"Barrie and Simcoe County off the beaten path" Top 5 Page for this destination Barrie by Faiza-Ifrah


Barrie Travel Guide: 117 reviews and 258 photos

Power boating in Georgian Bay - Barrie
Power boating in Georgian Bay
Barrie - the door to the cottage country

Barrie, located about 1 hr drive north of Toronto / Mississauga (100 Kms), is the capital of Ontario's touristic cottage country and is the major city of Simcoe county. Other touristic destinations in this county are the cities of Collingwood, Midland, Orillia, and Georgian Bay, lake Simcoe, and Wasaga Beach.

Within the county, we have been cruising and picnicing in Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie, Southern shores of Georgian Bay, Horseshoe Valley, Lake Simcoe, and the cities of Tottenham, Orillia, and Lagoon City.

Orillia - intro to First Nation
First Nation Signatures - Barrie

First Nation Signatures

Orillia, Brechin and Lagoon City are located on the east side of Lake Simcoe.

Casino Rama is a mojor attraction of Orillia with all its income going towards upliftment of the First Nation People. Of course, this means that Orillia is located close to the First Nation Lands. First Nation terminology, art and craft, and other characteristics are conspicuous everywhere.

In order to reach Orillia from Mississauga, we took Highway 401 East to Highway 400 North (to Barrie and from there) to Highway 11 to Highway 12 North taking us into the downtown. Highway 11 is quite scenic with forests and wildlife farms along the entire length.

Brechin and Lagoon City - a town on canals
By the canal - Barrie

By the canal

We visited Lagoon City, which turned out to be about 300 Kms northwest of Toronto, in the 3rd week of October 2006. This is a 1600-acre community with 8 kms of navigable waterways and few steps away from the beaches of the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe.

It is cottage and retirement community. The whole city is built over canalways. And that is what we enjoyed - boating, especially paddleboating for a change.

From Orillia, we took Highway 12 South taking us all the way to Brechin and to Lagoon City.

Pros and Cons
  • Pros:Close to Toronto, beautiful summers and falls, all season activites
  • Cons:Highway 400 is a nightmare, especially on weekends
  • In a nutshell:Simcoe County offer all season activites
  • Last visit to Barrie: Sep 2007
  • Intro Updated Oct 17, 2010
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Reviews (18)

A ski slope in summer - Barrie Explore Horseshoe Valley Off The Beaten Path (8)

We did lots of hiking and trekking in the Valley. The valley is home to many resorts, several golf courses, lakes,... more travel advice

Pedal boating was fun - Barrie Pedal boating in the canalways Things to Do (5)

We could have taken our canoe all the way to Lagoon City, but we did not thinking that it is late fall and that it would... more travel advice

statues of historical figures - Barrie Fun time at Orillia's Couchiching Beach... Things to Do (5)

So one day we drove from Lagoon City back to Orillia and explored the city. The first destination was Couchiching Beach... more travel advice

Entrance to our resort - Barrie Lagoon City's best place to stay Hotels (2)

Although we had made our reservations through Harbor Inn and Resort Club, we were made to stay at one of its distant... more travel advice

Comments (5)

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  • goutammitra's Profile Photo
    goutammitra Oct 20, 2011 at 7:01 AM Report Abuse

    Very beautiful and informative page! The hotel is a real good place though a bit pricey!How could I miss this page?

  • FruitLover's Profile Photo
    FruitLover Oct 3, 2010 at 2:33 PM Report Abuse

    Nice, fun, kef. Nice children you have, HAMDULULA. Can you show me a close-up photo of yourself, Faiza? Avi

  • balhannah's Profile Photo
    balhannah Feb 24, 2010 at 10:17 PM Report Abuse

    Would like to have a browse in that First Nation's shop and go for a ride on the Steam train, excellent!

  • cachaseiro's Profile Photo
    cachaseiro Dec 8, 2008 at 10:47 PM Report Abuse

    that looks like a really good place for outdoor lovers.

  • SLLiew's Profile Photo
    SLLiew Apr 11, 2008 at 7:44 AM Report Abuse

    No shortage of outdoor activities to do at Barrie. Thanks for sharing.

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