Travel Guide: Best things to do with the whole family in Ontario, Canada

Ontario is the second biggest province of Canada. It is considered as the most populous, most urban, and richest among Canada’s provinces. About a third of the population of Canada lives in Ontario, and it is a big place since its land area is approximately equal to that of Spain and France combined.

Ontario is also a great destination for families. You will not run out of things to do here, and we lined up some of the best family activities in Ontario:

Toronto Zoo

Toronto Zoo is the biggest zoo in the whole of Canada and is among the best and largest in the globe. It is home to more than 460 species of animals which are segregated according to regions of their origin. Aside from their exhibits, kids will enjoy a lot of demonstration in the zoo’s kids zone. There are interactive fun for kids as well as a splash park.

Enjoy the cottage with the family

The people in Ontario are very diverse distributed through out its vast area. Not a lot of people share common interest or define fun in the same way, but one tradition known by all families here is the trip of the family to the cottage.

There are a lot of rental cottages around Ontario in areas like Muskoka, Kawarthas, and Rideau Lakes. It will be all bout bonding time for every member of the family as you share stories around the camp fire, ride canoes, or just stay inside and enjoy some board games.

Bike around or ride a boat along the Rideau Canal

Rideau Canal is in Ottawa and this canal has been declared a heritage site by the UNESCO. It was constructed in the early 1800s to link waterways and provide an alternative access when people travel between Kingston and Montreal. Today, it has been develop as a relaxing haven in an urban landscape. Families can enjoy biking along paths near the Rideau Canal or rent canoes and paddle their way on the water.

Black Creek

Black Creek is a pioneer village in Toronto. Here you can see old, historic buildings, watch demos of chores and skills of the olden times, and kids can engage in hands on activities. If the young members will enjoy, the village made sure the adults will have fun too as they have a microbrewery where you can enjoy a mug or two of their fresh beer.

Canadian Museum of Nature

This is museum is located in Ottawa. The whole family will enjoy the exhibit of dinosaur bones, cockroaches, and tarantula spiders. Some exhibit halls are still very traditional with stuffed animals and painted backdrops. There are new exhibits though which promote interaction with the viewing public. The structure of the museum can be considered as a bit grand and surely looks like an old castle. There are also rumors that the place my be haunted.

Agawa Canyon on rails

Another great experience for the family is to see the northern city of Sault Ste. Mari or more fondly called by locals as Soo in the northern portion of the province. Get your tickets and enjoy the scenery aboard one of the couches of the Algoma Central Railway. The train will take you thru some wilderness before going down the Agawa Canyon. You will have a break when you reach the canyon and have enough time to walk around or enjoy a picnic.

The trains have really big windows so you will not miss anything. Passengers can also see the view from the engineer’s perspective since cameras are mounted in front of the train.

Ontario Hockey League

What will be Canada without seeing a hockey game? See a game of the OHL and see why Canadians are obsessed with this game. This league involves hockey teams coming from different spots in Ontario. The tickets for the OHL games are more affordable compared to what you know of NHL.