There are lots of great places to visit in Toronto! Here’s a few of our favourites. Click on titles to be redirected to the appropriate website.

Art Gallery of Ontario
The AGO is Toronto’s largest art gallery with contemporary and classic works from all over the world. It’s especially noted for its collection of Group of Seven paintings and Henry Moore sculptures – as well as an enormous collection of model ships. But the showstopper here is the architecture; recently redesigned by starchitect Frank Gehry, the winding wood staircases and soaring Galleria Italia are reason enough to visit. It also has a large and excellent gift shop. The major exhibition at the time of our wedding will feature works by Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris and was curated by Steve Martin. (Yes – that Steve Martin.) The AGO is just a few minutes’ walk from Ocho.

Royal Ontario Museum
Dinosaurs! Mummies! The bat cave! The largest museum in Canada collects together human and natural history under one roof. Not to be outdone by the AGO, the ROM was rebuilt a few years back to a design by world-famous architect Daniel Liebskind. It has one of the world’s largest collections of fossils, and in addition to nature and historical items on display it also has an extensive collection of design and fine art objects. Major exhibitions this summer are on the history of tattoos and drawings from eighteenth-century Japan.

Ripley’s Aquarium
Everybody loves the Aquarium. It’s not gigantic, and tends to get overrun with families and school tours, but seeing sharks swim overhead as you let the moving walkway take you through an enourmous tank, and watching jellyfish light up a pitch-black water tank – that’s pretty cool. It’s great for kids and is located at the base of the CN Tower, just a few minutes’ walk from the Hyatt, so make it part of a day out and about.

CN Tower
All right, we’re gonna be honest – we both think this one’s kind of a tourist trap. It’s pretty expensive to go up, the lines are long, and you’re really just doing it for the view. But, hey, if you haven’t been here, you’re gonna do it, so might as well get it over with. It is, after all, Toronto’s most recognizable landmark, and until a few years ago was the tallest freestanding structure made by human beings. If you can swing it, try to go up at sunset – it’s cool to see the city from above by day and by night. And if you’ve got the guts (and a couple hundred dollars to spare) give the Edge Walk a try.

Toronto Island
New York has Central Park – it can keep it. I’ll stick with my island. It’s a little bit harder to get to (word to the wise: buy ferry tickets online at www.toronto.ca/ferry because the lineups at the terminal are pretty brutal) but it’s worth it. A large park with the best view of the city skyline (better than the CN Tower for sure), great for cycling, a small amusement park and petting zoo, a haunted lighthouse, the city’s best beaches (the water is great for swimming), and a car-less village; you could easily spend a day here. Pack a picnic!

St. Lawrence Market
National Geographic called it the world’s best food market for a reason. St. Lawrence Market is an enormous Victorian marketplace with two levels of food vendors of all kinds: fresh fish, some of the best bagels in town, mustards and homemade condiments, fruit and veg, deli meats, baked goods, you name it. There’s shopping and restaurant stalls, too, and a farmer’s market every Saturday. Just be aware that the market is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

TIFF Bell Lightbox
Matt had to add this one. Toronto is one of the world’s great cities for film, and the Toronto International Film Festival is at the center of it all. The world’s largest film festival, it’s held every September and attracts thousands of celebrities, industry types, and visitors from all over the world. But TIFF has activities year-round, centered on its shiny new headquarters (which happens to be located next door to the Hyatt Regency). The Lightbox has five of the best cinemas showing some of the best movies in the world right now and across the history of cinema. There is a museum of film (unfortunately the major exhibition, about Andy Warhol, just closed), restaurants and a bar, and a small but excellent shop dedicated to all things film. You’ll be in the neighbourhood anyway so you might as well see what’s playing!

Other sites to see...
You might also be interested in visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame, catching a Jays game at the Rogers Centre (they’ll be playing the Orioles in Toronto during our wedding weekend), checking out the amazing ceramics collection at the Gardiner Museum, exploring the history of footwear at the quirky Bata Shoe Museum, going off the beaten track to the new and gorgeous Aga Khan Museum, checking out the charming Toronto Railway Museum (across the street from the CN Tower, Rogers Centre, and aquarium), or hiking around High Park, the largest mainland park in central Toronto.