Toronto: Where Culture, Energy, and Diversity Collide!
Visiting Toronto
About two years ago, my family and I drove to Toronto for the first time. I had expected the city to be very similar to New York City, however, upon arriving, I quickly realized that the only similarities between the two were the heavy traffic and loads of construction.
The first two things I noticed about Toronto were that the whole city was clean and that it was full of people of all races and ethnicities. Toronto is a very multicultural city, with residents from all over the world. It has multiple streets to reflect the different cultures of the city, such as Koreatown, Chinatown, and Little Italy.
Since we only had four days in the city, we planned a tight schedule so we could see as much as possible. We didn’t hit all the tourist spots we wanted to, but it was still an exciting trip. I fell in love with Toronto during those four days, and I really want to go back. Here are the highlights of my trip, as well as other places I want to visit the next time I go to this vibrant city.
View from Airbnb. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
where we stayed
My family and I stayed in an Airbnb across the street from Ripley’s Aquarium and the Rogers Center. The sports stadium is home to the Toronto Blue Jays, and at the time, there was a baseball game going on, so it was pretty crowded! The stadium also holds concerts, conventions, and fairs.
The building our Airbnb was in had dozens of levels, with some housing a bank, wine shop, and more. The basement level had the Canadian grocery store Longos and a Starbucks. With just an elevator trip, we were able to get any necessities we needed.
Our Airbnb had a connected living room and full kitchen, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. My parents stayed in the master bedroom with its own connecting bathroom, while my sister and I took the other bedroom. There was also a balcony that gave a gorgeous view of the busy streets of Toronto. It was a bit small, but had a charm that you can’t find in hotel rooms!
Our Airbnb came with dry goods, paper products, a TV with multiple streaming services, and controllable room temperature. For breakfast and dinner, we shopped amongst the wide selection of pre-made food in Longos to save some time and money. It was very convenient to have a grocery store below us! Our Airbnb also had a parking garage with a designated spot reserved for us. If you want to stay in an Airbnb, make sure there’s free parking, since street parking can get a bit expensive.
Overhead shark tank at Ripley’s Aquarium. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
Tourist attractions
One of the first tourist attractions we hit was Ripley’s Aquarium, since it was across the street from where we were staying. This was one of my favorite places that we went to, and the perfect way to start our trip. The aquarium features various aquatic animals, such as sting rays, crabs, jellyfish, squid, and sharks.
One of the highlights for me was the shark tank ceiling. The shark tank surrounds the pathway and covers the ceiling, allowing the sharks to swim over our heads. This part of the aquarium features a moving floor that you can step onto, and it takes you around the shark tank. The experience was surreal—I felt like I was in the water with the fish! Walking through the aquarium in general is an experience, with the lights dimmed and the fish tanks glowing.
There are ten different galleries in the aquarium, representing sea life from different regions. The galleries are: Canadian Waters, Rainbow Reef, Dangerous Lagoon, Discovery Center, The Gallery, Ray Bay, Swarm: Nature by Numbers, Planet Jellies, Life Support Systems, and the Shoreline Gallery. The Canadian Waters gallery has fish such as lobsters and eels from the country’s surrounding waters. The Rainbow Reef has fish from the Indo-Pacific water regions. The Dangerous Lagoon features the aquarium’s largest tank, which houses the sharks.
The Discovery Center allows visitors to touch the skins of different animals with the help from employees. Visitors can touch sting rays and sharks. The Gallery features sea life from all over the world, the Planet Jellies house five species of jellyfish, and the Ray Bay features three species of sting rays. Finally, the Life Support System gives visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how the aquarium runs.
Jellyfish tank at Ripley’s Aquarium. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
As I walked through the aquarium, I really loved how colorful all the tanks were. They featured aquatic plants of different colors and unique lighting that made the tanks glow a deep purple or bright blue. One of the most colorful parts of the aquarium was the jellyfish tank, which featured neon lights. The lights are reflected overhead in the cage for exhibits that have low lighting. The squid and sting ray tanks were also cool. There was just so much to see!
The aquarium has a cute gift shop that has stuffed animals, keychains, and other merchandise featuring the different sea animals. It was only the second aquarium I had been to in my life, and it was an experience I’ll never forget.
If you’re planning to visit the aquarium, there are multiple different ticket packages you can purchase. There are general tickets that just give you access to the aquarium, and a ticket bundle that gives you access to both the aquarium and the CN Tower, the city’s famous tower located in downtown Toronto. Other special tickets give you access to certain events being held, such as a Friday night jazz event that occurs every second Friday of the month. In addition to this, if you visit the aquarium after 5 p.m., you get $5 off your ticket. General admission tickets are about $32 U.S. dollars per adult.
Outside of Casa Loma. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
Casa Loma
The next place we visited was Casa Loma. This is Toronto’s majestic castle designed by Sir Henry Pellat and built in 1914. The title loosely translated from Spanish means “Hill House.” The castle is heavily inspired by medieval and gothic architecture.
Major-General Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, CVO was a Canadian financier and soldier. He is notable for his role in bringing hydro-electricity to Toronto for the first time, and also for his large château in Toronto, called Casa Loma, which was the biggest private residence ever constructed in Canada.
While traveling to Europe, Pellat fell in love with fine art and architecture, which led to the creation of the castle. So, he purchased 25 lots of land and hired architect E. J. Lennox to build his vision. The castle features a stunning garden in the back and a large fountain in the front.
Visitors can climb a couple sets of narrow stairs to get to the top tower of the castle and see a breathtaking view of the city. Although I didn’t venture up there, my dad did, and he said the view was worth it!
General admission tickets are about $30 US dollars per adult, with free parking. The castle offers tours daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but my family and I chose not to go on a tour and instead roam the castle grounds ourselves. There was so much to see, and we wanted to take everything in at our own pace!
The dining room in Casa Loma. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
The castle features various rooms, and I took more pictures there than any other place during the trip. Some of my favorite rooms were the library and dining room, but the whole castle was incredible.
Large, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings. Each piece of furniture, every window and archway, the walls and ceilings—they were all thoughtfully constructed and featured intricate designs. Even the headboards of the beds were stunning. One of them featured a unique Renaissance-inspired design on it.
At the time, there was an exhibition dedicated to the Royal Family going on. It featured various pictures of the royal family, as well as handcrafted replicas of Princess Diana’s many hats and Queen Elizabeth’s crown.
It was interesting to walk through the displays and learn about the royal family. There were also British military uniforms on display. Pellat had served in the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada as a riflemen and eventually commanding officer.
The garden in the back featured a pathway through the woods and many colorful flowers. It also had an outdoor dining area and its own restaurant, the Blueblood Steakhouse. I highly recommend visiting the castle if you’re going to Toronto!
Dinosaur fossil at the Royal Ontario Museum. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
Our next stop was the Royal Ontario Museum. The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year, making it the most-visited museum in Canada.
From dinosaur fossils to mummy exhibitions, this museum has so much to see! I wish we could’ve stayed longer, because even after spending a couple of hours there, there was still so much that we didn’t get to see. I suggest dedicating a whole day to this museum so you can explore the various exhibitions!
General admission tickets to this museum are a bit pricey, at about $73 US dollars per adult. However, the museum does offer student discounts, so if you’re a student, bring your university ID!
Despite me being a student at a school in the US, we still received a discount on my ticket. And although the tickets are a little expensive, it’s definitely worth it. The museum has multiple levels with extensive displays to walk through. Trust me when I say that you’ll lose track of time in there!
Mineral display at the Royal Ontario Museum. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
One of the highlights of the museum for me was the mineral exhibition. This part of the museum featured rows of glass cases filled with multicolored and unique minerals. There were minerals of all sizes, including giant ones that took up a whole case on its own.
The display features minerals from all over the world, such as the Light of the Desert cerussite from the desert of Namibia and the Star of Lanka sapphire from Sri Lanka. The Light of the Desert is one of the museum’s most valuable minerals. It’s 900 carats and the world’s largest faceted cerussite gem. The museum has a whole team that research and source the minerals. I had never seen anything like this display in a museum before!
My other favorite parts were the Rome exhibition—which had Renaissance-style sculptures—and the Egypt exhibition—which had displays of mummies, hieroglyphics, and more. I also loved the large dinosaur fossils. Right when you walk in, there’s an enormous dinosaur fossil that seriously takes your breath away! The dinosaur fossils are sourced from the Burgess Shale expeditions in British Colombia. Over 150,000 specimens are featured. The museum also includes many exhibitions with pieces from multiple cultures, such as Chinese and Japanese temples, statues, and artwork. A trip to this museum is a cultural experience!
American flamingos at the Toronto Zoo. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Photo by Milan Suvajac/ CC BY 4.0
Two attractions that my family and I didn’t have time to visit were the Toronto Zoo and the Ontario Science Center. The Toronto Zoo has animals from various continents. Some include cheetahs, lions, zebras, giraffes, and flamingos. Pictured on the right are the American flamingos, which the city got from the Atlantic coast of subtropical and tropical America. Specifically, the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Yucatan, and Guiana.
The zoo also offers tours on a bus called the “Zoomobile” and has a greenhouse with plants from around the world. There are places to eat such as the Peacock Cafe and Caribou Cafe, and multiple gift shops.
The Ontario Science Center has exhibitions for people of all ages. There’s the Community Reef, which features a large display of crocheted coral reefs made by artists across Ontario. There’s the Space Hall, which is an educational experience that showcases pictures of black holes, meteorites from Mars, and more. They even showcase scientific documentaries in the Omnimax Theater. The center also has various places to eat on different floor levels, such as the Lobby Cafe on Level 2 and the Valley Restaurant on Level 6.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Photo by Mindmatrix/ CC BY 2.0
shopping
Another part of our trip that my family and I really enjoyed was shopping. We dedicated an entire day to go to one of Toronto’s large shopping malls—the Eaton Center Mall. This mall had three levels, with a mix of luxury shops, popular American stores, and Canadian stores.
Two of my favorite stores were Call It Spring and Laline. Call It Spring has footwear, accessories, and jewelry. A lot of their shoes at the time were inspired by Y2K and preppy university fashion trends. I bought a pair of black loafers that I’m absolutely obsessed with! They have footwear that is both comfortable and stylish. Laline is a luxury bath and body brand from Israel. The employees were very nice and even gave my sister and I a mini hand spa treatment to test out their newest bath collection! All the scents were unique, and I couldn't help but purchase their Cherry Blossom perfume. It’s one of my favorite perfumes to this day! Unfortunately, they don’t have any locations in the US. Next time I go to Toronto, I’ll make sure to stop there again!
The Eaton Center Mall also has a large food court featuring restaurants of various cuisines. My family and I ate at Fast Fresh Foods, which has hot sandwiches and custom salads. Everything was fresh and tasted amazing! The food court also has Thai, Japanese, Korean, American, and Mexican restaurants. There’s a couple of Starbucks located throughout the mall, as well as places to get bubble tea, juice, chocolate, and other sweet treats.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Photo by Lee Dong-ah/ CC BY 3.0
Another place my family and I went to shop at was Koreatown. Koreatown is a long street with multiple Korean shops, restaurants, cafes, and small businesses. Unfortunately, we went on our last day in Toronto, so we were in a bit of a rush and could only go to three stores. But the stores we went to were really unique!
The first shop we visited was Hanji Gifts. This shop featured printed stationery, cards, pottery, and more. There were a lot of floral and animal-printed items. It’s the perfect shop to go to if you’re looking to buy souvenirs! The next shop we went to was Sarah & Tom, a cute small business selling Japanese plushies, K-pop albums, anime merchandise, and fanart. As an anime and K-pop fanatic, this was one of my favorite shops we visited! Lastly, we stopped at one of the many Korean convenience stores on the street. The convenience store sold fresh produce, dry goods, pre-made Korean meals, and even had a second floor dedicated to Korean skincare.
If we had stayed longer, I would have also liked to go to Chinatown. We passed it on our way to Koreatown, and the street was very vibrant with many different shops and restaurants. I’ll definitely add that to my travel itinerary for the next Toronto trip!
Kensington Market. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Photo by Suwannee.payne/ CC BY 3.0
Other places I would love to shop at during my next Toronto trip are St. Lawrence Market and Kensington Market. St. Lawrence Market is a market featuring over 100 vendors, merchants, and artisans. There are shops that sell all types of items, from art to flowers, and food such as pastries, fresh produce, dairy, poultry, and more. There’s also a farmer’s market open on Saturdays. Kensington Market is a vibrant, bohemian-style neighborhood that has different shops, restaurants, cafes, and bars. The shops sell clothing, vintage items, art, and more. The highlights of this market are the colorful store fronts and graffiti. It would be cool to walk through such a diverse, vivid neighborhood!
food
Although we mostly grocery shopped at Longos and made makeshift meals in our Airbnb, we did stop at a couple of noteworthy restaurants and an awesome bakery during our stay. I had been in charge of looking for restaurants while we planned our trip. Coming from a family that has multiple food allergies and having two myself, let’s just say that I had to do a lot of research beforehand on places that could cater to our needs. But I must admit, I picked some pretty awesome places!
Pad see ewe at Riz on Yonge. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
The first restaurant we went to was Riz on Yonge. Since my dad and I both have gluten intolerances, this was the perfect place to go to since everything is 100% gluten-free. The menu features appetizers and dishes from Thai, Japanese, and Chinese cuisines. They have meat, seafood, and even plant-based dishes. It’s pricey but worth it! My favorite dishes were the pad see ewe—thick-cut rice noodles, green onions, and strips of beef served with a sweet sauce—and the crispy beef—the restaurant’s most popular dish of fried beef coated in a delicious sauce. Hands down, this is the best restaurant I’ve ever been to!
At the Eaton Center Mall, we ate at Fast Fresh Foods. This healthy “fast food” joint offers meals with fresh produce delivered daily from the local market, cheeses and meats from St. Lawrence Market, and bread from ACE Bakery. This restaurant allows you to make custom salads and quinoa bowls. They also make signature salads, sandwiches, and wraps. All their nutrition information is listed online, including allergen information. My dad and sister got hot sandwiches, and my mom and I made custom salads. The food was healthy but delicious!
Paleo waffles with bacon at Impact Kitchen. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
The next place we dined at was Impact Kitchen. This café is entirely gluten-free as well and has allergen labels for other food allergies listed on their menu. They offer breakfast, lunch, and baked goods—all with vegan options. Since it was Father’s Day when we went, we ordered from the weekend brunch menu to celebrate. I tried the paleo waffles that were served with berries, maple syrup, and cashew cream. It tasted amazing!
The menu also features soups, salads, burgers, and sandwiches. They even have a “build-your-bowl" option where you can build a nutrient-dense salad or rice bowl. All ingredients are listed on their website, and all the options on the menu have healthy but tasty ingredients. To drink, the café offers coffee, tea, juice, wellness drinks with healthy additives such as ashwagandha (a plant proven to ease anxiety), and smoothies. I tried their hot coffee, and it tasted fresh and delicious. I highly recommend this café!
The last place we tried was a bakery called Bunner’s Bakeshop. This bakery is entirely gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan. The bakery has different-flavored cupcakes, large muffins, and cookies. They also have cinnamon buns, celebration cakes, cheesecake, brownies, and more. I tried the cinnamon roll and cookies and cream cupcake, and both were amazing! The sweets are very moist and tasty. This bakery has so many delicious options to choose from!
Source: Squarespace/Unsplash
There are a few places I want to try the next time I go to Toronto. One of them is PLANTA Yorkville, a restaurant that is entirely plant-based. Their focus is to provide sustainable eating while also showcasing the power of plants, and their mission is to provide flavorful, plant-based dishes to show that plants can change the world. They believe that plants can improve both health and the community. The restaurant serves brunch, lunch, dinner, and dessert.
The menu has a lot of options on it, such as sushi, salads, pizzas, burgers, and more. This restaurant also has gluten-free options. The next place I would love to try is a gelato and wine bar called On Third Thought. They serve gelato and wine separately and together. Some of the recommended pairings are chocolate gelato with merlot and lemon ice cream with prosecco. They also serve prosecco floats that have gelato with prosecco poured over it. All gelato is vegan and excludes six major allergens. Other drinks they sell include espresso, beer, and alcohol-free mimosas. I would love to try both of these unique places during my next trip!
View of the CN Tower from the ground. Photo by Nadia Pentolino
other sights to see
One of the must-see sights in Toronto is the CN Tower. The tower was built in the 1970s to provide broadcast radio and television signals over tall buildings, since there weren’t any transmission towers that were high enough to send the signals to the intended audience during that time. The tower was built by employees of the Crown corporation, the company that operated Canada’s largest railway network. It required the work of over 1,500 employees and took 40 months to complete.
The tower houses the Skypod, which is the highest observation deck in the Western Hemisphere, at 447 meters (about 1466.54 feet) above the ground. Things to do at the tower include the Edgewalk, where visitors are strapped to a harness and can walk along the edge of the tower, 16 stories up.
There’s also the 360 Restaurant—the tower’s own restaurant that allows visitors to dine with a stunning view of the city—and a gift shop. The main and lower observation levels offer a view of the city, and the lower observation level has a glass floor that allows visitors to see the city below them.
A new interactive art showcase called “Artmosphere” has also opened on the lower observation level. Levels can be reached by a see-through, high-speed elevator. Unfortunately, my family and I didn’t have time to visit the tower. But we were able to see it from afar and took pictures of it.
Maple Leaf Circle in High Park. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Photo by Jaimeheinke/ CC BY 3.0
Another sight you’ll want to see is High Park. This is a gorgeous park that offers a lakefront view, hiking trails, and picnic areas. The park also has a zoo, eateries, and greenhouses. The park features wild forests, Chinese gardens, and even cherry blossom trees in the springtime. One of the park's highlights is Maple Leaf Circle, which consists of a large maple leaf that changes colors based on the season, in a spacious clearing. This was another sight I could only witness from afar, but next time I go to Toronto, I want to visit it!
If you’re a lover of nature, you’ll also want to stop by the Allan Gardens Conservatory. The conservatory has five houses: Northwest, Northeast, East, Southwest, and Southeast. The Northwest House features a large display of cacti and succulents, the Northeast House has tropical plants from equatorial regions, the East House has palms and tree ferns, the Southwest house has orchids and bromeliad plants, and the Southeast House has a koi pond and showcases seasonal flower shows. My family and I planned to visit the conservatory, but didn’t make it. Next time, I’ll be sure to go!
View of Yonge Street. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Photo by DXR/ CC BY 4.0
planning a trip to toronto
If you’re looking to plan a trip to Toronto, here’s a few tips and things you might want to keep in mind. First, if possible, you should pay with a credit card and avoid exchanging American dollars for Canadian ones. The issue with exchanging currency is that the American dollar is worth more than the Canadian one, so if you don’t spend all the Canadian dollars, you’ll lose money when you go to exchange it back. Make sure you spend as much of it as possible if you do decide to exchange cash. If you want to pay by card, make sure you have a credit card, since there aren’t a lot of places in Toronto that accept debit cards (or Visa gift cards). Something that might freak you out at first is the Toronto tax, which is 13%. This doesn’t make as much of a difference as you might think it does, once it’s converted into American dollars. For me, it was only cents more than what I pay for tax in New York State (with a tax rate of 8%).
If you’re driving into Toronto, make sure to have your driver’s license and either your passport or enhanced license. Don’t worry about paying tax on any souvenirs you buy in Canada, unless the total you spent exceeds hundreds of dollars. Alcohol and perishables such as meat, fresh produce, and bakery items are not allowed into the US from Canada. Another important thing to keep in mind is your phone plan’s cellular data use in countries outside of the US. You’ll want to see if your plan covers free data use in Canada, or if there’s a charge.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Photo by Sebastiaan ter Burg/ CC BY 2.0
If you’re going by car, also keep in mind that Toronto driving can be a bit chaotic. There’s a lot of construction and backed-up traffic. People drive really fast and will cut you off with the smallest amount of space between your car and theirs. Speed limits are also displayed in km/h instead of mp/h, but some speed signs have mp/h conversions on them.
A common concern that people have when traveling to Canada is if you need to know French. For cities like Montreal and Quebec, you certainly do need to know basic French. Although most signs and menus have French translations on them, the most-spoken language in Toronto is English. So don’t worry, you won’t have to know any French to go there!
The last thing you’ll want to think about before planning your trip is the weather. Since Canada is further North, the weather is a bit different, even from New York. My family and I went in early June, so the weather was in the low- to mid-60s. In April, it can still be pretty cold in Toronto (and even snow). But in August, the city gets really hot, so the best time to go if you want the weather to be just right is between May and July.
conclusion
Overall, I had a lot of fun in Toronto. Four days didn’t feel like enough time to truly explore the city, so I would love to go back soon and see all the attractions I missed the first time around. Compared to New York City, Toronto felt much less chaotic and busy, so I was able to fully relax during my trip. But at the same time, I still got to go to a lot of exciting places and make memories I’ll never forget. If you’re thinking about going on vacation, consider taking a trip to this cultural and lively city!
