128 family outings around the GTA, checked by hand
Every place here is real, open to visitors and linked to live directions. Ages, cost and what makes it worth the trip, on one page each.
Toronto (30) · Milton (10) · Caledon (6) · Scarborough (6) · Vaughan (5) · Collingwood (4) · Niagara Falls (4) · Brampton (3) · Markham (3) · Richmond Hill (3) · Downtown Toronto (2) · Midtown Toronto (2) · Muskoka (2) · near Barrie (2) · Oakville (2) · Old Toronto (2) · Uxbridge (2) · Whitchurch-Stouffville (2) · ~1h west of the GTA) (1) · Across the GTA (1) · Aurora (1) · Barrie (1 hr north of the GTA) (1) · Bradford (1) · Burlington (1) · Caledon / Terra Cotta (1) · Cobourg (1) · Collingwood (2 hrs from the GTA) (1) · Elora (90 min west of the GTA) (1) · Etobicoke (1) · Georgian Bay (1) · Halton Hills (1) · Hamilton (1) · Hwy 60 (1) · Innisfil (45 min north of the GTA) (1) · Markham / Richmond Hill (1) · Markham / Toronto (1) · Near Barrie (1) · near Orangeville (1) · near Peterborough (1) · Newmarket (1) · Niagara-on-the-Lake to Niagara Falls (1) · Pickering (1) · Prince Edward County (1) · Simcoe County (1) · St. Catharines (Niagara Region) (1) · Stoney Creek (1) · Stouffville (1) · Stouffville (also Brampton & Barrie) (1) · Toronto (also Mississauga) (1) · Toronto & Markham (1) · Toronto & Vaughan (1) · Vaughan (also Toronto & Mississauga) (1) · Vaughan / Richmond Hill area (1) · west of Kitchener (1) · Whitby (1) · Whitby (also Oakville) (1)
Toronto
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Claude Monet
The Immersive Experience
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Arcadia Earth
Immersive journey through 17 worlds
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Kayak & SUP rentals at Harbourfront
Rent a kayak or stand-up paddleboard downtown and paddle toward the Toronto Islands lagoons, no experience needed, lessons available.
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Paddle boats at Centre Island
Swan-shaped paddle boats on the Centre Island lagoons, a ferry ride, a paddle, and Centreville rides all in one car-free afternoon.
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Ward's Island & Hanlan's Point beaches
Quiet, swimmable beaches a 15-minute ferry from downtown, Ward's is the calm family end with picnic tables under the trees.
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Cherry Beach
The calm dog-friendly cove
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Sunnyside Gus Ryder Pool
Swim beside the lake
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Trillium Park & the William G. Davis Trail
A carved-granite waterfront park on the old Ontario Place grounds, skyline lookouts, a fire-pit bluff, and lakeside picnic lawns.
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Tall ship harbour cruise on the Kajama
Sail Toronto's harbour on a 165-foot three-masted schooner, kids can help hoist the sails; the skyline does the rest.
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Helicopter tour over downtown Toronto
Seven minutes over the CN Tower, the harbour and the Islands, a genuine bucket-list view that costs less than dinner for four.
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Paddle the Humber River from Old Mill
Rent a kayak or canoe under the Old Mill bridge and paddle a surprisingly wild stretch of the Humber, herons and turtles minutes from the subway.
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Ontario Science Centre pop-up experiences
While the main building is closed, the Science Centre runs hands-on pop-ups at Harbourfront and Sherway, check what's on before you go.
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Riverdale Farm
A free farm inside the city
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High Park
Free zoo + the castle playground
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Aga Khan Museum & its reflecting-pool courtyard
A serene white-granite museum of Islamic art with formal gardens and pools, one of Toronto's most beautiful buildings, rarely crowded.
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Black Creek Pioneer Village time-travel day
An 1860s village where costumed blacksmiths, millers and tinsmiths actually work, kids can try period chores and games.
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Graffiti Alley & Kensington Market walk
A kilometre of legal murals behind Queen West, then snacks through Kensington Market, free, photogenic, and teen-approved.
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Toronto Music Garden
A garden composed by Yo-Yo Ma
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Evergreen Brick Works
Ponds, trails & Saturday market
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Edwards Gardens & the Don ravine trails
Manicured gardens that spill into wild Don River ravine trails, stroller-friendly paths, a teaching garden, and free entry.
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Bike the Leslie Street Spit to the lighthouse
A car-free 5 km spit jutting into Lake Ontario, cormorant colonies, skyline views and a lighthouse at the end. Weekends only.
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stackt market
Shipping-container food yard
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Amsterdam BrewHouse lakefront patio
600 seats of lakeside patio with its own brewery, kid-friendly before evening, and the boardwalk is right there for a post-meal walk.
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The Bentway
Skating under the Gardiner
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Nathan Phillips Square rink under the Toronto sign
The classic: skating laps under the glowing TORONTO sign with City Hall's curves overhead. Free ice, cheap rentals, open into the evening.
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Distillery Winter Village
Lights, stalls, and cocoa
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Toronto's free public archery range in E.T. Seton Park
A real outdoor archery range in a Don Valley park, free, first-come, open dawn to dusk. Bring or rent gear; beginners welcome next to serious longbow folks.
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Crothers Woods
Real mountain biking inside the city
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Sgt. Splatter's
Indoor paintball any day of the year
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Othership
Sauna and ice bath rounds downtown
Milton
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Mountain biking & cliff-top trails at Kelso
The Escarpment's classic mountain-bike hill, flowy forest singletrack with lake views, plus a beach at the bottom to cool off after.
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Kelso's escarpment chairlift
Fall foliage from above
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Glen Eden
A family ski hill on Kelso's escarpment
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Learn outdoor rock climbing at Rattlesnake Point
The GTA's classic outdoor climbing crag, certified guiding outfits run beginner top-rope days on the same limestone cliffs the pros train on.
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Ski & snowboard day at Glen Eden
The closest real ski hill to most of the GTA, night skiing, a terrain park, and learn-to-ski programs that actually fit a day trip.
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Chudleigh's apple farm & giant slides
Apple picking plus tree-house climbs, hill slides and famous apple blossoms from the bakery, a full-day farm classic since 1967.
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Halton County Radial Railway, streetcars through the woods
Ride restored streetcars through 2 km of wooded track, then walk the museum and its 75 historic railway vehicles. Admission covers unlimited rides. Adults $26 plus HST.
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Crawford Lake boardwalk & reconstructed longhouse village
A floating boardwalk around a rare meromictic lake plus a reconstructed 15th-century Iroquoian village, an easy, fascinating loop.
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Rattlesnake Point cliff lookouts
Short forest loops to limestone cliff-edge lookouts over the Escarpment, turkey vultures ride the updrafts at eye level.
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Hilton Falls
The waterfall you can stand behind
Caledon
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Albion Hills conservation swim pond & bike trails
A supervised swim pond with a sandy edge inside 470 hectares of rolling forest, pair a swim with the GTA's best family mountain-bike trails.
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Downey's Farm
Animals, wagon rides & play barns
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Forks of the Credit
Waterfall, kettle lakes, hills
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Cheltenham Badlands
Mars-red hills an hour away
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Albion Hills
Cross-country ski and snowshoe close to home
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Forks of the Credit Road
The GTA's own hairpin drive
Scarborough
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Bluffer's Park Beach under the Scarborough Bluffs
A sandy, lifeguarded beach at the foot of 90-metre white cliffs, feels like a coastal escape, 30 minutes from downtown.
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Paddle beneath the Scarborough Bluffs
Launch a rented kayak from Bluffer's Park and paddle along the base of the cliffs, one of the most dramatic shorelines on Lake Ontario.
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Toronto Zoo
10 km of trails and 3,000 animals
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Scarborough Bluffs lookout at Cathedral Bluffs Park
The top-of-the-cliffs view most Torontonians have never seen, 90 metres above the lake, five minutes from parking.
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Rouge National Urban Park
Vista Trail & marsh boardwalk
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Doris McCarthy Trail
A ravine down to the Bluffs shore
Vaughan
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Splash Works waterpark at Canada's Wonderland
20-acre waterpark inside Wonderland, Canada's largest outdoor wave pool, 16+ slides, and a splash zone for little kids, all on one admission.
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Coaster day at Canada's Wonderland
17 roller coasters including Yukon Striker, the world's longest dive coaster, Canada's biggest collection of serious thrill rides.
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LEGOLAND Discovery Centre
Two rides, a 4D cinema and a MINILAND Toronto built from a million bricks, sized for the 3-10 crowd, adults must bring a kid.
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McMichael Canadian Art Collection in the woods
The Group of Seven in a log-and-stone gallery over the Humber Valley, pair the art with the sculpture trail through the forest.
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Kortright Centre
Forest trails and the March sugar bush
Collingwood
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Scenic Caves
Snowshoe to a 25 m suspension bridge
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Scenic Caves
Caverns and a 25 m suspension bridge up top
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Blue Mountain in summer
Coaster, gondola, open-air village
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Scandinave Spa Blue Mountain
Hot pools and a waterfall plunge in the forest
Niagara Falls
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Niagara Takes Flight
The new flying theatre at the Falls
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Voyage to the Falls
The boat into the Horseshoe mist
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Journey Behind the Falls
Tunnels under the Horseshoe
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MistRider Zipline
670 m along the gorge to the falls
Brampton
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Professor's Lake beach & pedal boats in Brampton
A 65-acre spring-fed lake in the middle of Brampton with a sandy swimming beach, pedal boats, and a water slide.
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Wet'n'Wild Toronto waterpark
Full-day waterpark with racing slides, a lazy river, wave pool and a dedicated little-kids splash area.
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Treetop Trekking Brampton
Ziplines over Heart Lake
Markham
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Joyride 150 indoor bike park
100,000 sq ft of indoor pump tracks, jumps and skills lines for mountain bikes and BMX, beginner zones and rentals mean first-timers ride too.
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Pacific Mall food adventure
North America's largest indoor Asian mall, snack-hop from bubble tea to egg waffles to hand-pulled noodles without repeating a cuisine.
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Main Street Unionville ice-cream stroll
A storybook 19th-century main street, Old Firehall Confectionery sweets, the duck pond, and the boardwalk at Toogood Pond.
Richmond Hill
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Lake Wilcox waterfront park & canoe launch
Richmond Hill's own kettle lake, splash pad, waterfront boardwalk, playground, and a canoe/kayak launch on the north shore.
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The Wave Pool
Indoor waves year-round in Richmond Hill
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Look through Canada's largest telescope in Richmond Hill
Saturday-night public viewings through a 74-inch telescope, the largest in Canada, hiding in a Richmond Hill park.
Downtown Toronto
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EdgeWalk
Hang off the CN Tower
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Walk the shark tunnel at Ripley's Aquarium
The moving glass tunnel under Dangerous Lagoon puts sharks and sawfish directly overhead, go at opening or after 5pm to dodge crowds.
Midtown Toronto
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Escape rooms inside a real castle
Theatrical escape games with live actors staged through Casa Loma's real tunnels and secret rooms, closer to immersive theatre than a puzzle box.
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Casa Loma
A real castle with secret tunnels
Muskoka
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Arrowhead's torch-lit ice trail
Worth the drive
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Arrowhead in summer
Stubbs Falls, lake beaches, easy canoes
near Barrie
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Horseshoe Resort snow tubing
Big hills, zero skill
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Hardwood Ski and Bike
Olympic-calibre trails year-round
Oakville
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Bronte Creek
Ravine trails plus a children's farm
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Lion's Valley Park
The Sixteen Mile Creek gorge
Old Toronto
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Distillery District cobblestone wander
Car-free Victorian lanes of galleries, chocolate shops and patios, an easy two-hour wander with good stroller access.
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St. Lawrence Market food crawl
The classic: a peameal bacon sandwich at Carousel Bakery, then graze the lower-level cheese and pastry stalls. Closed Mondays.
Uxbridge
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Durham Regional Forest
The GTA's trail capital
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Dagmar
The north Durham singletrack network
Whitchurch-Stouffville
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LOL PlayLab
Indoor playground & edutainment
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Uplå
A suspended world in the treetops
~1h west of the GTA)
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Rockwood Conservation Area
Swimming holes, caves & giant potholes
Across the GTA
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Mega indoor playgrounds for burn-the-energy days
Multi-storey climbers, ball cannons and toddler zones, the GTA's big indoor playgrounds are the honest answer to a rainy Saturday.
Aurora
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OceanLoop
Indoor playground in Aurora
Barrie (1 hr north of the GTA)
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Snow tubing at Snow Valley
Ontario's biggest tubing park, lift-serviced lanes so you ride up and bomb down all day, zero skill required.
Bradford
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Kids Cuckoos Nest
Indoor play, Bradford
Burlington
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Mount Nemo
Cliff lookouts with soaring turkey vultures
Caledon / Terra Cotta
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Guided horseback trail ride in the Caledon hills
Walk-pace guided trail rides through Niagara Escarpment forest, many stables take first-timers and kids about 9 and up.
Cobourg
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Cobourg Beach
The boardwalk beach an hour east
Collingwood (2 hrs from the GTA)
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Blue Mountain adventure day trip
The Ridge Runner mountain coaster, open-air gondola, ropes courses and a walkable village, the GTA's default big-adventure day trip in any season.
Elora (90 min west of the GTA)
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Tube the rapids through the Elora Gorge
Float and bounce down the Grand River between 22-metre limestone cliffs, helmets and tubes rented on site; worth the drive on a hot day.
Etobicoke
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Colonel Sam Smith
The lakeside figure-8 skating trail
Georgian Bay
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Wasaga Beach
The world's longest freshwater beach
Halton Hills
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Limehouse
Ladders through the 'Hole in the Wall' crevices
Hamilton
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Dundas Peak & Tews Falls
The fall-colours lookout
Hwy 60
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Canoe Lake day trip
Paddle Algonquin and be home by dark
Innisfil (45 min north of the GTA)
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Tandem skydive over Simcoe County
A real 12,500-foot tandem jump strapped to a certified instructor, the biggest adrenaline hit within an hour of the city.
Markham / Richmond Hill
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Asian night-market food fests (summer weekends)
Taiwanese-style night markets pop up across York Region in summer, stinky tofu, skewers, and carnival games after dark.
Markham / Toronto
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Archery dodgeball (combat archery)
Dodgeball with foam-tipped arrows in a padded arena, the game your kids will describe at school for a week.
Near Barrie
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Smart Adventure, dirt biking an hour north of Toronto
Learn to ride a 250cc dirt bike on forest singletrack with no licence needed. Move up to a Surron, or take out a BMW adventure bike if you are licensed. From $194 for two hours.
near Orangeville
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Mono Cliffs
Crevice caves and a treetop lookout
near Peterborough
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Warsaw Caves
Crawl seven limestone caves, swim after
Newmarket
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Lil Play Cafe
Play space and coffee, Newmarket
Niagara-on-the-Lake to Niagara Falls
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Niagara Parkway
The river road from NOTL to the falls
Pickering
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Seaton Hiking Trail
13 km of river valley in Pickering
Prince Edward County
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Sandbanks
Dunes and warm shallows in the County
Simcoe County
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South Simcoe Railway, a steam train through Beeton Creek valley
Ride a restored steam train through the Beeton Creek valley behind a working 1883 station. Short run, big noise, and the engine crew will talk to anyone who asks.
St. Catharines (Niagara Region)
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Morningstar Mill
A working 1872 grist mill at DeCew Falls
Stoney Creek
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Puddicombe Estate, the $9 orchard train ride
A little train runs through the orchards for about $9 a seat. Pick your own apples after, then the bakery and the estate winery for the grown ups.
Stouffville
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Goodwood Kartways
Outdoor racing karts at speed
Stouffville (also Brampton & Barrie)
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Treetop Trekking zipline & aerial park
Ziplines, wobbly bridges and Tarzan swings through the forest canopy, separate kids' courses from age 5, big courses for teens and parents.
Toronto (also Mississauga)
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VR arena & games at The Rec Room
Free-roam VR, axe throwing lanes, and a two-storey arcade inside the historic Roundhouse, a full high-energy evening under one roof.
Toronto & Markham
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Family climbing session at a bouldering gym
Padded-floor bouldering means kids climb real walls with zero rope fuss, most GTA gyms run drop-in family sessions on weekends.
Toronto & Vaughan
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Axe throwing at BATL
The company that started urban axe throwing, coached lanes, round-robin matches, and the deeply satisfying thunk of a bullseye.
Vaughan (also Toronto & Mississauga)
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K1 Speed indoor electric go-karting
Fast electric karts on a pro-style indoor circuit with live lap timing, junior karts run from about age 8 / 48 inches.
Vaughan / Richmond Hill area
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Glow-in-the-dark mini putt
Black-light mini golf where everything glows, a reliable 90-minute crowd-pleaser for mixed ages, any weather.
west of Kitchener
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Snyder's Family Farm
Corn maze, pumpkins & campfire pods
Whitby
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Thermëa Whitby
A Nordic spa village 45 minutes from the city
Whitby (also Oakville)
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iFLY indoor skydiving
Real freefall in a vertical wind tunnel, kids as young as 4 can fly, and it works rain or shine.
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