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Toronto

Name: Best of Canada
Brand: Contiki
Price: 4215 EUR
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.6

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Travel In Toronto

With history, culture and fun coming out of its ears, walk, eat and party your way through incredible Toronto. With so much to see, you’ll never be stuck for what to do in Toronto.

As one of Canada’s biggest cities, Toronto has played a huge role in the country’s political, economic and cultural history. Get a crash-course in all things Canada at the Royal Ontario Museum, before getting stuck into the real learning by exploring its historical sites.

Head up to Fort York, overlooking the Toronto harbour below, to understand how this military fort once protected the city against the US forces in 1813. Next, visit one of the oldest buildings in the city, the St. Lawrence Markets. What was once the Toronto City Hall is now an incredible marketplace, offering a smorgasbord of tasty local treats. Get your hands on a peameal bacon sandwich from Carousel Bakery and a Portuguese tart from Churrasco of St. Clair.

Deep dive into Toronto’s sporting culture at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Here, you’ll learn all about Canada’s favourite pastime with its variety of historic memorabilia. Try to secure a seat at a Maple Leafs game to ensure you leave the city as a full-blown hockey fan. Party it up with locals at one of the city’s music festivals. Spot Drake at the annual summer OVO Fest, or shake it to the sound of Caribbean drums at Caribana in August.

Lick your fingers clean after ducking into Taste of Toronto, where you’ll find a showcase of the city’s best restaurants and their most famous dishes. If you’re still hungry for more, get your hands on poutine, a Canadian staple, at the well-renowned Poutini’s.

With so much to see, do and taste, lap up the best of Canadian culture in Toronto.

FAST FACTS

Language: English
Currency: CA Dollar
Electricity: 110V
Visas: Click here to see if you need a visa to enter Canada.
Dialling Code: +1
Time Zone: (GMT -05:00)

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Things to do in Toronto

Explore the bridges of Toronto

The best way to get to know a city is by foot. Take some time to explore Toronto by walking around the city streets. Want our recommendation for the best route? Follow the bridges. As a city with many rivers and a harbour, you bet Toronto knows a thing or two about bridges. As one of the classic bridges of Toronto, start with a visit to Prince Edward Viaduct. Cycle along the bridge or kayak right under it for the best views. To discover more modern versions, Puente De Luz, also known as the Yellow Bridge or the Bridge of Light, will definitely meet your criteria. Wrap up your tour with a walk across Humber Bay Arch Bridge, a quaint pedestrian bridge at Lake Ontario.

Discover the CN Tower and experience a thrilling EdgeWalk

Standing over 553 metres high, the CN Tower is one of the icons of the Toronto skyline. What was once the city’s television and radio tower, it also offers some pretty sweet vistas of the city. Take the fast track to the top with a speedy one-minute ride up to the observation deck. Once here, you’ll have unobstructed views of the city. For a more thrilling experience, opt into the EdgeWalk. As the world’s highest hands-free external walk on a building, circle around the 1.5 metre-wide ledge. While this is sure to get the adrenaline pumping, don’t worry too much – you’ll be safely connected to the building with a harness.

Visit Fort York

Lovers of history, this one is for you. Established in 1793, Fort York is the most historic site in Toronto. Once home to many military forts, this site actively protected the city from the end of the 18th century right up until the end of World War II. Today, Fort York functions as a military history museum. Head to this hilly spot at the western end of the Harbourfront district to tour the soldiers' and officers' old quarters, witness military drills and canon firings and participate in flag raisings ceremonies. Discover if you could have lived the life of a soldier at Fort York.

Wander around St Lawrence Market

As a traveller, one of the best ways to get a taste for the local cuisine is to explore the city’s markets. Located in Toronto’s historic Old Town, St. Lawrence Market definitely doesn’t disappoint. Full of some of Toronto’s best eateries and offering some of the city’s freshest produce, come to the market hungry and ready for a food safari. With its origins dating back to the 17th century, this iconic building once served as the old City Hall. Today, its walls are full of the sound of knives chopping and griddles grilling as its food purveyors offer hungry sellers some of their best dishes. Our picks for what to eat? Head over to Carousel Bakery for the original peameal bacon sandwiches before finishing up with a sweet Portuguese tart from the Churrasco of St. Clair.

Learn about hockey at Hockey Hall of Fame

Hockey is Canada’s favourite pastime, and what better way to learn the ways of this game than at the Hockey Hall of Fame. This huge museum covers a massive 6000 square metres, and is packed to the rim with hockey paraphernalia. Some of the best exhibits to see here? The original Stanley Cup trophy, which is given to the winner of the National Hockey League each year, the gear some of the game’s most famous players, including Max Bentley's stick and Terry Sawchuk's goalie gear, as well as a wall of 1000 pucks, each collected from different tournaments around the world. Once you fall in love with the sport, why not try to catch a game of the Toronto Maple Leafs. When in Canada, aye?

Top 5 Festivals in Toronto

With its diverse ethnic and cultural communities, colourful Toronto really comes to life through its many festivals. From contemporary music and art performances and traditional parades, there’s a festival for everyone in Toronto. Here are our picks for the top five Toronto attractions.

Luminato Festival

Music

For 10 days across June each year, the streets of Toronto are overtaken by the Luminato Festival. Spanning across different performing and visual arts disciplines, the festival hosts dance, music and drama performances in both concert halls and public spaces around the city.

Caribana

Culture, Music, Dance

Celebrating the city’s Caribbean community, Caribana is an annual festival of Caribbean dance, music and culture. Held every summer – usually at the beginning of August – this colourful festival features parades, balls and musical performances where participants dress in traditional carnival costumes.

Taste of Toronto

Food

Toronto sure loves to eat, and the Taste of Toronto brings the city’s food culture together for one massive weekend in June. Held at Fort York, this food festival is a chance for Toronto’s restaurants and eateries to showcase their best dishes. Sample a wide variety of local delicacies and watch food demonstrations at this delicious event.

OVO Festival

Music

Every summer, Canadian-born Drake puts on a music festival in his hometown of Toronto. Named after the singer’s record label, OVO Sound, OVO Fest is one of the best R&B and hip-hop festivals in the world. Past acts have included the likes of Eminem, Jay Z, Kanye West and Rihanna.

UNITY Festival

Music

Every July, UNITY Festival brings together the diverse world of Hip-Hop for four days of amazing music and culture. Featuring music, spoken word and dance performances, this incredible festival has played host to the likes of Talib Kweli, Biz Markie, Maestro, RichKid, Queen Godis, Rahzel and Kid David.

Top 4 Museums & Galleries in Toronto

As one of the biggest cities in Canada, Toronto has a lot to offer in the way of history and culture. From the history of Canada, to art, to shoes, learn something new at one of Toronto’s amazing museums. Here are our picks for our favourite Toronto museums.

Bata Shoe Museum

Fashion fans, get excited: this museum was made for you. From the ancient Greeks to modern-day sneaker freaks, the Bata Shoe Museum is a collection of shoes from throughout history. With more than 1000 shoes on display, you’ll feel like Carrie Bradshaw walking into Jimmy Choo on Madison Avenue.

Gardiner Museum

Located just across the street from the ROM, The Gardiner is Canada's national ceramics museum. With its collection including Chinese and Japanese ceramics, artefacts from the ancient Americans and European porcelain, the Gardener Museum makes ceramic art cool again. Keep your eyes open for free pottery workshops.

Royal Ontario Museum

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is housed in a funky, contemporary building in the university district. While you’ll find lots of museum staples, such as dinosaur bones and 20th century artworks, the museum also hosts an annual Friday Night Live series, which turns the lights down, pulls out the bubbly and puts on special exhibits for the over 18ers.

MZTV Museum of Television & Archive

With an aim to preserve the technological history of television, the MZTV Museum of Television has an extensive collection of British and North American TV receivers. Created by Toronto's TV legend Moses Znaimer, the collection focuses on television technology from the 1920s to the 1970s. You can find this museum in Liberty Village in Toronto.

Food in Toronto

With culinary influences from across all the cultural communities that call Toronto home, there’s no lack of choice when it comes to eating in Toronto. A city passionate about food, make sure you try a good mix of Canadian staples and city specialities. Here’s our comprehensive list of where to eat in Toronto.

Poutine

Even though poutine originated in Montreal, that doesn’t mean the people of Toronto can’t serve up a mean version of this Canadian staple. Considered the best poutine in Toronto, head straight to Poutini’s. These guys hand-cut their fries and fry them twice before topping them with rich gravy and cheese curds. Try not to drool.

_{Best eaten at}
_{Poutini’s House of Poutine, 1112 Queen Street West, ON M6J 1H9}

Gran fritto misto

Toronto’s Italian community have certainly had an impact on the city’s food culture and we’re here for it. The gran fritto misto platter at A3 Napoli in Little Italy does it just like they do in the homeland. This crunchy pile of fried zucchini, cauliflower, arancini and seasonal seafood is the perfect alternative to North American comfort food.

_{Best eaten at}
_{A3 Napoli, 589 College St, ON M6G 1B2}

Ice cream sandwich

A giant scoop of homemade icecream smushed between two fresh cookies? Yes please. The ice cream sandwiches at Bang Bang Ice Cream and Bakery are to-die-for. Making all of their unique ice cream flavours in-house, you’ll have a hard time picking between burnt toffee, London fog and cinnamon toast to create the ultimate frozen dessert.

_{Best eaten at}
_{Bang Bang Ice Cream and Bakery, 93a Ossington Ave, ON M6J 2Z4}

Lettuce meal

Something resembling Chinese san choy bao, the lettuce meal at Chantecler is worth the effort of assembling it yourself. The dish comes with braised beef and slow-cooked pork shoulder, steamed rice, house pickles, sauces and lettuce leaves to wrap it all up in. Check out what all the fuss is at the French-style diner.

_{Best eaten at}
_{Chantecler, 1320 Queen St W, ON M6K 1L4}

Best of Canada

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Canada: Toronto, Niagara & Quebec

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