1. CN Tower

Standing 553 meters above the city at 290 Bremner Boulevard, this 1976 communications tower turned observation deck offers rotating restaurant dining and glass-floor walking 342 meters up, where Lake Ontario spreads north to south and the Toronto Islands float like green fragments against blue water.

Insider Tip: Skip the expensive restaurant and buy the cheaper observation deck ticket for sunset, then walk to the Harbourfront afterwards where you’ll get better CN Tower photos with the waterfront in frame.

2. Royal Ontario Museum

Behind the Daniel Libeskind crystal facade at 100 Queen’s Park, galleries hold dinosaur skeletons, Egyptian mummies, and the world’s largest collection of Chinese temple art outside China, spanning natural history and world cultures across five floors that require multiple visits to properly absorb.

Insider Tip: Friday nights after 5:30pm offer half-price admission and smaller crowds—head straight to the third-floor biodiversity galleries that most visitors skip rushing to the dinosaurs.

3. St. Lawrence Market

Operating since 1803 at 93 Front Street East, the south market building houses 120 vendors selling Ontario cheeses, European meats, fresh produce, and prepared foods in a brick heritage space where locals still do their weekly shopping among tourists hunting peameal bacon sandwiches.

Insider Tip: The north market only opens Saturdays for the farmers’ market and antiques—get there by 8am for heirloom tomatoes and actual deals before the Distillery District crowds arrive.

4. Distillery District

Stretching across 13 acres of pedestrian-only Victorian industrial buildings at 55 Mill Street, this former Gooderham and Worts whiskey distillery turned arts quarter features cobblestone lanes, galleries, restaurants, and boutiques in preserved 1860s red brick that somehow avoids feeling like a shopping mall.

Insider Tip: Visit weekday mornings when Trinity Street is empty and you can photograph the cobblestones without dodging wedding parties—plus cafés are quieter and Balzac’s Coffee has seats available.

5. Kensington Market

Packed between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street, these five blocks of Victorian houses turned vintage shops, Latin American grocers, cheese importers, and vegan cafés create Toronto’s most authentically chaotic neighborhood where Jamaican patty stands face Portuguese fishmongers.

Insider Tip: Pedestrian Sundays in summer close the streets to cars—skip those overcrowded days and come Tuesday mornings when you can actually move through the vintage shops and talk to shopkeepers.

6. Casa Loma

Perched at 1 Austin Terrace, Sir Henry Pellatt’s 1914 Gothic Revival fantasy castle features 98 rooms, secret passages, underground tunnels, and gardens overlooking the city from the escarpment edge where Toronto’s most eccentric millionaire burned through his fortune building medieval dreams.

Insider Tip: Most tours rush through in 90 minutes—buy your ticket for opening time at 9:30am and spend three hours exploring the towers, stables, and tunnel system before afternoon bus tours clog the staircases.

7. Toronto Islands

Reached by ferry from 9 Queens Quay West, these car-free islands floating in Lake Ontario offer beaches, bike paths, an amusement park, and the best skyline views of Toronto’s financial district across 820 acres where 600 year-round residents live in cottage communities.

Insider Tip: Take the Ward’s Island ferry instead of Centre Island—it’s less crowded, the beach is better, and you can walk the entire southern shore to Hanlan’s Point clothing-optional beach in 40 minutes.

8. High Park

Spreading across 400 acres at 1873 Bloor Street West, Toronto’s largest public park features hiking trails, a zoo, playgrounds, sports fields, and 2,000 cherry blossom trees that turn Hillside Gardens pink every late April when half the city shows up with cameras.

Insider Tip: Skip cherry blossom season crowds and visit October for fall colors—the oak and maple forests along Grenadier Pond rival any New England display without the tour buses.

9. Graffiti Alley

Running behind Queen Street West from Spadina to Portland, this three-block laneway showcases constantly changing street art, murals, and tags covering every brick surface where Toronto’s best aerosol artists leave pieces that last weeks before getting painted over.

Insider Tip: Thursday and Friday nights after dark, artists actively paint new pieces—bring a flashlight and you might watch work in progress, but don’t photograph faces without asking first.

10. Aga Khan Museum

Standing at 77 Wynford Drive in a white granite building designed by Fumihiko Maki, galleries display 1,000 years of Islamic art, Persian manuscripts, Turkish ceramics, and Mughal miniatures in North America’s premier collection of Muslim world artifacts rarely seen outside specialist institutions.

Insider Tip: The museum cafe serves proper Persian tea and saffron ice cream—buy your ticket for the permanent collection only (cheaper), spend 90 minutes inside, then sit in the reflecting pool courtyard which requires no admission.