Visiting Casa Loma in Toronto, Canada

Casa Loma, which means house on the hill in Spanish, was our first stop using our Toronto CityPASS on our recent Canadian family vacation.

Casa Loma, is an Edwardian castle situated on five acres on top of a hill overlooking the Toronto skyline. It is North America's only full sized castle and the largest private residence in Canada, built in 1911 and once owned by Sir Henry Pellatt and his wife Lady Mary.

When you visit, be prepared to stay about 3 hours to see all four floors, the tunnel and the beautiful grounds. You could easily spend an entire day there. Toronto's famous CN Tower can be seen from the garden terrace, another beautiful photo location on the grounds.

Casa Loma is huge at 200,000 square feet, so wear your walking shoes during the self-guided tour. The castle offer multimedia audio guides, which we all really enjoyed because they allowed us to learn even more about the Pellatt family. 

Highlights From Inside Casa Loma:

Two of my favorite rooms were Sir and Lady Pellatt's individual Suites. Back in those days it was common for couples to have separate quarters. If my husband and I had rooms as beautiful as these, I wouldn't have any problem not sharing. It's crazy when I think about it, but I believe I could fit my current home in the square footage of their two suites. #Goals!

Lady Pellatt's suite was the larger of the two (a lady needs her space of course), including separate bed, sitting, dressing and bathing rooms. 

My oldest daughter's favorite part of Casa Loma was definitely the Hollywood Film Gallery. Located on the lower level by Liberty Cafe, it featured movie clips and posters of movies filmed there. Some of the movies include The Rocky Horror Picture Show and movies from the X-Men franchise. Look closely at professor X's school for gifted children next time you watch your favorite X-Men movie, it's actually Casa Loma.

We stayed so long little stomachs began to growl and a snack was in order. There were two food options, the Terrace Grill with outside seating on the main level over looking the gardens, and skyline or Liberty Café' in the basement. They both offer a wide variety of foods and beverages. We chose the Liberty Grill and the kids were formally introduced to the Canadian concoction called Poutine. The yummy goodness known as poutine is a simple dish consisting of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy, and it was such a big hit that the kids are now poutine fans for life. We washed it all down with smoothies and were ready to complete our castle tour.

Casa Loma, took 300 men nearly three years and $3,500,000 to complete at the time. The couple lived in the castle less than ten years before financial issues forced them to move. Visiting this home turned museum was a unique experience for my family and, since we'd never been to a castle that wasn't created by Walt Disney I hope it opened our children's eyes to the fact that castles aren't only found in fairytales and if you can dream it you can live it. We all enjoyed the tour, and when our ship comes in, we want to live large like the Pellatt's. #Squad Goals!

Check Out More From Our Trip to Toronto, Canada:

Visiting Toronto's CN Tower
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
Visiting the Ontario Science Centre