CN Tower

Toronto’s skyline is organised around a single concrete spire, and the CN Tower is it. Nothing else in Toronto comes close to its height. Canadian National built the tower to cure a practical problem: rising office towers in the downtown core were interfering with television and radio signals, and a transmission mast taller than anything around it was the answer. Construction finished in June 1976, and at 553.3 metres it was the world's tallest free-standing structure until the Burj Khalifa overtook it in 2007. It remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The American Society of Civil Engineers later named it one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, which explains the lettering on many souvenir mugs.

The visit is built around the ride up. Glass-fronted elevators climb to the LookOut level in under a minute, and the shaft is angled so you watch the city shrink below you. At the main pod you can step onto the glass floor and look straight down at the railway tracks and rooftops, a favourite for photographs and for testing nerves. Above that, the SkyPod sits higher still, and the view on a clear day carries across Lake Ontario toward the Niagara region, and on exceptionally clear days people report spotting the mist above Niagara Falls and back over the grid of neighbourhoods to the north. Dusk is the most rewarding hour, when the lake turns copper and the office windows begin to light up.

For those who want more adrenaline, the EdgeWalk lets harnessed participants circle the outside of the main pod on a hands-free ledge, a short guided walk that is as much about the nerve as the scenery. There is also a revolving restaurant, with the dining room turning slowly enough that a full circle takes about 72 minutes, so a meal doubles as a panorama of the city.

The tower, at 290 Bremner Boulevard, sits in the Entertainment District at the foot of the downtown towers, beside Rogers Centre and Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, so it pairs naturally with a baseball game or an afternoon among the sharks. Union Station is a short walk east along the Skywalk, which makes arrival easy without a car. Visitors will find queues longest on summer weekends and around midday, so an early slot or a weekday evening is calmer.

It suits families, first-time visitors who want to get their bearings, and anyone who likes a city seen from above. Check current ticket tiers and any weather closures on the official site before you go, since wind and low cloud can affect what you see.