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We are self-proclaimed Canada lovers and have had our eye on Toronto for a very long time! I think it wasn’t at the top of our list because we dismissed it as a big city that doesn’t have as much history as New York or Chicago. I don’t know why I do that! Why prejudge a place you have never been? But I did it, and I apologize, Toronto! You are way cooler than I imagined.

Toronto is a big city, the 4th largest in North America to be exact. It recently beat out Chicago to make it the 4th largest, but I would compare it in size and feeling to Chicago. They are both built along a Great Lake, have walkable down towns, and are both cooooold in the winter!

Toronto is also an expensive city. If you are coming from the U.S. like we are, you will find that restaurants and admission prices are significantly higher than their counterparts in the U.S. Even with the stronger U.S. dollar, it will be pricier.

That’s where CityPASS came in for our family. We looked at what we wanted to do in Toronto and saw that we could save 36% on admissions to the top sites.

My oldest son had the entire week of Thanksgiving off from school, and this year, the rest of us decided to take the week off as well and go to Toronto! My cousin and her 4 kids joined us, so our crew was much bigger than normal. While Toronto may not be everyone’s idea of fun in the winter, there is so much to do you will rarely be out in the cold.

Plus Toronto is starting to get dressed up for Christmas in November and so it is a win-win!

Here are the best things to do in Toronto in November!

 

Ripley Aquarium

Ripley Aquarium was our very first stop using our CityPASS. We chose to go here first because it is next door to the CN tower, and therefore we could see two big attractions in one day.

We have been to more aquariums than I can count, and this one was on a par with the Atlanta aquarium or the Boston aquarium–large, but not too overwhelming for younger kids.

Beautiful, unique and some gruesome looking fish are in tanks all around you. Most have some interactive learning displays so your kids can do things other than just look.

 

Our favorite was an arched tank that had a moving walkway running through it. You could ride along while looking at sharks, sting rays and other fish. Sharks swim over your head, and you feel immersed in the tank.

 

The Jellyfish were another highlight. The lighting in the jellyfish tanks made the jellyfish glow in different colors and appear to be ever-changing sculptures.

 

There are two touch tanks for your brave little ones. One features small sharks and the bigger tank has sting rays.

 

Tips for the Ripley Aquarium:

• Don’t make the mistake we made and think that you have reached the end when you get to the cafe. There are still lots of exhibits. We thought we were finished, and the kids were getting cranky; then we saw there was more aquarium!
• There is a late-night “Sharks After Dark” program that would be great for older kids. Get your tickets here.

Plan on 2-3 hours

CN Tower

The CN Tower is the tallest tower in North America and, until 2007, was the tallest building in the world. There is an observatory at the top of the tower that gives you a great view of the city of Toronto. Plus, it is part of CityPASS. This was the surprise hit with the whole gang! All of the kids said it was their favorite attraction in Toronto.

We wanted good pictures from the top, so we chose to ascend the tower at 3:00 in the afternoon when the sun was a bit lower in the sky.

Our youngest was terrified to go up so high. We stood outside the tower and looked up, and I will admit it does seem ridiculously tall. We talked him up until he meekly agreed to go. The fact that his cousins were there and weren’t afraid seemed to help him.

We picked up our tickets and took the elevator up 1,122 feet. The wait for the elevator was only 5 minutes, but there was a lot of space for a very long queue. Some of the elevators have a window so you can watch the rapid ascent (or descent, as the case may be).

The observation floor has floor-to-ceiling windows and offers a 360-degree view of the city of Toronto. We picked out cool buildings, looked for cool cars, and generally enjoyed the view.

A staircase leads down to another observation deck. This one has an outdoor platform (really windy) and terrifying glass floors. These world-class glass floors can hold up so much weight that multiple elephants could march across them, but I couldn’t make myself do it!! My kids delighted in jumping on them and laying face down on the glass.

 

Tips for the CN Tower:

• There is a cafe for snacks and a bathroom on the observation floor.
• There’s a larger cafe in the basement with several phone chargers, which came in handy. My phone died just before we were to ascend, and I had to charge it to access our CityPASS tickets.
• Strollers can go up the elevator easily and would be a great idea.
• Plan on 2 hours during the off-season and longer in the summer.

Casa Loma

I can’t say that we would have spent the money to go to Casa Loma if it hadn’t been included in CityPASS. The entrance fee is $30 and kids are $20, but as we wanted to get the most out of our CityPASS, we truly enjoyed it! Casa Loma was a private residence built in Gothic Revival style in 1911 for Sir Henry Pellet for $3.5 million dollars and has 98 rooms! To us, it just looks like a castle.

The tour of Casa Loma is a recorded device that allows you to go at your own pace. The tour heavily features the Pellet family and the architecture of the house. My older boys enjoyed it a lot. My youngest was only mildly interested, and my cousin’s kids were downright bored.  I wish they could find a way to make it more kid-friendly like the recorded tours at the Breakers in Newport, RI.

Please don’t think that the younger kids didn’t enjoy it at all. The tour was just not for them. They loved walking up into the turrets, looking at the flowers in the conservatory, and climbing up and down all of the staircases.

Ontario Science Center

I will start by saying I was so underwhelmed by the Ontario Science Center at first. We entered the museum and started on the entrance level floor. It was a display on quantum physics that was over the heads of all of the kids. It wasn’t kid-friendly at all!!!

What we discovered was that we were doing the science center all wrong! You must take the escalators to the lowest level and work up. The very lowest floor had so many fun hands-on science projects!

So start at the bottom floor!

Your kids will love racing paper airplanes, recording funny voices, making stop motion videos, climbing a rock wall, racing each other, and creating their own experiments.

Bata shoe museum

Multiple people told us to go to the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, and I am now one who will tell everyone to go! This is such a unique museum. It tells the history of footwear through the ages and in different countries. The display of footwear, both plain and ornate, is impressive.

Get your tickets here!

In addition to the history of footwear, the Bata shoe museum has rotating displays. I loved the Manolo Blahnik shoe exhibit. The attention to detail on each pair of shoes is remarkable. I found myself oohing and aahing over each pair.

And the kids loved the museum too! They liked tracking down the strangest looking shoes, the most expensive, and the most decorated shoe.

This museum celebrates footwear as sculpture and art and I will confess I will never look at a pair of shoes the same way again.

Plan on 1-1.5 hours

St. Lawrence Market

This market is thought to be one of the best food markets in the world and I have to say that we were thoroughly impressed! There are lots of delicious food stalls that are some of the most highly rated in Canada.

My husband was so excited by the cheese and chocolate. The produce was gorgeous! The kids bought teeny tiny apples and thought they were delicious.

If you are interested in Canadian food markets, here is another fabulous one in Montreal, or in Quebec City

Plan on 30 minutes to walk through the market but more time if you plan on eating there.

 

Toronto Christmas Market

One of the best things about traveling to Toronto over American Thanksgiving was that Canada was already in Christmas mode! The Toronto Christmas market is based on the European Christmas markets and has many of the same sights and smells. This one is located in the Distillery District of Toronto-a Victorian part of town. This pedestrian-only neighborhood is the perfect setting for a Christmas market.

We loved the performances by carolers, eating Hungarian sausages, eating chimney cakes, shopping for stocking stuffers at the wooden stalls, and riding the Ferris wheel.

Plan on 2-3 hours.

Toronto Eaton Center

Because it was Christmas, we decided to take a trip to visit the tallest tree in Canada. The tallest tree is in fact artificial. My kids were super bummed that it wasn’t a live tree, but I was still in awe of its height. The Eaton Center had a beautiful tree and enormous reindeer, and it was worth the stop!

Plan on 30 minutes or more if you want to shop!

 

Where to stay in Toronto downtown with kids

Le Germain Hotel

This mid priced hotel in downtown Toronto is within walking distance to Ripley’s Aquarium and the CN Tower. It is also close to great family restaurants and parks. But what makes Le Germain great is that they stock children’s activities and books. Plus they offer babysitting services. They also include a fabulous breakfast with the price of the room.

For booking information click here.

 

What to Wear in Toronto in November

It won’t be a surprise that Toronto is COLD in November, but the wind whips off the lake, and it gets REALLY COLD! Here is what we wore to keep warm, and we did a good job by dressing in layers.

• Pack your warmest, most cozy clothes. The weather in Toronto is windy and cold, and it regularly snows. Make sure you have good snow shoes and lots and lots of layers!
• Walking around in the cold can be hard on little toes. Make sure you have good boots! This is more important than a great coat. After too many miserable trips, to cold climates we broke down and bought good boots. We have bought 5-6 pairs over the years, and keep buying them as our boys’ feet grow. We have not had a single complaint of cold toes since. These are great to pass down from kid to kid as well. You can see them on our boys in all the pictures!  Check them out here.
• Dres yourkids in winter underwear on cold days, followed by their clothes, a scarf, a warm coat, gloves, and hats. That way you can remove the things you need when you go inside.

 

For a local’s perspective on Toronto check out 48 hour Toronto Itinerary.