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Toronto View Notes Front desk, twenty years of the same question

Kept by Wendy Choi
An independent city guide, not affiliated with any attraction or its operator.

An independent city guide, not affiliated with any attraction or its operator.

Other views

The tower is one chapter. Toronto has a skyline you can read from a hill, a pier, a ferry rail, and a cliff. I kept these four because guests actually went, and came back able to describe what they saw.

Riverdale Park, late day

Downtown Toronto skyline seen from the slope of Riverdale Park East
Riverdale Park East. Photograph by Dillan Payne, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The east slope faces the core. At sunset the towers go warm and the Don Valley sits in shadow below you. Bring a layer. The wind on that hill is not the wind on the sidewalk you just left. It is the view I recommend when someone wants the skyline without a timed entry.

Polson Pier

Looking across the harbour toward the Toronto skyline from the Polson Pier side
Across the water from the pier. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

The pier puts water in the foreground and the core on the far bank. It feels industrial and then suddenly the skyline is the whole subject. Evening is kinder than noon. I mention it to guests who already walked the waterfront and want one more angle before dinner.

The island ferry

A Toronto island ferry on the harbour, with the city behind it
Island ferry. Photograph by Maksim Sokolov, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The crossing is short and the rail is the viewpoint. You watch the tower shrink or grow depending on the direction, and the islands arrive as a low green edge. Go when the lake is calm. A choppy ride makes the view something you endure rather than look at.

Scarborough Bluffs

The pale cliffs of the Scarborough Bluffs meeting the lake
The bluffs. Photograph by Óðinn, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5 CA.

East of downtown the shore stands up in pale cliffs. The view is the lake and the cut of the land, not the financial core. It is the note I give people who have already done the tower and still have a free afternoon. Stay back from the edge. The cliff is the picture, not a path.