🇨🇦 Toronto

Overview

Toronto is Canada's largest city, with about 3 million residents and 6.4 million across the region, on the north shore of Lake Ontario. It is one of the most multicultural cities in the world — roughly half the population was born outside Canada and over 160 languages are spoken — which shapes the food, the neighbourhoods and the general temperament. It is not the national capital; Ottawa took that in 1857.

Landmarks & culture

• CN Tower — 553 metres, and the world's tallest freestanding structure for over thirty years. The glass floor is the memorable part; the EdgeWalk lets you lean off the outside on a harness if that appeals.
• Royal Ontario Museum — Canada's largest museum, with a jarring crystalline extension bolted onto a heritage building. Dinosaurs, Chinese art and a strong First Nations collection.
• Distillery District — A preserved Victorian industrial complex of red brick and cobblestones, now galleries, cafés and studios. Pedestrian-only, and at its best during the winter Christmas market.

Things to do

• Toronto Islands — A fifteen-minute ferry to car-free islands with beaches, bike rentals and the classic skyline photo looking back. Summer weekends are busy; go on a weekday.
• Eat across the neighbourhoods — Kensington Market, Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown, Little India: the city's real attraction is that you can cross continents on a streetcar for a few dollars.
• Day trip: Niagara Falls — Ninety minutes by road or train. The falls are genuinely spectacular and the town around them is aggressively tacky — the Niagara-on-the-Lake wine region nearby is the better second stop.

Gastronomy