Things YOU GOTTA SEE when visiting Mississauga and Brampton
Here are some quick suggestions for visitors with limited time in the area. Perfect if you have only ONE DAY to visit (like a business trip, when passing through, or when stopping over between flights). The additional days schedule is a recommendation for those who want to see the essence of Mississauga in only a couple of days.
You can read ALL SORTS of travel guides, and carry around pounds of paper, or just print off this ONE PAGE and have all the info you ever need! These are the area’s top activities, family activities and attractions, tourist attractions, historical sites, museums, interesting architecture, sightseeing and top shopping/dining areas. Organized into a nice walking or driving itinerary!
Sightseeing Suggestions
Mississauga is best known for being the home of Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, and being in close proximity to Toronto to the east.
Here are some quick suggestions for visitors with limited time in the area. The schedule is only a suggestion — you may have more fun, or wish to take more time than mentioned below.
Mississauga
Here are our picks for the must-see attractions in and around Mississauga:
Port Credit offers a quaint lakefront community, with a beautiful waterfront, heritage conservation district, marina, and great dining & shopping. There is also the Adamson Estate to visit. The Credit River is famous for its fishing, with chinook salmon, steelhead, pink and Atlantic salmon.
From Port Credit, the Waterfront Trail heads both east and west for 740 kilometres and connects Cornwall (on the St Lawrence) all the way to Niagara-on-the-lake on the US border and the Niagara River
Head west by road or by trail to the waterfront Jack Darling Memorial Park, with great views of the Toronto Skyline, a large beach, and two large picnic areas.
Head away from the waterfront to University of Toronto’s Mississauga Campus and then visit Wahoosh Falls (in the forest just north of Mississauga Rd & Burnamthorpe) where Mullet Creek empties into the Credit River.
Head north from there along Mississauga Rd and visit Streetsville, and take in its small town charm.
Visit Mississauga’s City Centre or ‘downtown”. This is a cluster of attractions, including the Square One Shopping Centre (the second largest in Canada with 360 stores), the Playdium entertainment complex with laser maze, mini-golf, an arcade and movie theatres. There’s also iFly where you can simulate skydiving in 175 km/h fan-blown winds help you defy gravity. Or if you want more culture, check out the Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM) and
By the airport, visit Fantasy Fair, which is the largest indoor amusement park in Ontario. You can also watch horse racing at the Woodbine Racetrack.
Visit Centennial Park, where there is a ski hill, a go-kart track, a running track, a natural area and all sort of other recreational diversions.
Brampton & Peel Region
Brampton is criss-crossed by freeways to make everything very accessible. Here are our recommendations for attractions in and around Brampton, just north of the #407 Highway.
In Downtown Brampton next to the Rose Theatre, is the Brampton Arts Walk of Fame including greats like Alan Thicke, and Russell Peters. Gage Park, just south of downtown, is open year-round and has been since 1903. The Peel Heritage Complex with the Region of Peel Museum, old Peel County Courthouse and the Art Gallery of Peel, the complex celebrates the rich heritage and artistic talent of Peel. The Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives houses 12,000 artifacts as old as 4,000 BC.
Chinguacousy Park, used for many local festivals, with lots of recreational facilities, even a ski hill. A little to the north of this park is Professor’s Lake, a 26 hectare artificial lake with a beach that was created in 1973, from a gravel pit.
Just north of the huge Trinity Common Mall is the 69 hectare Heart Lake Conservation Area has a lake and Tree Top Trekking zip-lining.
North of Brampton, by the Brampton Airport, is the Great War Flying Museum with a collection of full-sized flying replicas of WWI fighter planes and artifacts from WWI. Experience the thrill of seeing these fighter planes in action at their popular flying show in September. Talk to the volunteers who build, maintain and fly these “magnificent flying machines”, and enjoy the museum’s collection.
Cheltenham Badlands, poking out of the Caledon Hills with red and grey shale exposed by erosion following deforestation & overgrazing, on the way back visit the Spirit Tree Estate Cidery.
Between Brampton and the Pearson Airport is Wet’n’Wild Toronto (south of #407) is a 40 hectare water park with two pools and a whopping 15 water slides, not far from the 343 hectare Clairville Conservation Area (north of #407) famous for bird-watching. Right nearby, is the Humber Nurseries Butterfly Conservatory by Hwy 50 is home to 30 species of native butterflies, plus the migrating Monarch, with beautiful display gardens of floral baskets, potted annuals, perennials and herbs as a food source.
Attractions Very Nearby
These attractions are worth a short detour if you are in the area. They are not far away, but expect to spend some time (half to a full day) at each.
- To the west is Burlington’s Royal Botanical Gardens are a year-round treat of floral delights and hosts the world’s largest spring lilac festival.
- Burlington has the Bruce Trail along the Niagara Escarpment and has a magnetic hill, just four kilometres from downtown on King Road, can ‘pull’ a car over its crest when set in neutral. Glen Eden Ski Hill takes advantage of the Escarpment to provide challenging sk terrain.
- To the east of Brampton is the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, is home to one of the largest selections of paintings by Canada’s famous Group of Seven.
- A little further east, Paramount Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughan has over 60 rides, live entertainment and the world’s greatest variety of roller coasters. There are public transit options from Mississauga and Brampton!
- in Downsview (part of what was formerly North York) is home to Black Creek Pioneer Village, a recreated settlement with 40 heritage buildings from the 1800s before Canada’s Confederation, with interpreters and artisans in period dress.
- In downtown Toronto, visit the CN Tower and ride a glass-fronted elevator 341 metres (1,136-ft.) up the (what was for several decades, the) World’s Tallest Free-standing Structure, and recognized as one of the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World.” From downtown Toronto, take an old-fashioned Toronto Island Ferry or cruise the harbour on a tour boat.
