Review: Toronto Island

Estimated Drive time from Toronto: 0 hours
Map:


View Toronto Center Island in a larger map

Description:
Toronto Island can be reached only from the city core (or by private boat from anywhere). You need either to drive to downtown and park your car in a green parking lot, or take TTC and exit at Union station. You may also take a tram for a few stations more south from the Union station, or you could hike. Expect the lines to be long at the ferry during the hot months of summer especially during the nice weekends when the weather of most previous weekends was bad. Most of activities on Toronto Island include the fun at the centreville amusement park, splashing in the warm shallow water on the beach or building sand castles. Other people prefer to rent a bicycle and ride it all around the island. There are mostly special bicycles on the island which can be ridden by 1, 2, 3 or 4 people. The are a few food courts too, in case you get hungry.



Activities:

• For children: Amusement park is the primary attraction for children. I could say that there are plenty of attractions for 36 inch children at centreville which contrasts with most of the attactions available at its neighboring Ontario Place where most of the attractions start at 42 inches. If you wonder what am I talking about, it means that you probably haven't visited any attractions in Canada. In Canada, for any attraction there is a minimum and sometimes a maximum height at which a child is permitted on the ride.
  
  
  
  The attractions in Centreville are so various that they should please any toddler or pre-school aged child. There is probably not too much thrill or fun for older 7 - 9 years old children in the centreville.
  
   The centreville access is free and you pay per attractions only. Please take into account that even if a ticket is a few cents, there is no attraction that requires one ticket only. Many attractions require 3, 4 or 6 tickets for a ride. Centreville also has all day passes that can be bought individually. The best value is to buy a all day pass for your children and 10-15 rides worth of tickets for an accompanying adult for the rides that require an adult in case the child is under a certain height, if you are not too much into all the chu - chu train rides. For the most part the attractions do not require an adult and may be limited by the upper height, so an adult would not be permitted on the ride even with a all day pass.
  
  If you happen to be on the beach, then there are sprinkles and a large playground a little bit north from the shallow water beach. There are also plenty of picnic tables in that area and a pleasant shade coming from the old trees on stifling sunny days.
  

• Hiking:There are a few hiking trails along the lake shore and in the park. The lakeshore trails have to be shared with bikes that are only allowed along the lake shore trail.
• Fishing: I heard people go fishing in the channels of the Toronto island. From what I understand most of the fishing is catch and release, not because of the regulations, but because people do not want to test how the city pollution affects the fish, which in turn affects consumer health.
• Photography:Most of the photography will be focused on the little ones in the Centreville in case there is a little one around. Otherwise there are a few scenic landscapes, that may still require you to take the camera with you. For example there are few places in Toronto that would allow you to take a picture of the downtown from somewhere on the lake. CN Tower and the downtown look amazing from the Toronto Island.

• Camping: There is a small village on the east side of the islands. There is an airport on the west side of the island. People do not tend to camp on the island and there is no official camp site.
• Picnicking:There are plenty of picnic tables in the shade, and there are also plenty of people using them. I have a feeling that there are plenty of people coming to the island for a picnic only.
• Bikes rental:Riding a bike on Toronto Island makes you feel in 18th century. You ride the bike and there is no motorist honking and noone cutting corners rushing somewhere. You can ride your own bike or rent a bike on the centre island. If you decide to take your own bike to Toronto Island, you should check with the ferry schedule. There are times when bikes are not allowed on the ferries going to center island.

Verdict:

• Children: It is a lot of fun for children whether to visit the centreville amusement park or just to jump and splash under the sprinles. Teens may prefer other attractions aroumd Toronto and centreville amusement park is mostly focused on toddler - preschool ages with few attractions for teens.
• Camping: No Camping.
• Day trip: It is a good place to visit when you wake up one sunny weekend and realized that you had no plans for such a great day.

Official website:
Center Island official web site.


Photos:




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