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Casa Loma
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
1 Austin TerToronto, ON M5R 1X8
Neighbourhood: Casa Loma
(416) 923-1171
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 9:30 am - 5 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
43 reviews for Casa Loma
Review Highlights
"Every corner of this castle has character."
(in 15 reviews)
"Admission includes a personal audio-tour device to let you..."
(in 3 reviews)
"...the Library, the Conservatory, Sir Henry's Study and its..."
(in 1 review)
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43 reviews in English
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Review from Peter L.
12/30/2011
Casa Loma was fun to walk and look through the entire Castle. About 85% of the castle is open to the public.
Cool that the audio is available in many different languages.
The funniest/saddiest part (your pick) was walking up all the way to the top of the tower where you walked through level after level of graffiti (everyone marks their day of presense). -
Review from WaYnE c.
Maple, ON
2/1/2012 7 photos
First time - Tourist Perspective($20+/Adult) 3.5/5.0
Casa Loma. Must be at the Castle Frank TTC station, right? Wrong!
Dupont station. Walk walk walk walk walking towards. Hill or Stairs! Dang!
Front Entrance. Weekend line-ups. Summer no-A/C. 2x Dang!
Pas L'anglais? Self-guided Mulit-linguo Multimedia Tours. C'est Bien!
Castle. Impressive history lesson for Kids & First-timers. A+!
Time. Place too big. Go faster so we won't miss Leafs game. Go Go Go!
Second time - Local Perspective 2.0/5.0
Meh. When's the last time a local Torontonian will go Casa Loma willingly?
What? Locals barely remember year of Confederation, let alone info about CL.
Food. Overpriced Tourist-trap sandwiches in the dingy window-less basement.
Price. Open Houses are usually free on Weekends around Town.
Third time - 1920s Home Perspective 4.0/5.0
Home Sweet Home. Top Class. Top Cost. High Tech. Beautiful Garden. Luxurious.
If you can go to Casa Loma with Background Knowledge and Free Time...
Enjoy the plethora of Flora in the Garden. Admire the Technology of it's time.
Watch Kids run about like it's a Theme Park. Look down upon YOUR Downtown TO.Listed in: T.O.urist in Town, Feb Diets
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Review from Steve M.
8/24/2011
An early 20th century historical mansion built by Canadian financier Henry Pellatt who ultimately lost most of his fortune due to the ever-increasing socialist mood of the country.
Audio/video tour headsets guide you through the many rooms that give a glimpse of what money bought back in the early 1900's. It was an extremely hot day and attendees experienced what life was like without air conditioning. Every room has interesting relics from Pellatt's art collection.
The "house on the hill" is a prime location for weddings. Flower gardens, water fountains, and nice-looking shrubs add to the allure of Casa Loma. The a/v guides give a comprehensive personal history of Sir Henry Pellatt while presenting the architecture and interior design features of the time.
History buffs will not be disappointed. May be a challenge with the kids though. -
Review from Chester V.
11/18/2011
Great place to visit. I definitely recommend the audio / video self tour as it explains all the rooms and unique quirks of the place. The outdoor garden was amazing and one of the windows on the second floor has a once in a lifetime view of the Toronto downtown skyline. Total worth the admission price.
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Review from L L.
8/17/2011
It is a museum that is overrated but yet worth a visit if you run out of things to do in Toronto.
If you are to visit, I would recommend to start with the movie in one of the rooms to get a good background before go on to the self-guided audio tour.
There is no A/C and rooms can get very hot with all the people in the summer.
I went to their dinner event but the food was not the main attraction - but the bragging right that you were in a nice historical house for dinner. The dinner was also very expensive.
I think the mansions in Newport, RI is actually nicer and better maintained. -
Review from Lili S.
9/11/2011
A shitton of stairs that lead you to nowhere. A whole lot of tunnels that leads to emptiness. Basically, a whole lot of nothing inside a fancy house. Go to Hearst Castle for a real castle, not a wannabe mini-me. Except the the exterior, they is really nothing redeeming about the place.
Basically, a rich guy wanted to show off his wealth and torture future tourists who stupidly climb 8 flights to stairs to see an empty room and walk mile-long tunnels to see a an empty stable and an empty swimming pool. Nice. -
Review from Sergey S.
2/1/2011
An unusual museum of nothing.
"Do you know that guy - he was an owner of what is now Toronto Hydro, stole lots of money and built that crazy house that looks like a castle, then he got busted and bankrupt, and lost it..."
I guess even the unsuccessful wannabe millionaires may be worth their own museums. If people enjoy watching the reality shows describing the basketball players' apartments, why not?
Casa Loma at least is a really interesting building. Fancy piece of pseudo-medieval construction in a middle of the young and modern city, it is just designed to make photos.
Would be more interesting to see that building completed with the "live" era artifacts and machinery, with horses in the stables and old cars clunking in the garage patio - but oh well...
Casa Loma is one of the default tourist-visiting spots in Toronto, don't miss it. Just don't expect to see an actual museum, rather a ruin of someone's long forgotten fortune. -
Review from Lisa N.
8/10/2011
Pretty cool place and worthy of a few pics. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go inside (which I'm bummed about), but that just means we'll have to do that on our next trip to Toronto.
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Review from Chantal S.
10/17/2010
I enjoyed exploring Casa Loma. I thought a lot of the information about how the house was built was really interesting. The technology that was used for the time is pretty cool to see first hand. My mom enjoyed it a little more than me but she's a history buff.
I mean its not somewhere I'd probably walk through again but I'm glad I did it. -
Review from Stephanie M.
8/25/2011
Although we went on the hottest day ever in Toronto and it was over 100 degrees this is the most boring castle ever! Ever!
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Review from Terry H.
Toronto, ON
11/8/2010
I love this house. Definitely not as cheesy at one would expect. Grounds are gorgeous in the spring/summer. I don't know how anyone could think this place is boring, there is so much to look at and imagine. Don't miss Spadina House next door!
That being said, bring your own lunch, because the sandwich place is awful, and so are the haggard staff who work there. -
Review from Robin D.
9/7/2010
Casa Loma is super boring. The exterior is well kept and pretty as well as well as the terrace in the back. The bad part is everything else. It is really uninteresting.
There is a secret tunnel, which is sort of cool inside. Overall, I do not believe it is worth the admission. -
Review from Myrem D.
Mississauga, ON
4/5/2011
was here last night for the Silent Film Festival, showing "IT" and "Mighty like a Moose". Gorgeous place.
The crowd was a bit ....*cough old cough* But nonetheless, a very fun show. The intermission helped to go walk around and see the place. I had come here for a wedding and it was nice to be able to see it all from a different light. (Dark lights, to be exact) Ha!.
Every corner of this castle has character. I snuck into the library part because I love the smell of old books. Unfortunately the panels were locked :(
On the bright side, it was glass, so I was able to read some of the titles of the books. Lost of Shakespeare, comedy short plays, psychology and an odd collection of chemistry??. There was a random plate and reminded me of Hyacinth Bucket's periwinkle collection.
Over all, a great excuse to come see this place. They have many shows/plays in the evenings and parking is free during these shows , when normally its about $5-9$ :D
You can check out the website to see all the shows/events they host. Its a great chance to check out the grounds and over all decor of this place.
M. -
Review from Christine D.
4/4/2011
3.5 stars
First of all, to those who think this is a "museum of nothing", you are missing the point. It's a HOUSE MUSEUM. House museums are about architecture, interior design, and the lives of the inhabitants. Don't expect to see any sort of exhibit here, that's not the premise. If you don't think historic buildings are interesting in and of themselves, please skip this attraction.
What Casa Loma is, is an interpretation of the castles one would find in Europe way back in the day, except with an amalgamation of interior features. It was built by a bazillionaire who fantasized about becoming royalty or at least being on a first name basis with royalty, the Queen of England specifically. It is his own interpretation, and his own family home. It's not supposed to be a replica of any particular place or time.
The building is impressive when you are coming up to it, though I could do without the awful parking lot impeding on the facade. You can see in the distance another castle-like structure as well, it turns out this is the stable and garage building that is connected via underground tunnel to the main house.
We bought slightly discounted tickets online prior to our visit, and were directed to the smoking and billiards rooms to pick up our audio tour device and watch a introductory movie about Mr. Pellat and his house and life prior to beginning the walking section of the tour. The movie is very good and makes it easy to get a synopsis of the man who envisioned the house before trying to navigate throughout the place and keep the story straight.
After the movie, I walked through the house pretty much in numerical sequence of the map and audio guide. You can really go in any order you like. The audio tour has a lot of the same information as the movie but also includes bits about the specific rooms and items of note in the rooms. There are some original pieces and many "filler" items, as most of the estate was auctioned off due to Mr. Pellat's bankruptcy. This is unfortunate, since one of the joys of house museums is being able to see original contents.
The tour leads visitors through every floor of the house, which is impressive, since many house museums, especially one of this magnitude, only feature a selection of rooms. I believe this is partly due to the fact that the place was never "modernized" or carved in to apartments. Once Mr. Pellat moved out, the place was left alone until it was turned in to an attraction, so no on else besides he and his family ever lived there. I believe it became a tourist attraction or social space in the 1930s, so there is no awful 1950s-1970s remodeling happening here. The tour also guides visitors to the stable and garage building, which seem a little nondescript but could be more interesting if they put some more effort in to these spaces.
There are unfinished areas in the house, which are such because money ran out on the original construction. The unfinished basement, which was destined to become a swimming pool, now serves as a cafeteria.
All in all, I spent two hours here, yeah it's almost 100 rooms so you need to take your time. I enjoyed it but there are a few points that should be addressed to make this a more worthwhile place to visit (hence the imperfect 4 star rating).
- Discourage children under ten years or otherwise immature kids from visiting. Sounds mean? Well, judging by the noise level of all the children running through the place, I would say these kids have no idea why they were there, and were doing whatever they could to entertain themselves while TOTALLY ANNOYING people who were quietly walking through and trying to listen to the damn audio guide. Also, there is a shitload of "so and so was here" graffiti in the tower section, which is stupid and should be taken care of. Who graffitis in a freaking museum? Unsupervised kids of course. The thing is that there is no staff anywhere in the place except the ticket booth and audio guide desk, so they have no idea what anyone is doing all over this 98-room house. Hello, recipe for disaster. I am surprised there's not even just one staff per floor to keep an eyeball on the place.
- Fix and protect the floors. You can tell where everyone walks in the place because the floor is so worn, it looks terrible. The wood is gone beyond the bare grain. They need runner rugs or some sort of protective mats throughout the major pathways of the house. I would never let my floors get to this state, nor should anyone purporting to be showing a multi-million dollar mansion!
- Don't sell tickets for the days there are special events or filming going on in the house. I checked online and bought tickets for the day after filming for "Warehouse 13" was ending so that I wouldn't be looking at a movie set or be locked out of certain areas, but surprise surprise, there was "hot set, do not enter" signage and all kinds of equipment, props and actors all over the place. Yuck. The website basically lied. -
Review from Steph W.
5/11/2010
I thought this would be such a cool tourist-spot in the city pass pack. Unfortunately, the most stimulating part of the tour was the curator who told us fun/interesting facts about Toronto...Did you know that Toronto was #6 out of 10 on the list of the best cities in the world to live for quality of life? This is a sneak peak on how interesting Casa Loma is =) LOL
Casa Loma is a creepy mansion! There are rooms full of furniture. The creepiest parts of the mansion were the spiral staircases that take you to the top, and the tunnel that takes you to the stables. Almost everyone writes their names on the bricks at the top. The best way to improve this tourist spot is to have a Who-done-it game associated with the tour instead of walking around with an audio player pressing numbers associated with the rooms. There are rooms that are beautiful like the library, green room, and of course, the breathtaking garden. However, this wasn't enough to make me want to go back.
I wonder if decades later, houses that we live in will be tourist spots...This was the Ikea era...I guess to some this is interesting... -
Review from Hank C.
12/30/2009
An estate located in Toronto, you can drop yourself off here via tour bus or car (not really located close to a public transit station, sadly), and take a tour of the grounds, including some very nice manicured gardens in the non-winter months, and wander through several floors of art, history, and collected items from the house's prior inhabitants.
Check out little secret passages and the view of Toronto from the upper windows. The Library, the rooftop (sometimes closed) and the uppermost servant's quarters where a rifle collection now is housed are among the highlights here.
If it were only closer to anything else in Toronto... it's quite a ways away from the major public transit stops, unfortunately, which makes it hard for people who aren't in a car or on a tour bus. Kids may get bored after the first floor or so... this is hardly the most accessible otherwise, keep an eye on the kids so they don't destroy anything. Slightly expensive, but the fees are hopefully mostly used for restoration and maintenance.
Not quite a substitute for European manors and castles, but a good tour of what people can do with a few million dollars and a dream. Too bad most of the internal furniture has been long gone and sold. -
Review from Rebecca W.
7/24/2011
Casa Loma just didn't do it for me. The gardens were absolutely beautiful and the history of the house and the history of Henry Pellatt were interesting.
The idea of the audio tour was good however I went with family including my 6 year old and found that it was too fiddly to try to listen to the audio and tend to my daughter (who was not at all interested in the commentary.) Unless you have a child who's interested in the stories and will happily walk around and listen to the audio it would probably be best enjoyed by adults and older kids.
Also their were a great number of stairs and limited elevator access-not a big deal for most people but we were traveling with my 78 year old grandmother who ended up sitting in the garden reading a book rather than tackling all the stairs. Of course-they are working with a historic space and obviously have restrictions on how they can make it accessible without changing the character or period charm of the house.
A neat piece of Toronto history but not something I'd be interested in doing again, -
Review from InfodivaMLIS B.
10/27/2008
I must have lucked out on the day I went with my Toronto native friend, we did not pay anything to walk around this historict mansion.
One thing you notice about the size of the rooms are they are not very large by today's standards. The ballroom and library are larger rooms which were used to gather and entertain.
I love the view of Toronto you can see once you climb narrow rickety stairs to get to the roof. The garden and terrace were fabulous.
I like going down into the stables and work house looking at the old equipment. Lots of narrow passages to this place.
If you get hungry, there is a snack bar on the bottom basement floor. The gift shop is located there also.Listed in: Canada Eh?
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Review from David R.
8/28/2009 11 photos
Seriously, a three-star average? This place is great! But whatever your opinion, you can't deny that it is a unique attraction, not just in Toronto, but anywhere that I've ever heard of.
I'll let you read elsewhere about the rise and fall of Sir Henry Pellatt and the intriguing saga of his dream home. A tour through this incredible building and its grounds is a delight, especially while imagining it in context of the lives of those who lived, worked, and visited here in the early twentieth century.
Admission includes a personal audio-tour device to let you roam through on your own, which is the perfect setup for me. I have the freedom to move at my own pace, but all of the information available from which to sample.
Highlights for me included: the Great Hall, the Library, the Conservatory, Sir Henry's Study and its secret passageways, Sir Henry's Bathroom, Lady Pellatt's Suite, the towers, the Smoking Room, the basement, the tunnel, and the grounds. I probably would have enjoyed more the Queen's Own Rifles regimental museum, but by then I was beginning to get "museum fatigue" and I just couldn't devote the mental energy and attention that it deserved. However, it does contain a rich slice of modern military history.
Fun note: Apparently over a dozen mainstream movies have filmed scenes in the castle, including Cocktail, The Tuxedo, X-Men, Skulls, and The Pacifier. Hey, I said "mainstream" not "classic." -
Review from Kara M.
Toronto, ON
7/15/2009
Here's how to have fun at Casa Loma. Play "Casa Loma Clue." Here are the rules.
Before you go, assign everyone in your group a character and wear something that gives it away. Miss Scarlet? Where shiny red shoes. Col. Mustard? Where a smashing yellow scarf.
Draw straws, or pick from a hat, or otherwise secretly determine who is the murderer. Now bust out your Clue cards. Everyone draw a weapon card and hide it, everybody draw a room card and hide it. The secret murderer now knows where they committed the crime and with what. Now the fun part.
Casa Loma has a study, ballroom, conservatory(!), games room, hall, dining room & library. I'd convert the kitchen to the Master bedroom and the lounge to one of the parlours.
Then as you tour the building, everyone should drop hints as to what weapon they may hold and if they did it or not. As per the board game, if you think you know something then you accuse, pah-pow.
Might be improved by a drink or two before going. -
Review from andrew w.
7/26/2010
not run very well. fee for parking, cash only. ATM was broken. closest ATM a couple km away (had to walk it, of course).
still a very beautiful site and something to experience in toronto's history. weird weird place. -
Review from Anna V.
Toronto, ON
9/12/2008
I'm going to review it in terms of it's significance to Toronto instead of what a rip off it is to go tour. Course it's a rip off, this is Canada eh. $17 to see a big house. Blah.
But if you are a history buff and you like gossip, then Casa Loma is rife with it.
First of all, it's not even a castle, it's just a big house that Sir Henry Pellatt, listed on the website as a, "Toronto financier, industrialist and military man", built to live in.
Here's the skinny on Big Henry: He was a great entrepreneur who invested heavily in the railroad expansion, as well as several philanthropic endeavors. He toured Europe when he was a young man and was inspired by the castles he saw there.
So, in 1911, he started the build on his own. It took 3 years and 3.5mil (That's like a billion now)! But, he didn't even get to live in it for a decade, the thing was so expensive to keep open and you know, with the common folk taking ownership of electricity public, he didn't have that on his side either. So he, and his wife sold everything and moved out to their farm. She died almost immediately, clearly out of embarrassment.
If you go to the website, they have all their prices listed for photo shoots (weddings and otherwise) as well as rental for private functions, catering an movie shoots right there for public access.
It's actually really affordable to throw a party there (I've looked into it) considering it's a big, honkin' castle!
I wouldn't take a tour, but I would have a dope record release party there any day.
It's a great part of our local heritage. It's worth keeping and recommending to visitors. -
Review from Greshka P.
11/24/2009
BEAUTIFUL! I fell in love with this place as soon as I read about it online. Once I got there it was more than what I expected.
Even if you're not into history, this is a must see.
You can do the tour with or without the audio guide. There are signs in each part of the castle telling you what each room was used for. The Library is one of my favorite parts - now it's used for events, and I am totally jealous of everyone that gets to go to one of them.
Being there you just wish you could have been part of that time at least for a day, see how every day life would have been walking through those impressive halls, beautiful rooms, gardens... You can even walk to the stables.
We spent about 2 hours there, just admiring it all.
Again, a beautiful place, definitely worth adding this to your Toronto tour.Listed in: Let's go to..., Oh Canada...
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Review from Jennifer P.
6/17/2010
Casa Loma was a great sight to see! Generally I don't like audio tours, but this one was better because they were like mobile phones rather than headsets. Plus, it was included.
The rooms were all different and had lots of interesting things about them. One of the best parts was taking all the circular staircases to the top of the taller tower. As you come down, there is a penny squishier, should you be a collector.
The secret passage was an interesting addition. Nothing particularly lovely about it, but the idea is intriguing. There is an archery area near the stables where you can test your shooting abilities. -
Review from Helen W.
5/18/2011
This is my first time in a castle. I loved it. It's so gorgeous. The view from the top of the castle was better then the CN tower in my opinion. I was visiting Toronto for the weekend.
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Review from Emily W.
3/16/2011 2 photos
Don't expect anything extravagant like the Hearst castle, but if you are looking for somewhere peaceful to walk around and decompress, Casa Loma will be perfect for you. The architecture of the castle and gardens are beautiful, but the interior and furnishings are just meh. My favorite part was walking up the never ending and winding steps to the top of the tower and getting a view of Toronto. Also, don't forget to walk to the stables. The walkway to it is located on the basement level. A kind family gave me an extra 20% off admissions print-out they didn't use, but you can find similar coupons all over the web - just google it.
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Review from Julie D.
9/12/2010
Having recently visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, we thought it would be fun to visit this old historic home. We took public transition, then hiked up a hill to reach the mansion. The grounds are beautiful! The house is interesting, however not on the same plane as Biltmore. The audio tour was interesting, but I was a bit put off that the narration was supposed to be the Pellatt's. Sorta disturbing, but interesting information.
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Review from Curtis L.
9/27/2010
We had a great time exploring Casa Loma. It all started with the nice ticketing person who comped our tickets. Once we got in, we got our audio tour device and started on our way following the numbers. It was very informational and it was not too busy so we were able to enjoy the peace and quiet and move along at our own pace. The weather was nice too so were able to enjoy the wonder views from the tower and outside on the terrace. If you are into history and exploring old buildings that contain some surprises, this is for you. There are coupons in the numerous visitor's guides you can pick up at the airport, etc. Allow for 2-3 hours to fully explore the property. A must see if you are in Toronto and into this type of attraction.
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Review from Emily Y.
12/3/2010 3 photos
Yes, this place is part of the city's history and yes, the included audio tour was helpful, but they still don't justify the $20-ish cost to poke around someone's former residence. Unless it was the massive palace of a royal, maybe. On the plus side, you can get some great views of the city through the windows of the third floor and tower.
I saw a ton of parents bringing in their kids but I'm not sure how interesting this place would be to them if they can't follow along with the history behind the place. Also, windy narrow stairs in the tower may be difficult for young children to climb. -
Review from Ryan W.
9/25/2010
Totally worth the visit. Make sure to exploire the tower and tunnels. We got stuck down there beyond closing time and came back to the main entrance to find everything was locked up, almost everybody was gone, and the lights were off. Lucky for them they let us out, because we had already selected rooms to stay in for the night.
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Review from Andy H.
8/7/2008
Bit of a hike from the center of Toronto, but worth the trip. It is a decent tourist trap, with plenty to see and snap pictures at.
It is a medieval style castle with a tour of all the rooms. $17 admission. -
Review from Dardana M.
ON
1/24/2009 2 photos
As someone who benefits from the reciprocal benefits of working at a "Toronto Attraction" (I won't say which one), I got to by-pass one of the main problems people have had with this particular locale- the ridiculous entry fee. I know there must be a reason for it, but I can't say that I would feel it was worth it, had I paid it.
I have always wondered what the big deal was about, and I'm sorry to say that I still don't really get it. Blame television, maybe. The house is big, but the secret passageways weren't really secret (they were more like steep staircases), and the decor wasn't nearly as opulent as we had hoped. The staff was supremely nice, though. And there were posters for very inappropriate-seeming films that were shot here-- The Pacifier, anyone? - right beside the Druxy's deli, which is right beside the olde tyme swimming pool. Maybe we shouldn't have started out in the basement?
From what I have heard of its back-story, it is really quite sad. I guess, symbolically, it is a worthwhile piece of furniture in the city's history and skyline- and from outside, I think it is really quite lovely. My friend is a photographer, and was hoping to get some cool shots here, but felt (as did I) mildly uninspired by the interior, and also by the grey, sunless day that rendered the facade far less majestic than it usually looks, peeking from behind Dupont station. That, my friends, is where the magic lies, castles and subways, existing side-by-side in my everyday life. -
Review from Jenna R.
8/29/2008
Stunning facade, decent interior, rip-off price. How can they justify nearly $20 for an entrance fee for this place? $10 would be more than fair. Really the only thing inside worth seeing is the view from the turret and the gardens. The stables don't even warrant the walk through the tunnel, and the rest of the house is lackluster, with trite recordings on the audio guides (which were, thankfully, free).
I'm glad I visited, but I'd be hesitant to recommend this as a Toronto "must-do," as others had for me. -
Review from Ryan C.
8/25/2008
Nice tourist destination for first time visitors. We spent about 2 hours here exploring the estate and following the self guided audio tour. The gardens are especially beautiful, but the highlight is the view from the top of the tower, where you can see the downtown skyline. Definately worth the cost of admission for architecture, history, or estate buffs.
The architecture is unique for the area and there is alot to be appreciated. The walk to the stables is a bit underwhelming. There are nice baubles available in the gift store, too. -
Review from Jasmine W.
6/8/2010
the hubby was great and bought one of those city passes that includes a bunch of famous toronto sights and casa loma was one of 'em. we followed advice and went early in the morning on a weekday to avoid the crowds. it wasn't too busy - parking is $3/hr - but there were a lot of school kids running around. the grounds are beautiful - lots of flowers and greenery and lovely fountains and sculptures - and the inside architecture was cool. i'm not sure if i'd pay regular price for admission (i think there were coupons for discounted admission in our hotel lobby if you don't opt for the city pass) but we spent about 3 hours listening to the free audio tour and wandering around. most interesting stuff on the 1st and 2nd floor, 3rd floor is mostly a museum with stairs to get to the top of one of the towers (the view is worth it!).
mr. pellatt's life was a little sad ultimately - was one of the most rich and charitable people in canada - but had to auction off all of his belongings and died penniless. because of that while the architecture is beautiful and they did a great job restoring it (still in the process), the furniture is unfortunately mostly not original.
summary: like the hearst castle of canada 'cept you can conquer it in a few hours. run by the kiwanis club - having money go to a charitable non-profit that preserves historical sites like this spot rocks. :) -
Review from Chantal m.
Scarborough, ON
4/13/2010
I love Casa Loma, have since I was a kid. As an adult I can appreciate the architecture and furniture so much more. I'm a slight history lover so this totally intrigued me, I always wish I could imagine living in a place like Casa Loma. Or what it would have looked like all finished. LOVES IT.
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Review from Jessica S.
5/30/2010
Nice. Worth seeing. Can see in an hour or so
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Review from Marie-Pier M.
Lachine, QC
7/30/2010
You absolutely have to visit Casa Loma if you go to Toronto. I know that it's not exactly in downtown, but it's worthwhile. You won't be deceived.
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Review from Dave B.
4/29/2009
Rather a disappointment. Most of the interior splendor hasn't been replaced after Pellatt auctioned it off. The exterior of the castle is the best, and the view from the tower is pretty good. Unfortunately there isn't much inside, and what is there isn't very impressive. It's entirely an audio tour, with very little written information. The hidden passages weren't very secretive. The underground tunnel was rather long to see a few empty horse stalls. We only went because we had a City Pass, so we had effectively already bought admission. I'm a little bitter to have spent my last afternoon in Toronto here.
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Review from Katharine T.
3/6/2009
If you like semi-historical things, and will take the time to listen to the audio guide, the entrance fee (though ridiculous) is worth it. I think we got a coupon from one of those things to see in toronto brochures, just walk into any hotel and grab one. I thought the story was really sad, and that the decor, especially the wood carvings was quite impressive.
