Toronto
Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario.
It is located on a harbour at the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. The city is the fourth-most populous city in North America, behind Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles, with a census population of 2,794,356 as of 2021. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is constituted of Toronto proper and four surrounding regions, Peel, York, Durham, and Halton, and has a population of 6,712,341, while the Toronto census metropolitan area (CMA), with a somewhat different definition, has a population of 7,106,379. Toronto is an international centre of business, finance, arts, sports, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.
Getting to Toronto
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Worth seeing
Art Gallery of Ontario. The largest art gallery in Canada. It has a great Canadian paintings exhibit and the world's largest collection of Henry Moore sculptures. The European paintings exhibit has a few excellent pieces including Ruben's The Massacre of the Innocents. Bata Shoe Museum. This offbeat museum is devoted to shoes and footwear from cultures all over the world.
Things to do
Toronto is "the city within a park", with miles and miles of parkland following the streams and rivers that flow through the city. Edwards Gardens and the Toronto Botanical Gardens in the neighbourhood of North York might just be the place to start exploring this natural environment. The City of Toronto has designated various Discovery Walks which highlight the natural and human history of the region.
- 01Canadian National Exhibition
The Ex is an annual fair offering an amusement park (the Midway), a casino, live entertainment, an international market, agricultural exhibits including livestock and a variety of other exhibits.
- 02Fan Expo Canada
Canada's answer to the San Diego and New York Comic-Cons, Fan Expo Canada draws over 150,000 attendees each year to celebrate superheroes, science fiction, fantasy, and other popular franchises.
- 03Inside Out LGBT Film & Video Festival
180 Canadian ind international films and videos over ten days, produced by and about LGBT people.
- 04Toronto International Festival of Authors
Late October to early November, with related events throughout the year.
Where to eat
Toronto is generally considered to be one of North America's top food cities. It has the same variety as New York or San Francisco and the compact and safe downtown keeps them closer together. As one of the most (if not the most) multicultural cities in the world, Toronto has authentic ethnic cuisine like no other city in North America. It is easy to eat out in Toronto and have a superb meal for cheap.
Getting around Toronto the local way
- Get inA free ferry service also makes the short crossing: it is just 121 metres, the world's shortest regularly-scheduled ferry route.
- Get inTTC streetcars are available within a short walk from the mainland ferry terminal: Route 509 Harbourfront travels east along the waterfront (Queens Quay) to Union Station.
- Get aroundA visit to Toronto Islands from the ferry docks at the southern end of Bay Street is a great way to spend a bike-friendly, relaxed afternoon by bike.
- Get aroundThe trip to the Toronto Islands from the downtown core (Bay St and Queens Quay) is a pleasant 15-minute ferry ride, with frequent summer service and the best views of the Toronto skyline.
From Wikivoyage: Toronto, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: DXR (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.
