5 Best Sights in Side Trips from Toronto, Ontario

An 1880-vintage frame structure, this National Historic Site honors the heroic efforts of field surgeon and medical educator Henry Norman Bethune (1830–1939), who worked in China during the Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s and trained thousands to become medics. There are rooms that evoke the period and an exhibit tracing the highlights of his life.

The largest First Nations–run gambling emporium in Canada, Casino Rama lures visitors to the Orillia area. A short jaunt from the ski resort areas around Barrie, the 192,000-square-foot complex has 2,500 slot machines, more than 110 gambling tables, eight restaurants, a lounge, and an adjoining 300-room all-suites luxury hotel. Catch acts like Trooper, Russell Peters, and Aqua here.

Learn about steamboat history in this museum with a rotating collection of historic boats that have included a 1924 propeller boat, a 30-foot 1894 steamboat, and gleaming wooden speedboats.

In warm weather, the best way to experience Muskoka Lake is aboard one of these historic vessels. The restored 128-foot-long, 99-passenger RMS Segwun (the initials stand for Royal Mail Ship) is North America's oldest operating steamship, built in 1887, and is the sole survivor of a fleet that provided transportation through the Muskoka Lakes. The 200-passenger Wenonah II is a 1907-inspired vessel with modern technology. Reservations are required.

Readers of Canada's great humorist Stephen Leacock may recognize Orillia as "Mariposa," the town he described in Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Leacock's former summer home is now the Stephen Leacock Museum, a National Historic Site. Among the rotating exhibits are books, manuscripts, and photographs depicting Leacock, his family, and the region that inspired his writings. In the Mariposa Room, characters from the book are matched with the Orillia residents who inspired them.