Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)

Tickets & Visitor Guide to Canada's Largest Museum

⏱ 2.5-4 hours👤 All ages$$

Founded in 1914, the Royal Ontario Museum is the largest museum in Canada and one of the most significant in North America, with a vast, encyclopedic collection straddling the natural sciences and world cultures — from the deep past to the present, and from Ontario to the far corners of the globe.

The natural history side is a major draw, especially for families: galleries of dinosaur skeletons and fossils, the dazzling Teck Suite of Galleries (gems and minerals), the biodiversity and mammal dioramas, and bat caves and Ice Age exhibits. The world cultures side is equally rich — an outstanding Egyptian collection (with mummies), Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern antiquities, one of the best collections of Chinese art outside China, Indigenous and Canadian collections, arms and armor, textiles, and more. There's far more than you can see in one visit, so it pays to pick a few areas.

The building is itself an attraction. The original historic structure is fronted by the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, a dramatic, deconstructivist glass-and-aluminum addition designed by Daniel Libeskind (opened 2007) that erupts in sharp angles over the Bloor Street corner — one of Toronto's most striking and debated pieces of architecture. The ROM sits in the Bloor-Yorkville area, near the University of Toronto and the upscale Yorkville shopping district. Plan 2.5 to 4 hours; check for special exhibitions (often ticketed separately). It's a great all-weather choice.