Shannon O'Brien Travel Itineraries

The best destinations

Photo of Ontario
Photo of Ontario

The Best of Ontario

#38 best destination in the world

Map view

High Park Area Trails

Photo of High Park

Walk difficulty: Easy

Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Municipal park in Toronto, it is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, and gardens
  • One-third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology
  • High Park was opened to the public in 1876, and is the second-largest municipal park in Toronto

Fort George, Niagara-on-the-Lake

Photo of Niagara-on-the-Lake

Best time to visit: June-Aug

Cost: $

  • Fort George was a military fortification in Niagara-on-the-Lake, used by the British Army, the Canadian militia, and the United States Armed Forces for a brief period
  • The fort was mostly destroyed during the War of 1812
  • The site features a reconstruction of Fort George rebuilt in 1921

CN Tower

Photo of CN Tower

Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-Oct

Cost: $$

  • Concrete communications and observation tower in Toronto, completed in 1976, built on the former Railway Lands
  • Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower

Royal Ontario Museum

Photo of Royal Ontario Museum

Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto
  • It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada, and the most-visited museum in Canada
  • The museum contains a collection of dinosaurs, minerals and meteorites; Canadian and European historical artifacts; as well as African, Near Eastern, and East Asian art
  • It houses the world's largest collection of fossils from the Burgess Shale with more than 150,000 specimens

Photo of Art Gallery of Ontario

Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Art museum in Toronto, and one of the largest art museums in North America and the second-largest art museum in Toronto
  • The museum's permanent collection includes over 120,000 works spanning the first century to the present day
  • The museum collection includes a number works from Canadian, First Nations, Inuit, African, European, and Oceanic artists

Casa Loma

Photo of Casa Loma

Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Gothic Revival castle-style mansion and garden in midtown Toronto, that is now a historic house museum and landmark
  • It was constructed from 1911 to 1914 as a residence for financier Sir Henry Pellatt, starting with the massive stables, potting shed and Hunting Lodge, which contains servants' quarters
  • Notable amenities included an elevator, an oven large enough to cook an ox, two vertical passages for pipe organs, a central vacuum, two secret passages in Pellatt's ground-floor office, a pool, and three bowling lanes in the basement

Track and Tower Trail, Algonquin Provincial Park

Photo of Algonquin Provincial Park

Walk difficulty: Moderate

Best time to visit: March-May

Cost: $

  • Provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River
  • Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canada
  • Over 2,400 lakes and 1,200 kilometres of streams and rivers are located within the park, which were formed by the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age

St. Lawrence Market

Photo of St. Lawrence Market

Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • Major public market in downtown Toronto, first established in the early 19th century
  • The market was expanded in the early 1900s, with portions of the former city hall of Toronto being integrated into a new building, opened as St. Lawrence Market South in 1902
  • Today, the market features food stalls, restaurants and the St. Lawrence Market Gallery

Toronto Islands Trail

Photo of Toronto Islands

Walk difficulty: Moderate

Best time to visit: late April-May, Sept-Oct

Cost: $

  • The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario
  • The islands are home to the Toronto Island Park, the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, several private yacht clubs, a public marina, Centreville Amusement Park, a year-round residential neighbourhood, and several public beaches
  • The island community is the largest urban car-free community in North America
  • Public ferries operate year-round from Jack Layton Ferry Terminal, and bicycles are accommodated on the ferries and can be rented
  • Canoes, kayaks, paddle boats and stand-up paddle boards are also popular activities

Photo of National Gallery of Canada

Best time to visit: March-May

Cost: $

  • Canada's national art museum, located in the capital city of Ottawa
  • It is one of the largest art museums in North America by exhibition space
  • The museum's permanent collection includes over 93,000 works from European, American, and Asian, Canadian, and Indigenous artists

Rideau Canal Western Pathway: Somerset to Dow's Lake Pavilion

Photo of Rideau Canal

Walk difficulty: Easy

Best time to visit: March-May

Cost: $

  • Canal that links the Ottawa River with the Saint Lawrence River
  • Opened in 1832 for commercial shipping, freight was eventually moved to railways and the St. Lawrence Seaway, and it remains in use today for pleasure boating
  • It is the oldest continuously operated canal system in North America