Vaughan, an exciting and growing city in Toronto’s backyard
Vaughan has blossomed from a northern suburb of Toronto into a thriving city in its own right. This southern Ontario melting pot community is among the fastest-growing cities in the province. Visitors come to experience its beauty spots and museums as well as its theme parks and shopping malls, which are among the largest in Canada. Served by nearby Toronto Pearson International Airport and situated about a 30 minutes’ drive from the many attractions of downtown Toronto, Vaughan is earmarked for its own extension on the Toronto Subway and boasts a wide variety of hotels to suit all tastes and budgets.
Vaughan possesses attractions of all kinds
Whatever time of year you’re visiting Vaughan, the city has attractions for all weathers. Just like nearby Toronto, Vaughan experiences four distinct seasons, and there are usually cold winters and warm summers. During the warmer months, many travellers head for the Kortright Centre for Conservation. Situated about three miles west of Highway 400 in Vaughan, this 325-hectare suburban conservation area comprises a visitor centre detailing efforts to protect woodlands in southern Ontario plus a wildlife-rich landscape dominated by pine and maple forests plus creeks and rivers, which attract birdlife. There are also opportunities for travellers to enjoy horse-riding and walking trails. Each spring the centre hosts a festival dedicated to one of best-known sweet treats in Canada. The Maple Syrup Festival sees the venue use its abundance of maple trees to produce the famous delicacy. There are demonstrations on how to identify a maple tree, how native people discovered and cooked maple syrup, and how the process changed with the arrival of European settlers.
If it’s cold outside, Vaughan offers plenty of indoor attractions, which can be easily reached wherever your hotel is. Art aficionados can experience a fascinating collection of paintings at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection just off Islington Avenue in Kleinburg. This gallery showcases an impressive collection of artwork by indigenous artists, Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven whose landscape paintings celebrate the magnificent landscapes of Ontario and Canada. On Rutherford Road is the largest indoor reptile zoo in Canada. Reptilia specialises in hands-on demonstrations and it houses more than 250 creatures including crocodiles, pythons and cobras. Over in Martin Grove Road, sports fans can discover the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum, which honours the country’s foremost footballers.
A shopping paradise in the heart of Vaughan
When it comes to shopping destinations in the Greater Toronto area, Vaughan leads the way as the home of the sprawling Vaughan Mills mall. This jumbo indoor shopping centre in Bass Pro Mills Drive is one of the largest in Canada and it boasts about 250 stores. Inside, shopaholics will find department stores, upscale fashion boutiques, big brand outlets and outdoor shops plus lots of places to eat all under one roof. Family-friendly attractions like the first LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Canada can also be found within the shopping complex. Better still, it’s a doddle to get to by bus because the mall has its own mass transit terminal.
Rollercoaster thrills and spills
Lovers of amusement parks won’t want to miss Canada’s Wonderland, which is the largest in the country. Set beside Highway 400, this enormous theme park attracts millions of visitors to Vaughan every year, and many of the hotels closest to it can fill up quickly during high season. Opening its doors from April to November, the park is filled with a blend of dozens of high-octane rides for thrill seekers, fun water rides and family-friendly rides for visitors with younger children. Rollercoaster purists will love rides such as Leviathan, which reaches heights of 93 metres and can exceed speeds of 90 miles per hour. Twenty of the vast theme park’s 330 acres are given over to Splash Works water park. Visitors wishing to enjoy the numerous water flumes, wave pools and children’s play areas in this section of the attraction should remember to bring along suitable swimwear. Splash Works is open in the summer months, and admission is included with theme park tickets.
Take advantage of Vaughan’s proximity to lively Toronto
With good mainline train and bus connections to Toronto, Vaughan offers an alternative place to stay on visits to the Greater Toronto area. Therefore, budget-minded travellers can take advantage of Vaughan’s relatively affordable range of hotels instead of forking out for pricier alternatives in the heart of downtown Toronto. From Vaughan, it’s straightforward to reach Toronto for attractions such as the Rogers Centre for Toronto Blue Jays baseball games, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the iconic CN Tower for panoramic regional views, extensive shopping and dining options around Yonge-Dundas Square and the Air Canada Centre, which hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team.