What to Do When Visiting Toronto: A Family-Friendly Guide

Whether you’re planning a family road trip or a weekend staycation in the city, it can be tough to narrow down your options for what to do when visiting Toronto. Here are some of our absolute favourite things to do in one of Canada’s most dynamic capital cities. From the best indoor family activities Toronto has to offer to the city’s best kept secrets, we promise you’ll love them all.

• A Favourite Indoor Activity: The Royal Ontario Museum

Toronto families love the ROM––there is always tons to do! Kids love the bat cave, the dinosaur skeletons and their biodiversity aquarium. Keep them busy while you browse the gift shop.

100 Queen’s Park, Toronto

• A Favourite Outdoor Activity: Centre Island

The ferry to Toronto Island is an adventure in its own right, but the rides at the Centreville Amusement Park will have your whole family talking about the trip for years. Stroll through Franklin’s garden or head to the beach at Ward’s Island for a swim: it really is a choose your own adventure kind of place.

9 Queens Quay W

• A Best-Kept Secret: The Tall Trees at Dufferin Grove Park

Head to the Dufferin Grove Park––one of our favourites in the city––for huge, sprawling trees that provide ample shade on a hot summer day. Enjoy the playground and wading pool, play in the huge sand pit, and bring out your little skateboarders or ice skaters, depending on the season. 

875 Dufferin St, Toronto

• A Great Place to Eat: Sky Dragon Chinese Restaurant

Kids love the glass elevator at Sky Dragon, which takes you all the way to the top floor of the Dragon City Shopping Mall in Chinatown. Enjoy great dim sum and a classic Toronto dining experience.

280 Spadina Ave, Toronto

• A Great Place to Stay: The Delta Chelsea Hotel

Ask About the Delta Chelsea Hotel’s Family Fun Package. This downtown hotel has a Family Fun Zone that includes a Kid Centre, a teen lounge, and a 150-foot “corkscrew” water slide at their heated indoor pool. 

33 Gerrard St W, Toronto

• Worth the drive: The African Lion Safari, Blue Mountain Resort and Great Wolf Lodge

Near Cambridge, you’ll find a cool drive-through wildlife park where you can see more than 1,000 exotic birds and animals. Over at Blue Mountain Resort on the shore of Georgian Bay, you can try their alpine roller coaster, or go hiking, biking and swimming. And for a blast in Niagara Falls, check out Great Wolf Lodge for its enormous indoor waterpark and awesome MagiQuest interactive treasure hunt!

If you’re stuck on what to do when visiting Toronto, start with this list. We think you’ll love exploring these fantastic activities in the city with your family. From indoor family activities Toronto offers, like the Royal Ontario Museum to the thrill of Centre Island’s amusement park to the serene charm of Dufferin Grove Park, there’s endless fun––rain or shine. Whether you’re discovering ancient fossils or enjoying dim sum in Chinatown, these spots are sure to promise unforgettable moments for the entire family.