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This Victorian industrial district is now one of the city’s most interesting and picturesque. Pedestrian-only cobblestone streets lead past old warehouses and historic factories stunningly preserved and renovated to house galleries, restaurants, performance venues, and specialty shops (see Distillery Historic District).

The smokestack is just one of the historic features that remain at this once-thriving industrial complex, which opened in 1889 to manufacture bricks for local buildings using clay found on site. Some 100 years later, the quarry has been returned to nature as a park with ponds and meadows (see Don Valley Brickworks).

Classic Italian pastas and grilled meats; desserts come in heroic portions.

This garrison, established by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe in 1793 to protect the growing city, is the site of the fierce Battle of York during the War of 1812, when the US invaded Upper Canada. Home to the country’s largest collection of War of 1812 buildings (brick structures that replaced the fort’s original wood cabins), the restored fort has fascinating displays of historic military artifacts. Guides in costume lead tours and give period music, musket, and drill demonstrations.

Georgian Bay’s rugged landscape is characterized by the windswept rock and pine trees of the Canadian Shield. Thousands of islands – some just mounds of granite – dot the Bay; 59 of them make up the park. Access to the largest island, Beausoleil, with its hiking trails, sandy beaches, forest, and the largest variety of reptiles and amphibians of any national park in Canada, is via a 40-minute water taxi ride from the town of Honey Harbour.

While North York is a relentlessly modern part of the city, it is also home to this historic gem – an elegant Georgian farmhouse built in 1851. The original owner, land surveyor and mapper David Gibson, was a leader of the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837 who was forced to flee to the US when the uprising failed. Following his pardon, Gibson returned and built this home for his wife and seven children. The museum hosts guided tours and also holds classes in such forgotten arts as hearth-cooking.

Founded in 1827, this town on the shores of Lake Huron has a rich marine history and fine Victorian architecture. Its downtown streets radiate from an unusual octagonal “square,” at the center of which is the town hall (1890). The Huron County Museum has a superb collection of old farm equipment and military artifacts. Other stops of interest include the Huron Historic Gaol, a jail built 1839–42; an 1847 lighthouse; and a marine museum in an old lake freighter, open seasonally.

Upscale but kid-friendly restaurant with fantastic Italian food.

The city of Gravenhurst is a good base from which to explore the Muskoka region. It is also the point of departure for lake cruises aboard an 1887 steamship – the oldest operating steamship in North America. Stretching from Algonquin Park to Georgian Bay, Muskoka has over 1,600 lakes and rivers and is a fantastic summer destination. Hundreds of beaches offer excellent swimming opportunities; boats can be rented at launches throughout the region; outfitters organize canoe trips to secluded areas.