Ontario Guide

Canada Overview | Canada Map | Canada Pictures

When to Travel to [south] Ontario:
Best: May-Sept. To ski, Dec-March.
Worst: Oct-March unless for winter sports. As always, in July/August crowds & prices will be up.

Canada Tours
More tour operators offering tours to Canada can be found in our listings here: Canada Tours

Main Festivals guide to Ontario:
Some festivals are not yet confirmed, so please check before you book.
Feb, weekends only, Ottawa Winterlude festival [picture top left] features parades, dances, snow races, ice sculptures, sleigh rides and more, but especially skating. If you love skating, this is a definite must-do.
Mid-May, Ottawa Tulip Festival, a five day city-wide street party for all ages surrounded by 100,000's of tulips.
Summer, one week, Toronto, Caribana West Indian carnival, complete with parades of calypso bands, parties, ethnic foodstuffs and dancing in the street.
July, Ottawa, Canada Day, free concerts, fireworks and other events.
May-Nov, Niagara-on-Lake, Shaw [theatre] Festival.

For dates see: Eng' Speaking Festivals

Activities guide around Ottawa:
Skiing: there are various pretty good ski slopes within an hour's drive
Skating: on the 5 mile Rideau Canal, with heated changing rooms during Jan/Feb.
Walks/hikes: Plenty of these, including the 125 mile Rideau Trail. The Algonquin Park, near Ottawa is huge and full of nature's best efforts.
Sailing and canoeing: on the ubiquitous Rideau Canal of course.
Jogging: Many excellent routes, including the Rideau Canal.
Golf: 30 courses near Ottawa Well, what do you expect with all the politicians around? April-November.
Autumn maple leaf colour changes: mid-Sept to mid-October.

Where to go in Ontario:
Ottawa guide: Canada's national capital is relatively small with a population of well under one million, 35% of whom speak French as their first language.
It's an eminently liveable city, well-planned, traditional in style and spacious, with an abundance of recreational and cultural activities, but apart from the National Museum of Civilization, the fantastic National Gallery and various performing arts centres there isn't much here that a tourist must do...unless you're a skate freak, in which case the 5 mile long rink of the Rideau Canal, particularly during the Winterlude festival, is made for you.

Toronto guide: on Lake Ontario, Toronto is an energetic, scattered city, with the main tourist focus on downtown: the Harbourfront Centre of markets, galleries and boat trips; the Toronto Islands via a short ferry ride - with walks, restaurants and amusements; more of that at Ontario Place park; the CN Tower.
A 90 minute drive will get you to the USA via the Peace Bridge, or to the Niagara Falls.

Niagara guide: the world's most photographed sight [picture top right] keeps on thundering over the top, even though tacky attractions now envelop it like mist.
You should take a boat under the deluge to really appreciate the spectacle.
Around the Falls there is also the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory and Niagara-on-Lake's 'British' village with its well-known Shaw Festival.

BC & Alberta Guide

Atlantic Provinces | Quebec Guide

Manitoba/Saskatchewan /The North

More English speaking travel spots:

UK Travel Guide | Ireland Travel

New Zealand Guide | Australia Guide

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