T-Dot, The Six, Hollywood North – whatever locals might call it, Canada’s biggest city, Toronto, is also the nation’s number one tourist destination with plenty to see and do.
With only 24 hours in Toronto, it’s hard to decide what to do because there’s just so much going on: from big-ticket attractions like the CN Tower to a vibrant downtown that boasts world-class shopping, dining and entertaining. Not to mention proximity to some of Canada’s most impressive natural wonders, including the world-famous Niagara Falls.
Here are a few of our must-do Toronto picks:
Take a walk in the clouds
Travel agents pose in front of Toronto’s skyline, dominated by the CN Tower.
Built in 1976, the 533-metre-high CN Tower is a defining feature of the Toronto skyline. Take a one-minute elevator ride to the top and breathe in the view at the LookOut, enjoy fine dining at the revolving 360 the Restaurant or test your nerve on the Glass Floor.
For daredevils, no visit would be complete without an EdgeWalk, a walk (or a tremble) around the 1.5-metre-wide ledge that circles the tower’s main pod, 356 metres high in the sky.
Click here for more information.
Discover something fishy
A small visitor to Riply’s Aquarium of Canada communicates with the jellies.
Located at the base of the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada boasts a dizzying array of endemic and exotic freshwater and saltwater species.
Take a ride on the slow moving footpath while sharks, rays and sawfish glide by overhead; marvel at the elegant beauty of jellyfish; or learn something new from daily dive shows and aquarist talks. You can even sleepover with the sharks on an overnight reef adventure.
Click here for more information.
Mess about in boats
The Oriole, a 19th century replica steamship, waiting for passengers at Queens Quay West.
Get out on the water with a Toronto Harbour cruise. Numerous vessels depart from Queens Quay West, including Mariposa Cruises, which has a fleet of half-a-dozen, such as the Oriole, a Great Lakes steamship replica.
A sightseeing tour might include brunch or lunch while you slip through the quiet and picturesque waterways of Toronto Island Park. It’s also a great way to take in the dashing bulk of the city rapidly growing skyline.
Click here for more information.
Shop until you drop
Linking Torontonians to public transport and shops as well as keeping pedestrians safe from winter cold and summer heat, the PATH is 30 kilometres of mostly underground walkways.
You’ll find everything down here, from shoe repair stores to links to major tourist attractions, such as the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The PATH’s four directions are colour-coded so you’ll always know where you’re headed and some date back to 1900. With 1200 shops and 371,600 square metres of retail space, it’s the largest underground shopping complex in the world.
Click here for more information.
Follow your taste buds
St Lawrence Market in Downtown Toronto is one of the top produce markets in the world.
St Lawrence Market is ranked the world’s top food market by National Geographic Traveler for good reason – from fresh bagels to bespoke butchers you’ll find the produce here is superb.
Look out for fresh fiddleheads (baby fern fronds) in May, birch syrup (a more complex cousin to Maple) and Ontario’s famous butter tarts, all year-round.
Click here for more information.
Get your sport on
A sculpture out front of popular local pilgrimage destination, the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Head to the Rogers Centre to see the Toronto Blue Jays do battle in Major League Baseball or cheer on ice warriors the Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League at the Air Canada Centre. Click here for tickets.
After something a little more active? Try stand-up paddle boarding at Cherry Beach, cruise around the Toronto Islands in a rented kayak or, in winter, ski or snowboard in Centennial Park.
Click here for more information.
Take a ‘sip’ back in time
The coffee is great at Distillery District’s Balzacs Cafe.
One of Toronto’s newest centres for arts, culture and food is known as the Distillery District. Consisting of 44 lovingly restored heritage brick buildings and cobblestoned streets, it gives you a glimpse of what the city might have looked like at the beginning of the 19th century.
Highlights include the aromatic and bespoke gins, vodkas and aquavit offerings from Spirit of York Distillery (click here for more), which opened in May 2017, and excellent coffee from nearby Balzacs (click here for more information).
READ: Fishing, hiking & star-gazing in Canada’s remote Northwest Territories
READ: 5 must-do adventures in British Columbia