Toronto & Niagara Falls
The CN Tower, at over a staggering 550 metres tall, is a must-do on anyone’s Toronto visit. We were blessed with fairly clear skies and a sunny day which afforded us far-reaching views of the city and beyond from both the breezy lookout level and the even higher SkyPod. At the base is the fun Himalamazon Experience, part of LA Tour, which includes a thrilling simulator ‘ride’. Having visited Toronto many years ago I was keen to discover something ‘new’ and we came upon Graffiti Alley where we whiled away a few hours admiring the artwork adorning many a wall in several of the back streets. I’ll never look at graffiti in the same way again, it was absolutely amazing! Our day ended with a brief visit for shopping at the cavernous Eaton Centre and a cool-down for Bobbi, running through the fountains in Nathan Phillips Square!
Toronto Zoo is a great place to escape from the buzz of the city and sure to delight children of all ages and adults too. Getting close up to a polar bear at feeding time was a treat for us all and we also loved watching the antics of the newly arrived giant pandas, Er Shun and Da Mao, which are on loan to Toronto Zoo for the next five years. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at the magnificent Niagara Falls. We first witnessed Niagara’s Fury, a 4D experience about the creation of the fall and then headed into the tunnels behind the fall and onto the platform outside for a close up view and a thorough soaking! In the morning we boarded the famous Maid of the Mist boat for a thrilling ride past the American Falls and up close to the mighty Niagara – and another soaking! Then we strolled along the boardwalk overlooking the raging white water rapids deep in the Niagara Great Gorge. Our final treat at Niagara was a truly thrilling helicopter flight to survey all we’d seen from up high, what an experience!
Back in Toronto and no time to rest! The first stop on Thursday was the romantic ‘medieval’ castle of Casa Loma, home on the hill, former estate of Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. Beautiful gardens surround this enormous house and it would be very easy to stay and enjoy the home and gardens for a whole day but we are off to Royal Ontario Museum next! Dinosaur skeletons were the main draw for Bobbi along with the rest of the natural history floor then we managed to squeeze in an hour in the World Cultures section. Making good use of our hop-on hop-off bus tickets today next stop was near the marina to hop on a ferry over to Toronto Islands. What bliss! I’m sure it must get quite busy in the height of summer and not all the facilities were open but it is a real escape from the buzz of the city, extremely pretty, a real place to chill out, in fact a few days here at the end of our busy week would have been marvellous.
Our last full day was spent at Canada’s Wonderland a must do for thrill seekers, so many rides, too many for one day but we tried our best! Gut-wrenching rides include the mighty Leviathan, The Bat, Dragon Fire, Behemoth and Sky-Rider, a roller coaster that loops the loop – whilst you’re standing up! Chris and Bobbi went on absolutely every ride they could squeeze into a full day!
Chris’ dream was to do the Edge-Walk at CN Tower on our final day and as we knew we wouldn’t be able to see him in action Bobbi and I headed off to the Ontario Science Centre for some hands-on fun and learning. We only had a few hours before we had to dash back to the hotel to collect our cases, bump into Chris and hop onto the bus back to the airport. Holiday over!
Toronto offers a fantastic choice of family activities for kids (and grown-ups) of all ages. We struggled to fit it all in, there really is so much to do. If you’d like some help planning your family adventure please get in touch, I’d love to help.