Explore the city of Toronto’s most popular tourist attractions with a Toronto virtual tour!
Every year since my kids were babies, we head to see family in Toronto for Easter. This year with COVID-19 and self isolation we are all missing the trip. It’s funny really, we didn’t even realize how the trip was something we all looked forward to and had gotten used to visiting the sights in Toronto. This Easter we are spending 24/7 together, instead of looking at photos, we decided to do a virtual tour of all our favorite Tourist spots in Toronto.
Kids tour
First we found this great family tour for kids, from Yo Toronto. This tour allows families especially younger kids, to explore all the major sites in Toronto in a fun an interactive way. You can also play games and watch fun videos about Toronto.
Casa Loma
This is one of my favorite places to visit in Toronto. It’s a castle right smack dab in urban Toronto! An actual castle!
First built in 1914 by financier Sir Henry Pellatt, the castle is located right within Toronto. Now owned by the City of Toronto, over 350,000 visitors a year come to see Casa Loma and the beautiful estate gardens. This is a magical castle that lets children’s imaginations believe in fairy tales. For adults the unique architecture is stunning. On a bright note, thanks to the pandemic you can save the $30 admission fee and virtually explore Casa Loma from the comfort of your couch. Although it’s not a typical virtual tour, you can go through the three majestic floors of royal Casa Loma.
Hockey Hall of Fame
Like many Canadians, we are a hockey family! This is a great opportunity to take a virtual tour of the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame. You can see the portraits, biographical sketches and of course the Stanley Cup!
Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
My daughter has been learning about art in school and always loves visiting museums. The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a must-see when in Toronto. It’s located downtown, so it’s easily accessible.
It’s reminiscent of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. Especially with the giant dinosaur at the front entryway. With over 45,000 pieces of art in their collection, there is something to interest children and families of all ages. From natural history (dinosaur skeletons), indigenous art, curator’s choice or a wealth of minerals, gems and meteorites; it’s all online! Check out their online collection.
If you want something more in-depth, check out their audio tours. They have Winnie-the-Pooh, wildlife photographer of the year or Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches. Even though it’s less interactive, you can also ‘walk through’ virtual tour the ROM and see the artwork including Greek historical art and the Sigmund Samuel Gallery.
Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)
The entire collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) is available on their website. The AGO’s collection is searchable on their website, but some exhibits stand out more than others.
One interesting exhibit is the Boxwood Project, which shows amazing carvings that were scientifically analysed showing how these miniature prayer beads were made. Their website has a cool feature that you create your own ‘collection’ be the curator and decide what you want included. While on the ‘Build My Collection’ option check out the over 3,000 photographs taken by Henryk Rozencwaijg-Ross of the Jewish ghetto in a Polish city during the Holocaust.
Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada
This is my kids FAVORITE! Onsite they have an amazing collection, hands-on activities and something for all ages. One thing we spent a lot of time at the Aquarium is is the Shark tank. From home now you can sit back and watch the Ripley’s Aquarium shark cam. In the stressful life we live in there is nothing more relaxing than watching the fish, sharks and stingray floating through the water.
CN Tower
One of the main attractions in Toronto is the CN Tower. Built in 1976, the tower stands 553.33 metres or 1,815.4 feet tall. When it was originally built it held the record as being the world’s tallest free-standing structure and world’s tallest tower. It held both records for 34 years and still remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. Even though it’s a Toronto icon, we had been going to Toronto for years before we visited it. It is located right nest to the Ripley’s Aquarium so there’s really no reason not to go if you are in the city.
My kids were obsessed with the glass floor observation deck. One kid wanted to jump all over it and the other was terrified to walk on it. Although they don’t currently have any virtual tours, their science blog has some interesting articles and on their homepage you can scroll down to ‘Live Views From the Top’ and you will find both the East and West views.
The Toronto Zoo
I don’t know any kid who doesn’t love animals. And the Toronto Zoo is amazing. With a heavy focus on conservation and education, it’s a great place to visit. With the pandemic going on you can’t visit the pavilions that include everything from the Americas to Australia. You can join the Toronto Zoo on their Facebook page everyday LIVE at 1 p.m. for a Facebook Live where a zoo keeper will explore different amazing animals that call the zoo home.
The National Ballet of Canada
You can go to the Virtual Museum and explore over 65 years of the National Ballet of Canada’s history. The archives were created in 1975 and the online gallery houses digitized items that are catalogues and preserved.You can go behind the scenes of notable shows like Cinderella, The Nutcracker and more. You get to see the ballet through programmes, costume sketches, photographs, videos and more.
The Ballet Moments shares small video clips of ballet performances, may be a bit more interesting and inspiring for kids.
Virtual tour of the city
If you just wonder what the city of Toronto looks like you may want to check out this virtual tour of Toronto. Check out Air Pano’s 360 tour.
https://www.airpano.com/360photo/Toronto-Canada/
https://www.airpano.com/about.php
Want some more virtual tours? Check out the virtual tours in these free online resources.
Do you have a favorite place to visit in a Toronto virtual tour we haven’t mentioned? Let us know below.
