Travel Canada -- Ontario Getaways: Creemore, Collingwood and Thornbury

A place I have wanted to visit again for a while is Collingwood and Ontario's Georgian Bay area. It's been quite a few years since I was up in this region, and it was time to rediscover it. So on July 14, 2010 I set off with a friend and our two bicycles to explore the countryside north of Toronto. After a nice drive on Highway 10 and various winding country highways through hilly terrain, we stopped for a late breakfast in Creemore, a cute country village that is most famous for the Creemore Springs Brewery.

A walk up and down the main street revealed various stores and galleries. Creemore Springs offers brewery tours, but this early in the morning it was not open yet. Another place also caught my attention: "Chez Michel", a very attractive looking restaurant with an inviting outdoor patio. Owner Michel Massolin, a real Frenchman from Normandie, invited me in on a tour of his restaurant. In addition to the typical French décor of his main dining room, I also got to admire his extensive wine collection that features vintages from all over the world.

Then we sat down for a nice breakfast next door at the Affairs Catering and Bakery Café where I enjoyed a creamy Napoleon pastry and morning tea. After these refreshments we continued driving until we reached our intended destination: Collingwood, a former industrial town of about 17,000 people that has become one of Ontario's most popular tourist destinations.

Around the turn of the last century Collingwood was a center of shipbuilding and an important port on Georgian Bay / Lake Huron, but this industry declined and vanished completely by the mid 1980s. Recently the town has been working hard on transforming itself into a centre of recreation and tourism, an obvious choice given its privileged position on Georgian Bay and the Niagara Escarpment.

Today Collingwood has become a popular 4-season getaway destination with an extremely broad recreational offering including golf, hiking, biking and a wide variety of water sports. Before stopping in town we drove on to Thornbury, a pretty village on Georgian Bay about 15 minutes northwest of Collingwood. Thornbury's main street has been revitalized in recent years and now features a selection of attractive retail stores, bakeries, cafes and galleries.

From here we headed into downtown Collingwood and were impressed by the beautification efforts that have been implemented on Hurontario Street, the town's main thoroughfare. We also visited the former Collingwood Train Station, a reconstruction of the former 1873 building, which has been transformed into the city's tourism office and also houses the Collingwood Museum.

After lunch we cycled across town past a variety of large Victorian-era houses to the River Trail that took us past the Old Train Station to the waterfront of Collingwood. There we took in the Collingwood Harbour and the imposing Collingwood Terminals, the last concrete remnant of this town's industrial past.

Cycling west around the Harbour we rode on the Boardwalk Trail towards a tranquil wetland that opens up impressive views towards Georgian Bay and the Collingwood Terminals. Unfortunately we had to get back to the city, but this quick taste of Collingwood convinced us that this region will need to be explored in much more detail another time.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Travel
• Canada
• Ontario
• Creemore
• Collingwood
• Blue Mountains
• Thornbury
• Georgian Bay
• Georgian Trail
• Bruce Trail
• Niagara Escarpment

[pol2000]

You just made me want to go up that road.

[MissMadison543]

i <3 this video the view is Beautiful!!

and i <3 collingwood so much <3<3<3

[007e38]

Its cool how they are making those new condos look like old ship building factories, some people think it's ugly but i like it.