Love Travelling Blog

Little Canada

A few years ago I’d had the pleasure of visiting Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg which I’d adored, so when I discovered that there was a Little Canada in Toronto, I knew that it was somewhere I wanted to visit.

Spanning 45,000 sq.ft. the attraction takes visitors to seven destinations in Canada through a miniature world. The areas covered include Little Niagara, Little Toronto, Little Golden Horseshoe, Little Ottawa, Pétit Quebéc, Little East Coast and the recently completed Little West Coast. The West Coast addition features scenes from Vancouver, Victoria and other destinations around the province of British Columbia. With so much attention to detail, with tiny, intricate parts we learnt that over 25,000 hours were dedicated to creating this new addition.

As Little Canada is one of the city’s top attractions we planned our arrival for 10.00 a.m. just as it was opening so that we could enjoy viewing the layouts with few people around. The miniature experience starts locally in Toronto so this section was very meaningful to us as we were able to pick out landmarks and attractions that we’d visited over the last few days. From the CN Tower to Union Station every little detail has been carefully laid out before your eyes.

Moving on, we viewed the Niagara Falls layout which was also very well interpreted and then continued on to Pétit Québec which brought back fond memories of the earlier part of our holiday based over in Montreal. We’d previously visited British Columbia albeit around 20 years ago so we were able to pick out such landmarks as Stanley Park, the Steam Clock in Gastown and the beautiful Victoria harbour on these layouts.

The miniature world incorporates a 10 minute day to night cycle when daylight turns to darkness. Street lamps turn on and twinkling lights can be seen through apartment windows, casting an enchanting glow over the experience.

My verdict – Little Canada is an unforgettable journey through Canada’s history, landscape and an enchanting experience for both young and old and is constantly being expanded to include more parts of the country. The layouts are so beautiful that it has made us realise that there is so much of Canada we want to see, not just in miniature but also in real life. Little Canada

Royal Ontario Museum

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is the most visited museum in Canada and similar to our very own Natural History Museum in London. There was a queue snaking along the front of the building when we arrived but thankfully this moved fairly quickly and it wasn’t too long until we were inside.

The museum is enormous spanning five levels containing over 40 galleries and as such there was no way we would be able to cover everything in one visit, so we picked up a map and concentrated on some of its highlights and areas of particular interest to ourselves.

We started off with the fossilised skeletons of colossal dinosaurs which were fascinating to view and definitely the most popular gallery for younger visitors. Our visit had coincided with Toronto’s spring break, with lots of hands-on activities taking place for children.

Thankfully for us, the other galleries were less crowded and we enjoyed spending time examining minerals, gemstones and exquisite temple art. Royal Ontario Museum

Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art

Directly across the road from the Royal Ontario Museum lies the Gardiner Museum dedicated to ceramic art so we decided to take the opportunity of visiting there next. The museum was founded in 1984 by George Gardiner and his wife Helen to house their ever growing collection of ancient American artefacts and European pottery. Spread over three floors, the breathtaking collection spans several thousand years.

From historical and classic to sophisticated and contemporary, there is plenty to see at the museum. As it was only a few months earlier that we had toured the Wedgwood factory and museum in Stoke-on-Trent we were thrilled to find some Jasper Wedgwood on display in its galleries. Please note that at the time of writing the museum was undergoing major renovations resulting in the ground floor galleries being temporarily closed. Gardiner Museum

Casa Loma

Located a little further out of town stands the castle like Casa Loma which was yet another of our favourite places to visit in Toronto. Getting there was easy as we took the subway to Dupont Station and after a short walk climbed the 110 Baldwin Steps up to the castle like structure.

Casa Loma was constructed in 1911 as a private residence for financier Sir Henry Pellatt and was the largest home in the whole of Canada at that time. Sadly, it was a family home for less than ten years before rising taxes and the pressures of a wartime Canada forced the Pellatts to leave their dream “castle”. In the years following the house had many reincarnations before finally being rescued and preserved as a museum.

Visits to this fanciful Gothic styled grand home are by self guided tours and what a joy it was to explore this enormous house. The Great Hall is absolutely beautiful as was the library containing more than 10,000 books. We climbed up the many narrow staircases to the top of the Gothic towers where we were rewarded with splendid views of the Toronto skyline. Casa Loma.

Illuminarium

For a complete change of scene an evening at Illuminarium in the vibrant Distillery district could be a possibility. Tickets enable visitors to view two one hour long immersive experiences which run on a looped format.

When we arrived SPACE was just about to start so we watched that first. With its 360 degree presentation the production took on a realistic journey through the galaxy. This was followed by the more family oriented Journey to Oz which offers a fresh take on the ever popular Wizard of Oz.

From a personal viewpoint we enjoyed SPACE the most, with children adoring the latter and joining in with the singing and dancing. Unlike an IMAX theatre, the audience are actively encouraged to move around during the experience with clustered seating randomly arranged around the space for those wishing to sit and relax. Illuminarium Toronto

If you have enjoyed this post you may also like:

The Getty Villa, Santa Monica, Venice and Beverly Hills, California

Little Island and Gantry Plaza State Park, New York

We were guests of Destination Toronto whilst exploring Toronto’s museums and attractions.