Things to Do in Canada

Ripley's Moving Theater in Niagara Falls, Ontario, is a fun addition to a visit to the spectacular waterfalls that give the town its name. Kids and adults alike will love the excitement of the 4D movies, which take viewers on a ride right into the action. Sit down, buckle up, and be prepared for a few shrieks and giggles.

 

The films shown at Ripley's Moving Theater combine sight, sound, and movement, for a full sensory experience. The theater has state-of-the-art 6-channel digital surround sound. Strap yourself in tight, as you're in for quite a ride. Enjoy two movies in a row, with a short intermission between them. The movies are for the whole family, so this is an ideal attraction for most ages, and it's open until late at night, so you can visit whenever the urge strikes.

 

As Ripley's Moving Theater is part of the Ripley's Believe It or Not! attraction, many visitors combine a trip with a visit to the Odditorium"”which shows a variety of weird and wonderful exhibits"”as well as Louis Tussaud's Waxworks. Single-attraction or combined-entry tickets can be purchased. Many Niagara Falls day tours from Toronto include some free time, during which it's possible to drop by Ripley's Moving Theater.

 

 

The theater is located at 4915 Clifton Hill, right in the heart of the tourist area of Niagara Falls, Ontario. It's a short walk from the waterfalls. The building, an upended Empire State Building replica with King Kong standing at the top, is easy to spot.

 

Ripley's Moving Theater is open 365 days a year. Monday"“Thursday, it's open 10am"“11pm; Friday, from 10am"“midnight; Saturday, 9am"“midnight; and Sunday, 9am"“11pm.

 

If you want some more action-packed fun after visiting Ripley's Moving Theater, check out the nearby Great Wolf Lodge. This 100,000-square-foot (9,000-square-meter) indoor water park includes thrilling water-based rides for adults and older kids, and fun play areas for younger kids. It's also a hotel, so you can stay and have days of fun.

With scenic vineyards and wineries, Niagara-on-the-Lake is a popular destination for oenophiles during the summer months. With new wineries frequently opening in the region, there is always something to do or a vineyard to explore. One of the newest additions to the Four Mile Creek appellation is Pondview Estate Winery. Family owned and operated, Pondview Estate (who makes the official wine of Canada's Grey Cup) has embraced the traditional art form of Sicilian grape growing and winemaking. By capturing the harmony between earth and vine, Pondview Estate Winery is recognized as a creator of some of the finest wines in the Niagara region.

Drawing on more than three generations of winemaking experience, Pondview Estate Winery has cultivated a warm and inviting environment that makes visitors to the vineyard feel right at home. (The close-knit staff that clearly enjoy their work definitely helps to create that atmosphere.) Owner and winemaker Luciano Puglisi crafts his Ontario VQA wines, rooted in his Italian heritage, with such enthusiasm and reverence for the winemaking process that he earned the title of Grape King in 2008 "” an award given by the Ministry of Agriculture to the finest vineyard operator in Ontario.

The Yukon River is a winding, smooth, fast waterway that impresses with its power and speed. Known as the "River of Gold," the Yukon was the route to gold during the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush. The source of the river is located in British Columbia and the waterway stretches across the Yukon Territory and into Alaska before emptying into the Bering Sea. In total the Yukon River crosses nearly 2,000 miles--more than 3,000 kilometers.

The river winds through many historic sites and visitors will spot remnants of abandoned cabins and sternwheelers along the way. At the Fort Selkirk historic site, visitors will learn of the Yukon's trading and exploration history. At the Thirty Mile section of the river, what was once the most treacherous stretch is now a designated Canadian Heritage River and the perfect spot for a peaceful paddle. Rent canoes or kayaks from one of the many suppliers located along the riverbanks and enjoy a quiet and remote journey with plenty of history, wildlife and scenery.

Built in the 1960s by Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau, Place des Arts is Canada's largest cultural complex. In addition to housing the Contemporary Art Museum and outdoor art installations, the performing arts center boasts six concert halls where guests attend a range of cultural and musical performances, including ballet, opera, and theater.

Walking tours of Old Montreal often include Place des Arts, one of the area's most popular attractions. Some visitors opt for private day tours of the city, tacking a walk through the Entertainment District (Quartier des Spectacles) and Place des Arts onto the day's customized itinerary. A private guide provides context and details about the center's history and architecture that visitors often miss when exploring alone. For a wholly immersive experience, attend a performance"”but reserve tickets in advance, as they often sell out quickly.

Centrally located in the Entertainment District, Place des Arts is easily accessible via Montreal's comprehensive public transit system. The nearest metro station is the green line's Place des Arts, which exits into the arts center through an underground tunnel. Buses 15, 55, 80, 125, 129, and 435 Express also stop here. Alternatively, bike racks are located outside the Maison Symphonique entrance.

Place des Arts is open to the public from 12pm to 6pm every day but Sunday. As a cultural hub for both locals and visitors, the center is most crowded on Friday and Saturday evenings. Place des Arts is at its busiest during the summer: Each July it hosts the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs comedy festival"”both the largest of their kind in the world.

Montreal winters are notoriously frigid. To keep residents and visitors out of the cold, the city's 20 miles (33 kilometers) of underground tunnels connect metro stations, buildings, shopping malls, performance spaces, and universities. Place des Arts is part of this underground city, affording visitors with easy access to the metro, Complexe Desjardins shopping center, Universite de Quebec à Montreal, and the Contemporary Art Museum.

Three fun attractions are part of Ripley's Believe It or Not! Niagara Falls: The Odditorium, which displays quirky exhibits; the Ripley's Moving Theater motion simulator ride; and Louis Tussaud's Waxworks. It's a fun-filled attraction to visit before or after you've seen the amazing falls, and is a popular place with both kids and adults.

 

The Odditorium at Ripley's Believe It or Not! Niagara Falls is a quirky and interactive museum presenting crazy and mind-boggling artifacts from around the world. Exhibits include shrunken heads, decorated skulls, and 2-headed animals. In the Moving Theater, visitors view 4D films and ride along in them. To top off the Ripley's experience, Louis Tussaud's Waxworks allows visitors to "meet" more than 100 wax celebrities and get their photos taken with them.

 

Visitors to Niagara Falls, Ontario, often tour Ripley's on day trips from Toronto. Organized tours either give visitors some free time during which they can choose to visit Ripley's, or a visit will be built into the itinerary. It's also easy to visit Ripley's independently, as it's in the heart of Niagara Falls town, just a few minutes' walk from the waterfalls. There are many hotels in the town for visitors who want to stay longer.

 

Ripley's Believe It or Not! Niagara Falls is located at 4960 Clifton Hill, the bustling street leading west from the falls that's home to many quirky tourist attractions. The building is easy to spot as it looks like the Empire State Building on its side, with King Kong jumping up and down on it.

 

Ripley's Believe It or Not! Niagara Falls is open 365 days of the year. Its opening hours are 10am until 11pm Monday to Thursday, 10am until midnight on Friday, 9am until midnight on Saturday, and 9am until 11pm on Sunday.

 

Ripley's fans who also visit nearby Toronto can check out Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, too. The numerous themed tanks are home to everything from creatures found in the seas around Canada to reef fish and plants. Combo tickets for the Toronto and Niagara Falls attractions can save visitors money.

Squamish's Stawamus Chief Provincial Park is home to one of British Columbia's most iconic landmarks: The Chief. The popular rock­-climbing and hiking destination towers 2,300 feet (700 meters) above Squamish and is the second­-largest granite monolith (freestanding piece of rock) in the world. Though it might be hard to believe from looking at the steep rock face, hiking to the top is a relatively moderate, two­-hour hike. The Chief doesn't get as much snow during the winter as the other nearby mountains and so enjoys a fairly long hiking season. The summit is usually clear of snow in the early spring, making The Chief a great warm­up hike for the summer months ahead. There are three peaks, each accessible from the single trailhead. You can hike up each one individually, or summit all three if you're feeling ambitious. Hikers should be prepared with sturdy footwear, clothing, food and water.

In addition to being a popular hiking destination, Stawamus Chief Provincial Park is a rock-climber's paradise. There are hundreds of granite walls and multi-­pitch crack climbing routes, the most well­-known being The Apron and The Grand Wall. Even the most advanced rock climbers come from all over the world to be challenged during the busy summer season by these routes.

Built for the 1976 Olympic Games, this park now houses several attractions that form Montreal's Space for Life museum district. There's the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium, the 56,000-seater Olympic Stadium, the Biodome, an indoor zoo with around 4,500 animals, as well as the Botanical Gardens and Insectarium in neighboring Maisonneuve Park.

 

Visitors to Montreal's Olympic Park can purchase individual tickets for each attraction. Admission to the Biodome comes with entry to the indoor zoo's five temperature-controlled ecosystems, where you can spot animals including penguins and capybaras. A ticket to the Olympic Stadium includes access to a bi-level cable car ride up the 540-foot (165-meter) Montreal Tower (Tour de Montreal). Tickets can be purchased for individual shows at the planetarium, and for the Botanical Gardens and Insectarium, which are considered one attraction and are accessible with the same ticket.

 

Visit more than one attraction at the Space for Life site with a multi-attraction ticket. Buy a 2-site package ticket and combine a visit to the Olympic Stadium with a trip to the Botanical Gardens, or opt for a sightseeing pass for free access to all Olympic Park attractions and other major city sights and, in some cases, unlimited public transportation. Some group and private tours of Montreal also visit certain attractions at Olympic Park.

 

 

To get to Olympic Park, ride the metro Green Line to Pie-IX station. The park is just a short walk from there.

 

Olympic Park is open year-round. The Botanical Gardens are arguably at their best during summer and autumn, as most of the outdoor exhibits are buried beneath snow for much of winter and spring. The Biodome makes a great year-round attraction, with the toasty tropical rain forest space providing respite from bitter winter weather.

 

Olympic Park hosts popular exhibitions, including the Gardens of Light display at the Botanical Gardens in September and October and sees the garden atmospherically lit after dark. In winter, the Botanical Gardens hosts the Butterflies Go Free exhibition, where thousands of butterflies flutter freely within the garden's main greenhouse, perching on plants and sometimes people. Olympic Stadium, meanwhile, is the setting for First Fridays, a food truck festival during the summer season.

Pointe-à-Callière traces the history of Montreal, from First Nations' settlements to the arrival of the Europeans and beyond. As well as immersive and interactive exhibits, the museum also displays authentic archaeological and architectural remains including parts of centuries-old fortifications and a 17th-century cemetery. 

The museum hosts several permanent exhibitions, which together provide a fascinating and comprehensive take on the city's history. Wander through a 19th-century sewer, which was once used to collect rainwater and wastewater; learn about the history of the city at the "Where Montreal Began" exhibit, which includes parts of the original 17th-century Fort Ville-Marie fortress; and learn about key moments during British and French rule in the archaeological crypt. Children can unearth treasures at the Archaeo-Adventure workshop and relive sea battles at the "Pirates or Privateers?" exhibition. 

Guided tours of specific exhibits, family tours, activities, and introductory talks take place daily and are available on a walk-in basis. Given in English and French, tours are included in the price of admission.

Pointe-à-Callière is located in Old Montreal (Vieux-Montreal). The nearest metro station is Place-d'Armes, which is serviced by the Orange Line. Alternatively, take bus 715 from the Berri-UQAM or Peel metro station. 

The museum is closed on Monday and busiest on weekend afternoons, particularly during the summer tourist season. Come early in the morning to avoid the crowds.

For history buffs with an interest in Montreal's past, Musee McCord makes an interesting complementary attraction to visit alongside Pointe-à-Callière. While Pointe-à-Callière showcases archaeological finds and key historic moments, Musee McCord hones in on Montreal's social history through exhibits of clothing, photography, prints, drawings, and decorative arts, including First Nations' artworks, crafts, and textiles. 

Situated in Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park, Spirit Island is"”for most of the year, at least"”not actually an island at all, but rather a pint-sized peninsula connected to the mainland by a thin strip of land. A long-standing symbol of the Canadian Rockies, the tree-topped islet has featured on countless postcards and images of the park. 

For many visitors to Western Canada, Spirit Island features high on their checklist of sights. The island is a sacred place for the First Nations people and visitors are not permitted to walk on it. You can, however, get close enough to the island to capture pictures during Maligne Lake cruises. Round-trip boat cruises usually last for about 90 minutes. Full-day sightseeing tours around Jasper National Park often combine a boat tour to Spirit Island with other destinations, such as Medicine Lake and Maligne Valley. 

You can also kayak or canoe to Spirit Island; rent a canoe from the Maligne Lake Boathouse. If you do plan on paddling to Spirit Island, you may want to prebook a spot at a lakeside campsite, as completing the round-trip journey in one day can be challenging.

Spirit Island is situated in the southern half of Maligne Lake. The northern end of Maligne Lake is about 31 miles (50 kilometers) from Jasper, accessible via Maligne Lake Road. Driving from Jasper takes 45 to 60 minutes. 

Boats venture out to Spirit Island between late May and early October. The area is busiest during the peak summer months of July and August. The best time to visit is in early morning before the first cruise sets off and crowds arrive. Another good time to come is late afternoon, an hour or so before sunset, when a golden glow and pastel skies make an excellent backdrop for photographs. 

One of the best wildlife-watching spots in the park is Maligne Lake Road. Drive down the road in either early morning or late evening, and look out for moose, caribou, and bighorn sheep. Closer to the lake, you can often spot black and grizzly bears as well as bald and golden eagles, who come here to feed on fish. 

St. Patrick's Basilica, located in the heart of Downtown Montreal, was built in 1847 to serve Irish immigrants fleeing the Great Famine. Best known for its church bells and decorative motifs that combine the French fleur-de-lis and Irish shamrock, the basilica holds English-language mass throughout the week.

St. Patrick's Basilica is a short walk from the Downtown stop on most hop-on, hop-off bus tours, a convenient way to explore without the hassle of navigating. Visitors can take in the basilica's Gothic Revival architecture on select bike tours, as well as on self-guided tours using Montreal's BIXI bike share program. Others opt for private tours, which allow the flexibility to add a visit to the basilica onto the day's customized itinerary.

St. Patrick's Basilica is easily accessible using Montreal's comprehensive public transit system of buses and metros. The nearest stops are Beaver Hall and Belmont on bus 168, Rene-Leveque and Union on bus 747, and Square-Victoria metro station on the red 2 line. A BIXI bike share dock is conveniently located in front of the entrance.

The daily mass schedule changes depending on the season and is available on the church's website. Apart from mass times, St. Patrick's Basilica rarely feels crowded and is open daily to the public until 5pm. For those in town during the holiday season, the basilica offers a popular Christmas Mass and Christmas carol performance.

In 1888, Mark Twain visited Montreal and wrote, "This is the first time I was ever in a city where you couldn't throw a brick without breaking a church window." Nicknamed "The City of Saints," Montreal is home to four basilicas, six cathedrals, and a total of over 300 churches. In addition to St. Patrick's Basilica, the city's most iconic churches include Notre Dame Cathedral, Saint Joseph's Oratory, and Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours Chapel.