The Civilised Way to See The CN Tower

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There are various debates about what counts towards the official height of a building, namely whether you can include radio masks, spires or whatever. Suffice to say that the precise details are way too tedious to get into. When we were in Chicago earlier, we went to the Sears Tower, which used to be the highest building in the World (see Tower Number Three and a Tantrum Whist Shopping).

Then there's the Calgary Tower (see The Highest Tower in The World (Above Sea Level)), which claims to be the highest, but that actually its height above sea level, not the height of the tower itself. As I've said previously, we're covering a lot of towers on this holiday.

The CN (short for Canada National) Tower, in Toronto is actually the tallest, but it only qualifies as the highest “free-standing structure" in the world. Even then, there are actually taller structures as that definition excludes cable supported radio towers and the like.

Following a recommendation, we didn’t go directly to the tower's viewing gallery, but insted booked in for a meal at the 360 restaurant. This is quite expensive, but you get a free assent of the tower and the queue is a lot shorter than for the viewing gallery. Given the standard cost for entry, it makes the meal look a lot more economical. Costs aside, it's by far the most civilised way to enjoy the view. We sat in the restaurant, which revolves once every 76 minutes enjoying the view in relaxed quiet whilst eating an excellent meal.

Once up there, we were free to join the mob in the scrum of the viewing gallery. To be honest, that didn’t have anything more to offer, so once we’d checked out the glass floor, we went back up to the restaurant to skip the queues to go down. We would also like to have gone up to the highest accessible point of the tower - the Skypod - but there was a two hour queue that was winding round the inside of the viewing gallery, making it even more crowded. We skipped it.

Just off the coast of Toronto (if a lake has a coast) are the Toronto Islands. These are a bit like the Princes Island in Calgary, but require a boat ride. We didn’t realise that there are actually three islands and hence it all got a bit confused when we tried to catch the ferry. These islands are a nice quiet place to go for a walk, away from all the traffic. There are also some excellent views back towards Toronto. I waited on there with my camera to get some night pictures - until a German turned up and put his tripod down to claim the best spot. Makes a change from a towel I suppose.

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Photos

Toronto Skyline
The Toronto Skyline viewed from the Toronto Islands at dusk

CN Tower and Roger Center
The CN Tower and Roger Center viewed from the Toronto Islands at dusk

CN Tower View
The view from the CN Tower restaurant

CN Tower Reflection
A reflection of the CN Tower in a nearby glass building

Old Town Hall
A reflection of the Old Town Hall