Queen’s Park

Despite being ringed by a road that links two of downtown’s busiest streets, Queen’s Park is a peaceful and pleasant grassy space, perfect for catching your breath when visiting the closely packed sights in the surrounding area. The park is fringed to the west by the 19th-century buildings of the University, while the Royal Ontario Museum and the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art lie to the north.

Since the Legislative Buildings lie right in the middle of the park, its tranquility is occasionally broken by political protesters and special interest groups loudly proclaiming their displeasure with the provincial government.

Ontario Place

This excellent theme park will appeal to families with young children. Built over Lake Ontario on three artificial islets, the clean and fairly tame fun is largely waterbased with paddle boats, log flumes, water slides, and splash ponds. The atmosphere changes at night when large pop concerts are staged at the Molson Amphitheatre.

The globular Cinesphere houses the first ever permanent IMAX Theater. This large format cinema technology was developed in Toronto by the IMAX Corporation in 1967.

The Toronto Islands

In Lake Ontario, just offshore from the city, the three lowlying Toronto Islands, connected by footbridges, shelter Toronto’s harbor and provide easy-going recreation in a carfree environment. Here, amid the cool lake breezes, visitors can escape the extremes of the summer heat, which can reach up to 35°C (95°F). In good weather there are views of the top of the CN Tower.

It takes about half an hour to walk from one end of the islands to the other. In the east is Ward’s Island, a sleepy residential area with parkland and wilderness; Centre Island, home to the Centreville Amusement Park for children, is in the middle, and to the west lies the isle of Hanlan’s Point with the Islands’ best beach.