By Phyllis W. Zeno

Longing for a family holiday, but money is tight? There was never a better time than now to head for Canada, where your dollar is worth half again as much as in the U.S. And what more appealing place to visit than Ontario, which borders four Great Lakes…Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario…and features some of the world’s best canoeing, glorious gardens, challenging hiking trails and cultural events par excellence.

Ontario’s five regions…Southwestern, Central, Toronto, Eastern and Northern…add up to perfect vacation choices. Whether you take an extended trip to North Bay with its French food and fishing communities, to Sault Ste. Marie for a ride aboard the Algoma Central Railway into the Canadian wilderness and Agawa Canyon, or only cross the border to Niagara-on-the-Lake, you’ll find something of interest for the whole family.

In Toronto families can enjoy such big-city pleasures as shopping, dining and entertainment. You and the family will enjoy a visit to the CN Tower, the world’s tallest building; the Royal Ontario Museum and the Toronto Zoo. And for something quirky, try a driving/floating sightseeing adventure on Toronto’s “Hippo” tour bus and a dinner theater performance at Famous People Players, an internationally acclaimed black-light show with life-sized puppets, orchestrated by developmentally challenged Canadians…fun, funny and thoroughly entertaining.

The charming town of Stratford, in Southwestern Ontario, provides its nearly one million annual visitors with an assortment of popular attractions, highlighted by the Stratford Festival of Canada, now celebrating its Golden Jubilee.

In 1953, a visionary team of Stratford-born journalist Tom Patterson, esteemed stage director Tyrone Guthrie and scenic designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch came up with the idea of establishing a festival of Shakespearean theater in the small city of Stratford. They accomplished their goal on July 13, 1953, when actor Alec Guinness appeared in Richard III. In the years that followed, such acclaimed actors as Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, James Mason, Jason Robards, Peter Ustinov and others appeared regularly, drawing audiences from near and far.

Today, the Festival features 692 performances over a 28-week season, starting in April and running through November 10. More than 590,000 tickets sold each year bring $169 million annually to the regional economy.

This year the newly renovated Festival Theatre will present: All’s Well That Ends Well, Romeo and Juliet, My Fair Lady and Christopher Plummer starring in King Lear.

Also on the grounds, the Avon Theatre will offer: The Threepenny Opera, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Richard III: Reign of Terror (The Wars of the Roses, Part 3).

The Tom Patterson Theatre has scheduled: Henry VI: Revenge in France (The Wars of the Roses, Part 1); Henry VI: Revolt in England (The Wars of the Roses, Part 2), The Two Noble Kinsmen; and The Lunatic, The Lover, and the Poet.

In a new Studio Theatre, several highly experimental plays will be produced: High-Gravel-Blind/Eternal Hydra; Bereav’d of Light/The Fellini Radio Plays; Walk Right Up/Shadows and The Swanne: George III (The Death of Cupid).

If that’s not enough for theater buffs, Niagara-on-the-Lake, often called the loveliest town in Ontario, is home to the world-renowned Shaw Festival, the second-largest repertory theater in North America. Enjoy a play at the only theater in the world that specializes in the works of George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries. The season runs from April through November in its three theaters.

In the Festival Theatre, along with Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra and Candida, you can enjoy Detective Story by Sidney Kingsley and Hay Fever by Noel Coward.

The Court House Theatre will feature The Return of the Prodigal, The House of Bernarda Alba, His Majesty and Chaplin. Meanwhile, the Royal George Theatre will offer The Old Ladies, The Old Lady Shows Her Medals and a Stephen Sondheim musical, Merrily We Roll Along.

Niagara-on-the-Lake has a long and distinguished history. The site of an old Indian village, it was settled at the close of the American Revolution by Loyalists coming to Upper Canada. In 1792, Newark, as it was originally named, became the capital of the newly-created colony of Upper Canada, until the capital was moved to York. The town continued to prosper until it was burned to the ground in the War of 1812.

Rebuilt, Niagara became a busy shipping and ship-building center, and its beautiful old homes lining tree-shaded streets attest to the prosperity of its citizens. You may want to take a carriage ride through the Old Town. Also of interest are tours of the world-famous Niagara wineries.

Twenty minutes away is breathtaking Niagara Falls, where nearly 800,000 gallons of water per second thunder over the falls.

Take a jet boat up the Niagara River, or for added excitement, take a Journey Behind the Falls, thrill to a Great Gorge Adventure or visit the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory. And you’ll surely want to visit the Niagara Falls Duty Free Shops.

The kids would enjoy a visit to Marineland to see killer whales, dolphins and sea lions perform.

Also in Niagara Falls is Oh Canada, Eh?!, a musical celebration of Canada with the accent on comedy. Performed in a rustic log cabin, it features a five-course family-style meal with outstanding food.

If you’re looking for fun without the kids, stay at Casino Niagara, a world-class casino destination with 2,700 slot machines and 135 table games.

In Windsor, located in a unique area of Canada, you actually look north to the United States across the Detroit River. As Canada’s southern-most city, the temperature is a few degrees warmer than the rest of Canada. Situated at the center of the Great Lakes, Windsor is best known as the “automotive capital” of Canada, with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler all having large manufacturing plants in the city. However, Windsor offers cultural attractions as well, including the Art Gallery of Windsor, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and Windsor Light Opera Company.

With so much to see and do, you could spend weeks exploring this beautiful province.

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