When to fly to Toronto
Peak Season:
June to August is when most visitors arrive on trips to Toronto. The weather is at its best and events are in full swing. These include the annual Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana) Festival, Canada Day celebrations, Toronto Jazz Festival and the Beaches International Jazz Festival.
Shoulder Season:
February to May and September to mid-November are good times to visit. The summer crowds have thinned and the weather is still good. This is when the Toronto International Film Festival takes place and when leaf peepers arrive for the glorious fall foliage. The start of February is when the WinterCity Festival takes place. Three festivals in one, WinterCity consists of the WOW! Series at Nathan Phillips Square, the Warm Up Series at Toronto's cultural/tourist attractions, and the restaurant promotion, Winterlicious.
Off Season:
Late November to January is, in general, off season.
Overview
Located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, Toronto is the largest city in the country - a cosmopolitan conglomeration of cultures. In this city, you can walk - and eat - your way around the world. The Irish, Greek, Indian, Chinese, Brazilian, Portuguese and Polish communities, to name just a few of the 100 or so groups who call Toronto home, give the city a profusion of senses. For travellers arriving on flights to Toronto, it's a city of sights, smells and flavours.
Toronto is thriving. The Distillery District is a relatively "new" neighbourhood, the old red-brick buildings and warehouses are now galleries, artist studios, boutiques, cafes and brasseries. The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on Queen West is a glittering space with world-class acoustics. Near Chinatown, the Art Gallery of Ontario has been transformed by Frank Gehry. In Yorkeville, the Royal Ontario Museum has been spruced up with a new wing by Daniel Libeskind. The Gardiner Museum stands across from the museum; it's Canada's only ceramics museum.
When the city gets too busy, Dundas Square or the Beaches offer a respite. A ten-minute ferry journey from the Harbourfront will deliver you to the Toronto Islands.