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| - I'm not big on going to touristy attractions, but on the advice of TripAdvisor, we went here. A visit to Casa Loma is well worth the time and money, for both the historical aspect and the architectural aspect. I would not recommend the in-person guided tour unless you have a very long attention span. . . I felt sorry for the parochial school kids who endured a 20+ minute lecture in each room. We opted to forego the free headphone guides in the gift shop in favor of wandering around the castle on our own. If you're going to do that, I recommend going to the second floor first and watching the informational video about the financier who built it. It gives a concise, informative overview on the castle's history and the life of the man who built it, the cost of the castle and monthly upkeep relative to other dwellings during that time period, etc. The castle has 99 rooms, including a basement wine cellar. The castle has two towers, but the Norman Tower was closed due to construction, so we were only able to go in one. The view is very impressive. You can see the entirety of downtown Toronto's skyline from the tower. The exterior of the castle, especially as viewed from the gardens behind it (since the view from the front isn't very good whatwith the construction scaffolding and catering vans, etc. out front), is gorgeous. Pictures on travel websites really don't do it justice.
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