Toronto has done an excellent job redeveloping the waterfront of Lake Ontario from industrial to residential, so it is very pedestrian-friendly for locals and tourists alike. We thoroughly enjoyed it, including Sugar Beach, complete with colorful Adirondack chairs!

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

One of the beautiful features of the waterfront is Toronto Music Garden, a lovely park and garden fronting the inner harbor. The park design is inspired by Bach’s First Suite for Unaccompanied Cello, with each dance movement within the suite corresponding to a different section of the garden. Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma worked with landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy to interpret in nature the music of Bach’s first suite.

A must-do if you visit Toronto is taking a narrated harbor and islands cruise, especially if it’s a sunny day. Once you have cruised around the islands, you will want to see them in depth. I recommend doing the cruise early in your Toronto visit to get a good overview and then returning on another day to the waterfront and hopping on a ferry to the islands. We enjoyed walking around the islands so much that we returned on our final day to see what we missed the first time! More about the islands can be seen in my final post on Toronto, but here is a preview; our ferry ride to the islands:

Coming up next: TERRIFIC TORONTO #6: ITS IDYLLIC ISLANDS