I love the history and museums of London and this is one that's great for $6. I checked the hours…read moreand they were open in the afternoon so I had an hour and half and walked from my hotel to the house. I walked in and a guide was talking to a group of visitors and he informed me he would be right with me and I waited in the entrance. A guide came to greet me in a few minutes and started to talk to me about Banting and take me through each room. I prefer to walk through museums on my own and read the information but the narrative was ok when I had questions. Another guide came that was more familiar and soon, she was the only guide. They told me I could come back and read in more details. It was like a Cole's notes for those who might not have time or want to read the information on the panels. We went through each room downstairs and then upstairs where there was a bedroom that is darker to preserve the wallpaper and this is the room that Banting slept in. It gave me an understanding and appreciation for the history of insulin and how it how positively impacted millions of people. At the end of the tour there's a map where you can put a pin on the map where you're from and to pay. There's also public washrooms there.

We visited in the area on a rainy day. We didn't have a chance to go inside and so we visited the…read morearea outside which had a few monuments. Nice to go to the area which was expected to be area much residential homes on a busier street. Nice to see and visit.

When I am on vacation or am travelling, I try my best to visit a museum. I typically come to…read moreWaterloo either on business or to shop. I frankly don't know much about the history of the area. Since Canada Day landed on a Sunday this year, a lot of businesses were closed on Monday. However, Waterloo Region Museum broke out of this mode and was open. Perfect! This museum is in Kitchener. You can't miss the museum's colourful exterior and pleasing scenic view as you pull into the parking lot. I parked under a tree to provide some much needed shade for my car and walked in. Admission is $11 plus tax. The woman at the desk was kind to show me where everything was with the help of the map in the program guide. I walked over to the museum area and was greeted by an older gentleman. Everyone I talked to seemed so surprised that it was my first time at the museum for some reason. I looked like a complete tourist, armed with my digital SLR camera in hand. The man recommended that I go outside and explore Doon Heritage Village first. It has been hot outside these days and I showed up early, so the heat wasn't as bad as it could be. I spent nearly two hours exploring each building in the village and understanding how Mennonites lived in 1914. You see everything from the post office to the meat market. There are staff dressed up in clothing back in the day providing good information. There is also a farm with chickens, horses, and more. After I was done, I walked back into the Waterloo Region Museum. I looked like I had done an intense workout. I was sweating buckets, mainly because it was so hot and humid outside. I needed a towel and a shower! I sat down in the theatre to cool off and learn more about the lives of folks living in Kitchener (formerly Berlin) back in 1914. It was fascinating that I watched the whole slide show a second time before venturing into the exhibits at Waterloo Region Museum. The museum houses information and artifacts about the region, including a hall of fame on the second floor. You learn about the history of local industries, such as Schniders and Kuntz, with the latter becoming Carling and then Labatt's. I also learned about Abraham Erb, a Mennonite who settled in Waterloo from Pennsylvania, who is known to have founded Waterloo. The hotel that I am staying at is sitting on the street named after him. I loved my time here. I spent roughly 3.5 hours soaking up all the exhibits. I had a great time despite sweating so much. (250)

If ever traveling to Waterloo or Kitchner, this museum is a great place to visit. The first floor…read moreincludes the history of the area and the reasons why Europeans immigrated to the region, including great testimonials from people of various countries. There is a large collection of historic artifacts displayed documenting the community's heritage. The second floor displays Canada's Hall of Fame heroes, from military to government to sports figures; it is quite informative and impressive! Outside, behind the museum, one is thrust into the era of 1914, with a steam engine, historic buildings, and artifacts, including workers in period costume. Each worker has knowledge of the respective building. There is even a historic farmhouse that belonged to a Mennonite family. Out back there are chickens and a pig. Toward the front of the house are beautiful horses. It is well worth the time to visit this museum.

Eldon House is a walk from our hotel and downtown London area. It's a home where the Harris family…read morelived from 1834 and the home was donated in the mid 1900's and since been restored for viewing. The house different rooms and signs to explain the contents. The lower floor has many of the hunting trophies from the various animals killed in Africa by one of the grandsons. It also shows the servant's kitchen, sitting room with many artifacts from the travels around the world. Upstairs are various bedrooms and bathroom. A guide greeted us when we went into the house and there were only two other visitors. It's pay by donation at the front of the house. We spent less than an hour in the house but enjoyed reading and seeing the history of this prominent family.

The Eldon House is a great historical house museum. Admission is by donation ($5 suggested, but…read morepay what you will.) The house was donated to the city with most of the original belongings still in it, which is pretty rare for house museums. The tour is self guided, and you can wander about all of the rooms at your leisure. A guide greets you at the door, and gives you some background information. There are some interpretive panels as you go, but not an overwhelming amount of reading. It's very cool to see a fully furnished historical home set up as it would have been in the early 1900s. I especially liked seeing the kitchen, as well the children's play room (complete with creepy dolls!) Keep an eye out for the weird hunting trophies in the house -- and look for the elephant foot umbrella stand! (This is not a euphemism. It is a literal elephant foot that was turned into an umbrella stand.) During the summer they offer afternoon tea on the patio, and they run a variety of special events, lectures, tours, and classes throughout the year. The Eldon house is definitely worth a quick visit, if you're visiting or a local. I believe they also rent out the venue for private functions. They don't have their own parking lot; you'll need to find metered parking on Ridout street or park in a nearby pay lot. I hope to come back for a special event sometime soon! Check out their special events page here: http://www.eldonhouse.ca/d.aspx?s=/Main/Events_Calendar.htm.

So amazing. It is like the Ontario Science Centre but less crowded. Anyone who hasn't been here,…read moreyour kids are missing out!

The Museum is great for the kids…read more A lot of interactive activities to keep the little ones occupied and hopefully they would learn something in the process. The exhibits are a little rundown. A lot of screaming kids jumping and banging on everything. It is nice to be family friendly but if you are adults or without kids, I would avoid coming during weekends and summer holidays or just skip completely.

I recently came back here after many many years for the Maple Harvest Fest, and overall it was a…read morevery pleasant experience. The Museum itself is quite small, but they do offer activities for groups and educational sessions for students. On the particular day that I attended, I thought it would be something similar to attending a Maple Sugar Bush; however, I was a bit surprised. Inside the museum, there were a few vendors selling homemade jewellery and clothing, and by the time I arrived, the majority of the maple offerings and treats had sold out. There was an option to do a virtual reality tour of a longhouse, although I preferred to experience the 'real' thing. There was a reconstructed longhouse outside where there was a brief, 2-station demo and introduction to the housing structure itself, as well as the preparation of maple sap by the heating of rocks and boiling down of the syrup. The staff were all very friendly and knowledgeable at the Museum. It would be a great session for young students and families with young children.

We recently visited the children's museum with 2 families and 4 kids. The children's museum is…read morelocated on the upper levels of the building. Parking lots are located all around the the large building (that houses the children's museum but other stores and shops as well). Parking lots do start filling up fairly quickly but there was more than enough spots. Inside the play museum, there is a free area to hang your costs with ample space. There's tons of stuff to do for kids in the children's museum. Some highlights: Stepping in, there's a giant tree house type play ground where kids can climb up and explore. There's a kid sized town that includes a fire station, dentist/medicL area, ice cream shop, school, home, grocery store, farm. There's even little apron/hats for different areas for dressing up. There's a "sand area" to give up dinosaurs, a space area up on another floor. Perhaps one of the key defining features is the huge water play area that includes a giant fountain to shoot balls up, a fishing area, Lego area to build a dam. They even provide aprons to try to reduce wet shirts on kids. There's a dry off area with hoses that shoot air. There's also an area at the back that changes from time to time - the theme this time was Winter Olympics. There are shows that occur throughout the day like a star show and a fossil show. There are places to eat, a microwave to heat up food and vending machines. Overall, a great day trip for people in the area with young kids!

We had such a great time at the London Children's Museum! It's an amazing hands-on space where kids…read morecan truly learn through play. The water play table is huge and thoughtfully designed, allowing kids to experiment, discuss, and learn basic physics concepts while having fun. The farm area is very educational -- my child loved learning about animals and how chickens lay eggs. There are also lab programs for older kids, which is a great bonus for families with children of different ages. Other highlights include the supermarket role-play area, corn factory (harvest, make, and pack corn), fossils and dinosaur sand digging, light-up puzzles, hospital, fire station, and a packaging station that teaches how factory systems work in a fun way. Everything was clean and well maintained. A big plus for parents: large, clean washrooms, plus smaller washrooms designed for older kids, which made the visit much easier. Admission is very reasonable at $15.50 per person for adults and children aged 1 and up. Overall, this is a fantastic destination for families, especially on rainy days or weekends. Highly recommend if you're visiting London, Ontario with kids!

As a new arrival to London, I was in search of cool local things to do when my sister came to visit…read moreme from the states. Luckily for us, Fanshawe Pioneer Village was having a summer agricultural fair that weekend (thanks to the Yelp events page, which is where I saw the listing!) I wasn't sure what to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. The "pioneer village" is a collection of historical houses and other buildings that have been moved from their original locations to a central area, for preservation and education. They've set things up roughly as a rural village would have been. It was surprisingly cool, and would have been so even if it weren't a special festival day. They had several fully furnished historical houses, including the childhood home of Paul Peel, who (I learned) was the first Canadian painters who was a hit in Europe. You'll see a blacksmith, carpenter's, and print-making shop, as well as a couple of churches and school rooms. There's a masonic lodge, and even an old (alas, no longer operational) brewery! And because it was a special fair day, there were a handful of costumed folks around doing historical reenactments, as well as free hayrides (woo!) out to a field to see threshing demonstrations. The village is a working farm! They also hosted a square dance as part of the fair festivities, which was filled with old folks who were dressed for square dancing and obviously knew what they were doing. Intimidated by their square dancing prowess, I didn't stay. Parking is free, and admission is $7 per adult. The GPS gave me reliable directions; you have to go in past a little gate into what appears to be an official city park or recreational area to get there. If anyone in your group has mobility issues, be warned that there's a decent amount of walking, although all of the surfaces are pretty flat. I'm sure this is a place that every Londoner went to on a school field trip at some point. But it's worth a return visit as an adult, especially if you have any interest in history or historical architecture. It's cool to see so many old, preserved buildings (and a couple of more recent recreations) all in one place. Keep an eye on their event calendar - in October sometime they do some kind of battle reenactment. I'll be back for sure!

This is a great place for all ages! Really cool to see how people lived in 1800's. The staff was…read morevery informative. I wish they delivered their schpeels in character but didn't wreak the experience. Very happy we went!

I happened across this attraction while driving out to Waterloo. I didn't need to stay long and…read moredecided I'd visit on my way back home. It wasn't too hard to find off the highway. It was a summer weekday and although I figured it might have additional traffic with kids on school break, I could tell just by turning into the parking lot that it wasn't crowded. What I did find a little strange was the constant signage and website warnings to book tickets online and not on-site. I guess that might have been an issue in the past but it certainly wasn't a problem the day I visited. I paid my entrance fee and walked the short distance back to the conservatory area. There's really good signage to let you know what species you're seeing, and their habits. What I didn't think of was all the butterfly remains I'd see on the grounds...a little disconcerting at first but ok, what did I expect! The sanctuary is easily accessible. It's very warm and humid, but quiet with the hum of the waterfall. It was great that it was so quiet. There were maybe 2 dozen species of butterflies, and many species of trees and plants. At the back end of the conservatory, there's a counter with large, informative photos naming all the different butterflies and insects, and their distinctive characteristics. There were also pupa hanging, and staff to answer any questions. There were a couple of seating areas. After I had rounded the sanctuary a couple of times, I decided to sit on one of the rocks near the waterfall and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere. I then decided to check out the snack bar/cafe. The offerings included some lunch items and baked goods in addition to the usual beverage selections. One thing I encountered that is one of my pet peeves, is a place that charges full 13% HST on takeout food that's $4 or less. I brought it up to the staff and asked that they enlighten their management on how that works. This isn't some mom and pop corner store and they really should know better. Anyway the cafeteria is large and has plenty of seating space, plus a big patio area out in the back with acres of greenery to look at. There are also some swings and space for children to enjoy some fresh air outside. Last but not least, a visit to the gift shop is mandatory. They had tons and tons of preserved butterflies in frames. They also had a good selection of books and gift items. I liked that they were not the generic same old, same old you often see in other attractions' gift shops. I purchased a couple of things I will use as gifts in the future, and be happy that I won't have to worry they'll already have it or get it from someone else. I would love to revisit in future, and bring a friend with her young child. It's the absolute perfect place to spend a day or afternoon getting some light exercise, enjoying a slice of nature, and recharging your battery.

Absolutely love this place. Thousands of beautiful butterflies in the main rainforest type room,…read moretwo other bug rooms, plus a cafe. Got an annual membership with my family a couple of times now (you can use your admission fee towards the price).