillery, it is a popular destination for Torontonians and visitors to the city. Walking tours are available, as are Segway tours.

The Distillery District is a pedestrian only village, so cars are not allowed inside, except for delivery vehicles.

There are many other places in Toronto to visit that are just as fun and interesting as the ones described in this hub. Many tours are offered which all give a detailed explanation of downtown Toronto.

If you're looking to take a bus tour of downtown Toronto, City Sightseeing (which is a worldwide tour company) offers open top double decker bus tours of the city. It also comes with a free boat tour which goes around the Toronto Islands!

There are other bus tours available, and you're likely to run into a representative or one of their buses during your stay in Toronto.