Few dilemmas are more enviable than that of a good holiday: do you want to immerse yourself in culture and incredible food on a city break? Switch off entirely in the great outdoors? Or experience heart-thumping adrenaline on an epic adventure? Chuck that decision paralysis to the side, because Ontario offers visitors a hefty slice of all three in one easy destination.
Fly into Toronto and fill your cosmopolitan cup. Fuel up at one of the city’s newly gilded Michelin-starred restaurants – the guide officially came to the city in 2022 – like the two-star Sushi Masaki Saito or one-star and green-star Frilu, where all produce comes from owner John-Vincent Troiano’s farm. Burn off your feasts pounding the pavement in some of the city’s best neighbourhoods like bohemian Kensington Market, the Distillery Historic District and Ossington Avenue; popping into world-renowned museums like the Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum and Hockey Hall of Fame as you go.
The Whirlpool Aero Car in Niagara Falls
Speaking of hockey, no trip to “The 6ix” is complete without catching a game, so be sure to grab a seat when the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing at home. Sports fanatics can also get their fix watching the Toronto Blue Jays (baseball), the Toronto Raptors (basketball), and Toronto Football Club. If you’re visiting in the warmer months, hop aboard one of the regular ferries from the harbourfront across to the islands and explore the beaches, discovering your inner child at the Centreville Amusement Park or simply walking along the many paths while you soak up views of the city skyline beyond.
After all the metropolitan action, the great outdoors will be calling. Set your coordinates for Niagara Falls to take in some of the world’s most famous scenery. Niagara Parks offers various attraction passes, such as the Adventure Pass Plus and the Adventure Pass Classic, which will grant you access to a variety of attractions in this awe-inspiring place, including the Journey Behind the Falls, to ensure no square foot of this majestic natural wonder goes unexplored.
Head to the White Water Walk to get up close and personal with the Niagara River’s class six rapids. Over 1,000 feet of boardwalk stretch alongside the rushing water, including several viewing platforms where you can marvel at Mother Nature’s sheer power and impressive force.
The Tunnel at Niagara Parks Power Station
All that adventure will surely work up a thirst, so make your next destination is the storybook town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, sitting pretty on the shores of Lake Ontario. While you could have a wonderful time simply wandering its Hallmark movie-esque streets, the real drawcard here is the region’s surrounding wineries.
A varied terroir and a moderate climate (courtesy of the Niagara Escarpment and the region’s location on Lake Ontario), as well as sitting on the same latitude as Bordeaux and the Italian wine regions, means Niagara-on-the-Lake is home to a range of grape varieties that come through in the stunning vintages. With ingenuity and an exacting hand, Niagara’s winemakers have taken Canada’s famous winters and produced the country’s renowned Icewine. Made from grapes that are left to freeze on the vines for three days, this sweet wine is the perfect way to cap off any meal, and it’s definitely worth bringing a few home to the UK.
No matter what you’re after, whether it’s world-class fine dining, the unbridled power of Mother Nature, or top-class culture, Ontario offers it up in spades.
Learn more at destinationontario.com/uk
