Where to Stay in Toronto, Ontario

What is Toronto known for?

Toronto is known as the largest city in Canada and the capital of Ontario. The CN Tower stands over the harbour at the shore of Lake Ontario, the city's signature against the skyline, with the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario among its great collections. Size and mix define it.

A centre of business, finance and the arts, it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, drawing people from around the globe.

What are the main landmarks in Toronto?

Toronto's landmarks range from the modern to the historic. The CN Tower rises over the lakefront beside Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, the tallest mark on the skyline and the city's signature. History holds its own.

Casa Loma stands on the hill above the centre, old Fort York guards the waterfront, and the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Gardiner Museum gather the city's collections across the core.

What is the history of Toronto?

Toronto's origins on the harbour of Lake Ontario reach back to 1750. The lake drew the first settlement. A trading and military post grew on the sheltered water, the era still marked by old Fort York near the waterfront, at a natural landing on the northwestern shore of the lake.

Water made the place. From that lakeside post the town spread inland and along the shore, taking the name City of Toronto as it grew. Growth never really stopped.

The city rose to become the capital of Ontario and the most populous city in Canada, its skyline later crowned by the CN Tower above the harbour. Trade and arrival shaped it. Wave after wave of newcomers made Toronto one of the most multicultural cities in the world, a character built over generations on the lakeshore.

The harbour that started it still fronts the city.

Where is Toronto?

Toronto sits on a harbour at the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, in the province of Ontario. The lake sets its edge. The city spreads back from the water across a broad plain, its downtown pressed to the shore and its suburbs reaching inland to form the Greater Toronto Area.

Water lies to the south. It anchors the most heavily settled corner of Canada, along the northern rim of Lake Ontario.

What is the climate of Toronto?

Toronto has a temperate climate softened by Lake Ontario at its shore. Summers in Toronto grow warm and muggy. The lake holds the worst of the cold at bay in winter, so the city runs a touch milder than the inland country, though snow and freezing spells still arrive between the seasons.

The water works both ways. It cools the hot days of summer and eases the depth of winter along the shore.

How do you get to Toronto?

Most visitors fly into Toronto, the main gateway into Canada. Flights pour into the city. From the centre, road and rail spread across the Greater Toronto Area and along the shore of Lake Ontario, linking the largest city in the country to the rest of Ontario and beyond.

The lakefront ties it together. Trains and highways follow the water east and west from the harbour.