A Family Weekend in Toronto: Sharks, a Farm, the ROM and a Castle

Two days in Toronto with children come down to a short list of places built for them: a hands-on museum, a working farm in the middle of the city, a castle with a tunnel and a bank vault that holds the Stanley Cup. Day 1 stays downtown and on the waterfront, so you can walk between most stops. Day 2 spreads north, with a subway ride in the middle. It suits a parent with children roughly 4 to 12.

Start with breakfast at Carousel Bakery, inside St. Lawrence Market at 93 Front Street East. Then walk east to Museum of Illusions at 132 Front Street East, a family-oriented museum where staff help you take the photos.

Walk west to Hockey Hall of Fame at 30 Yonge Street, inside Brookfield Place. The building is the former Bank of Montreal, built in 1885. The original Stanley Cup sits in the old bank vault in the Great Hall, and the model rink lets children shoot on goal or play goalie. From Union Station it is a five-minute walk through the PATH.

Head for the base of the CN Tower and Ripley's Aquarium of Canada at 288 Bremner Boulevard. Its Dangerous Lagoon is a moving walkway through an underwater tunnel, with sand tiger sharks, sawfish and green sea turtles overhead. In Ray Bay, children can gently touch four species of stingrays. Tickets sell online.

Next door at 255 Bremner Boulevard, the Toronto Railway Museum sits in Roundhouse Park, part of the John Street Roundhouse National Historic Site. It operates year-round, and the train simulator and turntable rides are the draw for children who have spent the morning behind glass.

Dinner is in the same roundhouse at Steam Whistle Kitchen, which has a kids menu. Book a table ahead.

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Cabbagetown is the first stop, because Riverdale Farm at 201 Winchester Street is open every day of the year, public holidays included. Its 7.5 acres hold cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens and horses, plus ponds, gardens and more than three kilometres of trails. Staff present a different animal to visitors each day.

Cross town to the Annex for lunch at Harbord Bakery on Harbord Street. The Kosower family has run it since 1945 and the bakery dates to 1929. It is known for challah, and the case holds rye bread, bagels, cookies and chocolate layer cake.

Walk to the Royal Ontario Museum at 100 Queen's Park, at Museum station. For younger children, WonderWorks on Level 2 is built for ages 3 to 8, with a storytelling nook, building blocks, light tables and dino-bone blocks. The Bat Cave, a replica of a real cave, is among the other hands-on spaces, and the galleries of dinosaurs and mummies are for the older ones. Tickets sell online.

Finish at Casa Loma at 1 Austin Terrace. Sir Henry Pellatt built the castle between 1911 and 1914: 98 rooms, secret passages and an 800-foot tunnel to the stables and carriage house. Five acres of gardens look out over the city. During the Second World War the stables secretly housed a sonar research lab.

Right next door, Spadina Museum at 285 Spadina Road is the Austin family house, on a property James Austin bought in 1866. Its 5.7 acres still hold an orchard, a grape arbour and a kitchen garden, and the house is seen on a guided tour. It is a quieter second stop on the same hill.

If you have a rainy afternoon or a car, swap the castle for LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Toronto at Vaughan Mills in Vaughan. Miniland is built from more than a million LEGO bricks, and the centre is made for children aged 3 to 10. Tickets sell online.

• Union Station is the hub for Day 1: Hockey Hall of Fame is a five-minute walk through the PATH, and the aquarium and roundhouse sit at the base of the CN Tower.
• Day 2 uses the subway: Museum station for the ROM, then Dupont station for Casa Loma and the Spadina Museum, which stand side by side.
• The Toronto Railway Museum's mini train does not run in winter, so Roundhouse Park is a museum visit then.

See what's on this weekend for family events across the city.

For a weekend without the children: two days of markets, islands and art.

Start from this plan, set your dates and swap any stop you like.

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