Beyond these well-known attractions, Ontario offers much more. Bordering four of the five Great Lakes as well as Hudson Bay, Ontario has more than 3,000 kilometers (2,300 miles) of shoreline. This vast forested province stretches from the southernmost point in Canada nearly to the Arctic.
On the shore of Lake of Two Rivers in Ontario. Photo © Elena Elisseeva/123rf.
With all that space, Ontario has countless options for outdoor adventures. You can skate along the world’s largest ice rink, hike Canada’s longest hiking route, or swim in the country’s biggest “swimming hole.” You can go cycling, canoeing, white-water rafting, cross-country skiing, even dogsledding. And while you may not think of Canada as a diving destination, you can even scuba-dive or snorkel among shipwrecks on the floor of the Great Lakes.
Yet Ontario—home to Canada’s most diverse population—delivers plenty of cultural adventures as well. More than half of Toronto’s residents were born outside Canada, giving the city a vibrant multicultural buzz. You could breakfast on French croissants, lunch on Japanese okonomiyaki, and end your day with Italian, Greek, or Caribbean fare.
In central Ontario, Old Order Mennonites still travel by horse and buggy and sell homemade preserves at local farmers markets. Roughly 25 percent of Canada’s aboriginal population lives in Ontario, where you can hike through the wilderness with an aboriginal guide or watch a performance at a First Nations-run theater. You can also follow the Underground Railroad, which sheltered people fleeing slavery during the U.S. Civil War.
Ontario has laid-back college towns, Canada’s first oil well, and scores of wineries, maple syrup makers, and apple orchards. You can take in a hockey game or take the train to an eco-lodge in a remote aboriginal community. You’ll find the Thousand Islands and far more than a thousand things to do.
Excerpted from the Second Edition of Moon Ontario.
