Planning a trip to Toronto? Canada’s largest city has so much to offer. Here are five fun things to do in Toronto with kids!
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1. Ripley’s Aquarium
First up we explored Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada. We’ve been to many other aquariums including another Ripley’s in Myrtle Beach but this one completely exceeded my expectations. To start, it’s at least double the size with an impressive 35,000 square feet of space. There are thousands of fascinating fish and menacing sea creatures from barracudas, to rays, to jellyfish to giant sharks. Our favorite was the 315 foot tunnel through Dangerous Lagoon, where you can see the sharks, sea turtles and the sting rays in action over head. We got to see the rays being fed and then afterwards had a chance to touch them ourselves in one of the multiple touch pools. There are all sorts of hands-on displays, crawl-through tunnels and close-up views inside the tanks. There’s even a submarine themed playground! (288 Bremner Blvd, Toronto, ON)
2. Royal Ontario Museum
Next up was the Royal Ontario Museum. Thanks to our City Pass vouchers we were able to head right in without having to wait in the ticket line. The scope and breadth of this museum remind me of the British Museum in London and that is to say it is world class, knock-your-socks-off level of impressive. One minute you can be in awe of a massive T-Rex skeleton and the next speechless at the sight of mummies. There are five floors of extraordinary galleries and exhibits to explore so it was impossible (or at least for us) to take it all in at once but we had a great time taking in all the artifacts. (100 Queens Park, Toronto, ON)
3. Casa Loma
Our tour of Toronto continued with a visit to the city’s premier historic attraction, Casa Loma. As soon as you step inside it is instantly recognizable as the set of many familiar movies. Most excitingly to me as Professor Xavier’s School for mutants in the X-Men series. I can see why it’s such a desirable film location as the stunning Gothic Revival castle itself is as majestic as it is interesting. We enjoyed our tour with the audio guide included with our City Pass tickets of the splendid house, towers, gardens and the stables and carriage house which are connected to the main building by an 800-ft. tunnel which our kids found very cool in and of itself. (1 Austin Terrace, Toronto, ON)
4. Ontario Science Center
The Ontario Science Center was the perfect place to boost our brain power while on vacation. While built with the littlest scientists in mind, we had just as much fun exploring all the hands-on exhibits as our kids. There is just so much to see and so at this massive museum! You can touch a tornado, listen to a heart murmur or walk through a rain forrest, see an actual asteroid, invent a new creation and crawl through a cave and that’s just to name a few of the educational and interactive items. My favourite is the gravity defying electricity demo that gets your hair to literally stand on end. (770 Don Mills Rd, North York, ON)
5. The CN Tower
The grand finale to our time in Toronto was a a visit to the CN Tower. This is one of the most popular attractions in Toronto receiving more than 2 million visitors each year. It was especially busy during our mid-summer visit but once again our City Pass tickets took what would have been an 80 minute wait to get to the top of the tower down to next to nothing. I highly recommend these passes for any city that does them. The view from the observation deck was spectacular and walking along the outdoor balcony was a breeze… literally! But I didn’t dare step on the glass floor section. The kids were much braver than me! I recommend timing your visit to try and catch one of the stunning sunsets over the city. It’s the perfect way to end an awesome visit to Toronto! (301 Front St W, Toronto, ON)
With the Toronto CityPASS, you get admission to all of the above attractions as well as the option to visit the Toronto Zoo in lieu of the Ontario Science Center. We were able to you’ll see all the best attractions Toronto had to offer AND save time and money using the CityPASS ticket booklet. This is our favorite way to save on bundled destination tickets in many major cities. CityPASS is valid for 9 consecutive days starting with the first day of use, so there’s no need to rush; you’ll have plenty of time to experience Toronto at your own pace.
Check out the video of of our fun time with kids in Toronto!
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f you are looking for other great ways to save on museums, zoos and attractions check out my post about Reciprocal Museum Memberships and be sure to subscribe to my Newsletter below so you won’t miss more travel tips and vacation inspiration from Mom Abroad!
