Right after visiting St. Catharines and Niagara Falls we made our way over to Toronto. This was my family's and I's first time visiting Toronto (aside from the airport on connecting flights), so we took this opportunity to get to explore it a little. Here is a brief over view of what we did while exploring Toronto!

1. The Grand Hotel

For starters we booked a hotel in downtown Toronto. The one we chose to stay at was The Grand Hotel on Jarvis Street and it was definitely a luxurious place to stay. Not only was it beautiful and up to date, they had roof top jacuzzis which was accompanied with a giant screen (top right photo) which played music videos. If the screen was't enough the view was (bottom right photo). It had one of the most beautiful city views I've seen, especially at night. Like most hotels they also had a swimming pool (which you can see in the top middle photo), gym, and restaurant. Our room was on the top floor so we also managed to get an amazing view from our room (far left photo).

2. Eaton Centre

The Eaton Centre is known to be one of Canada's more famous shopping centres, known for its size and the many brands brands located inside. We came to this mall quite a few times whether it be to browse around or visit the foodcourt in the lowest level. It was an awesome place to roam around in and experience all that it had to offer. Also lots of celebs are known to visit here.

3. CN Tower

This was an obvious must when visiting Toronto. It was incredible to go up in this tower and walk around both inside looking through the windows and on the outside where you got to experience how windy it was. We managed to get some pretty cool shots of downtown Toronto and inside of the Blue Jays Stadium.

4. Casa Loma

Casa Loma was not something that I expected to see when in Toronto. It was a castle located up on a hill that not only contained gorgeous grounds and architecture, but had underground tunnels to the stables and access up into the tall towers. It was absolutely beautiful to walk through this castle which was built for Businessman Sir Henry Pellet and his wife between 1911-1914. You are also given a handheld device which allows you to receive information and facts about different parts of the castle and specific objects. Now it is used as a tourist attraction and can be found in several movies such as The Vow & The Love Guru. I was completely blown away by its beauty and highly recommend visiting this beautiful castle.

5. Toronto Zoo 

One thing I couldn't wait to do while in Toronto was visit the Zoo. Although it was a bit of a drive from where we were staying it was worth it to see the Pandas alone. The Panda exhibit was fairly new to the zoo so it was rather busy but it was definitely worth it to spend some time watching them.

6. Ripley's Aquarium

Yet another thing I did not expect to do while in Toronto was visit an Aquarium. Right next to where the CN Tower  is located is a Ripley's Aquarium. Here you can brows at thousands of different species of underwater creatures. One of the best feature that this place had was an underwater tunnel that you went through. You stood on a moving carpet and it slowly moved you throughout the large tank making it feel as though you were actually in the water with the fish. I highly recommend taking some time to go through here.

7. Bata Shoe Museum

As a girl who loves fashion I felt it was mandatory to check out The Bata Shoe Museum. It was so interesting to not only see in person shoes that celebrities, athletes, and historic figures have worn, but to see the actual history behind shoes and how they differed from different parts of the world.

8. Hockey Hall of Fame

What kind of Canadian would I be if I didn't visit the Hockey Hall of Fame while in Toronto. It was so neat to walk through and see not only historic hockey items from years and years ago, but also items from big games that happened just last year. It was such a huge place to walk through with literally anything hockey related that you could think of. They even had a fake mini rink where you could go and practise your shots.  So neat to walk through such a large part of Canada's history.

9. Kensington Market

We got recommended by some family members who live in Toronto to check out Kensington Market. It's a little street that looks as though its just rows of old houses but it's actually all vintage and privately owned shops. You could literally find anything you want on this street ranging from Vintage Chanel to band pins and cowboy boots. Along with its unique retail items each shop is decorated in some of the strangest things. One just had old beat up mannequins all over the roof while others were painted all sorts of colours and designs.

10. Bloor Street

Like the Kensington Market, Bloor street has a lot to offer as well. On this 25km strip you can find anything from bakeries, to vintage style clothing shops, to high end brand names. It's a long strip with a lot to offer so definitely do some research to see where some of your favourite stores are located.

11. Underground Subway/ PATH   

This may seem like a strange thing to add, but where I'm from we don't have underground subways so we had to check it out. Along with the subway we discovered that there are underground shops and walkways, called PATH, which locals use to walk from place to place without having to embrace the cold weather Toronto can experience. It was neat to discover some lesser known sites that Toronto has to offer, especially when to most this would be a normal, everyday experience.