As a travel blogger, it’s the equivalent of asking me what’s my favourite destination – and trust me I get asked that question a lot.
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This year marked the 9th annual Toronto Christmas Market at the Distillery Historic District. As former Expats in Europe and your friendly neighborhood Christmas market expert, we didn’t feel that visiting the Toronto Christmas Markets was much of a choice; it was just something that we HAD to do. It’s tradition.
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I had no idea that Canada had castles, let alone this many. I have seen Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, but it is a hotel and I didn’t think much of it. Because Canada has never had royalty live on our land, I found it hard to believe that these were true castles. Germany has enlightened me a little in this respect; Schloss and Burg both mean castle, as well as a large house, palace or mansion. Casa Loma is Spanish for Hill House and is literally a castle-looking mansion. While I am not saying this building is being overplayed or not worth your time, because it was amazing to see and the views are incredible, just don’t expect Neuschwanstein when someone says “hey, want to visit the Castle in downtown Toronto”.
Keep in mind, this is Casa Loma in Ontario, Canada. There appear to be many hotels, apartments, and buildings with the name Casa Loma throughout the world. Notably in San Fransico and Columbia. Watch those Google results before clicking anything.
We arrived in Toronto via Go Train from out of town and landed at Union Station. It wasn’t hard to find TC transit from inside the station, just follow the signs within the building or the heard of people all going away from the station – it’s a good indicator that you are going the right way. During construction and renovations, it is hard to see the signs for elevators or ramps but they do exist, just keep looking.
This being said, I don’t suggest you take the TC transit to Casa Loma Castle, unless you are prepared to fold the stroller. We took Line 1 Subway from Union to Dupont, which is the closest station to the castle. This is where the no-so-stroller friendly part comes in. There are no elevators at Dupont, only narrow escalators. While this would normally be fine, I had my mom, my son, my nephew and my daughter (in her BOB stroller – not the smallest of jogging strollers). We had a construction worker help me fold and carry the stroller up the stairs while my mom took the 3 kids on the escalator. Once up top, we noticed our sidewalk was closed due to construction, hence the worker, and the only way around was to go back down and take the other escalator to the proper side of the road. Another helpful gentleman in uniform stopped traffic so our group could cross instead. Such a great group of guy. I love Canada!
There are a few other stations that are handi-friendly but they are not close and would require a bus/tram transfer. There is a bus that will get you there from Union; 320 North. Get out at Yonge St and Shaftesbury Ave north and walk 2km to the castle doors. From Dupont, it is a 600m walk, or roughly 10 minutes, up and around, to reach the front entrance. There are signs along the way in case you get turned around.
Casa Loma tickets
or Save up to 50% off combined prices for admission to must-see attractions with CityPASS Toronto
Visiting Casa Loma with kids
Stroller parking is an invisible area next to the Piano that is not marked all that well. The staff at the front doors say nothing has ever happened to pieces left behind, but I wasn’t about to risk it. We left our snacks and hats in the storage bucket and grabbed our valuables.
From here, send a member of the family down the stairs and into the gift shop (how clever) to retrieve the free audio guides. I grabbed 5 guides, one for everyone, and hoped this meant my mom and I would be able to listen to a few sections of tape.
Nope. This is why I do guides tours; audio guides just don’t cut it.
One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to look for souvenirs to take home for family and friends and something for my bookshelf! Check out the Best Souvenirs from Canada for a few suggestions.
We popped our heads out on to the deck and had a gorgeous view of the gardens. The kids kept asking if they could see the fountain up close – not sure if they wanted to throw coins in it or swim in it.
FYI – there is a food stall just outside of the back doors, and they sell ice cream. Food is not allowed in the building so it must be eaten in the gardens. There are benches everywhere as well as a sitting area next to the stall. But at 10 am, no thank you.
I could have easily spent a few more hours checking out this great Casa. There is even a wine cellar and bar in the basement, next to the souvenir shop, again – very clever. Between the two strollers and the carrier, why not. But, we had my nephew with us and my sister was running errands in the city so we had to meet up with her and continue on our day-trip full of kids activities.
I thought Munchkin had had enough of castles but he seemed really happy to show his cousin and mémère all he knows about castles and “knights in shiny armor”.
Big thank you for Casa Loma for this wonderful opportunity to work with you. The kids and I are very appreciative.
An excellent resource for planning all of Canada can we found with the Lonely Planet Canada Guide.
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Having spent the better part of a week exploring Barrie, Ontario and everything it has to offer, we decided to change the scene and take a trip to Toronto for the day with the kids. Taking a day trip to Toronto isn’t nearly as scary as it sounds. Load up on Timmies, pack a picnic bag, and you are ready to go.
Notice how we didn’t say “load the car”… we have made it a personal mission to never drive in Toronto if could avoid it. I took the train to university 4 days a week for 3 years, this was going to be a piece of cake.
The first thing you need to do is grab the train really early in the morning, but not “Commuter Traffic” early. We arrived at the Allandale Go Station around 7 am, found plenty of parking, and waited patiently for the train. The bonus of being at the start of the line – no fighting for space to hold the strollers. Between the 5 kids, we had 3 strollers so we needed the room. The center car has a ramp and plenty of space for wheelchairs and strollers – as is the intended purpose.
2 hours later, we arrived at Union Station in Downtown Toronto. The possibilities here are endless. A quick walk over to the TC section of the station and we were on our way to Casa Loma.
Once all the commuters are at work, and students are in school, there doesn’t seem to be many people riding out of Union Station at 930 am. Good for us.
Before we get too far into our journey, I want to point out a great way to see it all and save a bit of coin at the same time. Save up to 50% off combined prices for admission to must-see attractions with CityPASS Toronto! One less you have to wait for as well.
Starting from the furthest point and working our way back down to the station, we took the kids to visit Casa Loma. It is one of Canada’s few castles, as we have never had a monarch reside on Canadian soil, only important and rich families building important and expensive homes.
Stroller parking is available on the ground floor and free audio guides are located on the lower level. After strapping the baby into my trusty carrier, we took off throughout the castle for a self-guided tour.
Munchkin loved being able to show his mémère and cousin around a castle, considering he is a pro at it by now.
>> Click here for more on our adventure at Casa Loma <<
The Royal Ontario Museum was a great way to spend 2 hours with the kids. We had a quick lunch before heading upstairs. Because it was only a day trip, we didn’t have time to visit the entire museum. Instead, we decided to stick to the major point for kids – Dinosaurs! Who doesn’t love a good dinosaur exhibit?
While it hasn’t changed much since I last visited in college (I won’t tell you how long that has been but let’s just say… it’s been a while), it was still a great experience for everyone. A few volunteers are scattered around the exhibits with manipulatives (things they can touch) for the kids to get some hands-on information about dinosaur bones and animals teeth. You’d be surprised how gentle a group of children can be when a complete stranger tells them the artifact is fragile and ancient.
Staying on Level 2, our group was able to visit the two dinosaur halls, as well as Biodiversity, the Bat Cave, Birds, and Discovery Gallery. This took us about 2 hours.
If we didn’t have reservations elsewhere, we would have tried visiting the Level 3; Ancient civilizations, and Level 1; Canadian First Peoples and Asian Special Exhibitions. More for us than them but it’s good to show the kids cultures outside our own and Munchkin has been asking about evolution and Aboriginal Peoples recently. Next time.
Be warned, during the summer months, just outside of the ROM, is an ice cream truck. While I had intended on buying them each a cone, they started asking well before I was prepared to take 5 – persistent – requests. They offer soft-serve vanilla ice cream with various hot dips.
On the way to Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, we walked along the SkyWalk and passed the CN Tower. Tickets start at $38 for kids and $48 for adults, although children under 3 are free. This includes the Skypod. There is also a restaurant and Skywalk for the adventurous adults in the group. We didn’t have the time, or budget, to attempt the climb and to be honest … my fear of heights doesn’t do well with an audience. Climbing the Arc du Triumph alone with the kids was one thing but the CN Tower, no thank you. I will be leaving that one to hubby on another trip.
La Piece de Resistance! The last leg of our day trip was Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada.
By this time it was roughly 3 pm. While Munchkin enjoyed showing his cousin how pro he was at exploring castles, cousin has been to Ripley’s several times and it was his turn to be our little tour guide.
We camped out for a snack on the various benches within the Aquarium and stopped for a group photo near the end when all the babies were awake and happy. The halfway point of the tour had a great mini-cafeteria with snacks, pizza, and drinks; a little overpriced for my taste so I was happy with the snacks that we had packed – others would say two full lunch bags for 5 kids and 3 adults is overkill but no one ever complained about having too much food.
There is also a String Ray petting station and amazing play structure for the kids to burn any energy. There are two large slides and a submarine that leads underneath the shark tank.
The kids had a great time in the shark tank tunnel. The moving carpet was great for keeping the kids all together and focused on the task; can’t speed through if you aren’t allowed to leave the carpet.
After the aquarium, we were all finished. It was time to say goodbye to Toronto and make our way back home. We grabbed bagels at Union Station – because their lack of fast food both surprised and disappointed us all – and enjoyed our souvenirs from all 3 locations on the train ride home… well, the few of that were still standing, anyway. It was a long day.
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