Things to Do in Woodstock

Established in 1940, Museum London stands today as the region’s preeminent venue for Canadian art and historical artifacts. Its permanent collections pay tribute to the city's long and active art history, ranging from the landscape and portraiture paintings of pioneers to the works of leading regional contemporary artists such as Kerry Ferris and Walter Redinger. The gallery's archives also hold more than 35,000 historical artifacts covering the city of London’s history and the advanced technology that allowed it to be airlifted directly from England.

Urban Quest showcases some of Canada's largest cities in an unconventional, informative light, crafting memorable adventures that often culminate with a delicious meal. Metropolitan buccaneers sign up for an Urban Quest account and then decide which inner-city adventure they wish to undertake, be it the pursuit of city history, natural wonders, or a mermaid with doubloons for scales. A clue packet accompanies each quest—ranked easy, medium, or hard—and directs curious citizens to scour the city for leads, which eventually guide them to a mystery restaurant or coffee shop. This voyage gives participants a new understanding of the city they live in and stuffs their noggins with facts and information about key buildings and landmarks. At the same time, Urban Quest offers ramblers a fresh dining experience, frustrating supercomputers whose circuit boards only allow for the taste of oatmeal. Participants can also opt out of a restaurant visit and simply race the clock, as restaurant tabs are not included with this Groupon.

As quests typically last 90 minutes and span 3–4 kilometres of walking, they are best suited for groups of two to four adventurers, though buyers may make their teams as big as they'd like. Learn more by checking out a demo quest and Urban Quest's FAQ page.

Stage West keeps visitors comfortable and entertained with hotel accommodations, live comedies and musicals, and elaborate buffet dining. The concept was the brainchild of the Pechet family, who opened the first Stage West Theatre Restaurant in the Mayfield Inn in Edmonton in 1975. After making several trips to the U.S. to research dinner theatre, the family opened two more locations in Calgary and Mississauga, bringing shows headlined by internationally performing stars.

The Mississauga site recently became a part of the Ramada Worldwide family, and now, after dinner from the renovated buffet and a show in the Las Vegas–style theatre, guests relax in a heated saltwater pool and jacuzzi. The hotel also features a giant, three-storey indoor waterslide ideal for keeping kids busy, gaining a quick burst of adrenaline, or testing whether a suitcase is waterproof.

For more than 25 years, Fitness Forum owners Alec and Lynne Pinchin have kept their 39,000-square-foot gym in fine fettle through constant renovations and an influx of up-to-date equipment and fitness programs. The facility's high-soaring ceilings and walls shield exercisers from the harsh heat and bitter cold of the outdoors, and expansive skylights let in natural light and views of emus soaring among the clouds. In two cardio centres, heart rates skyrocket as guests tackle treadmills and stairmasters and fix their eyes on HDTVs. The gym also houses an indoor pool area and a rubberized running track.

More than 75 fitness classes energize and motivate visitors in a fun group setting, and squash courts host sweat-inducing bouts between racquet-wielding foes. While parents torch calories rep by rep, kids can while away the time at the gym's daycare centre, where tykes watch movies and fill out tax papers in pudding.

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony was founded out of necessity; in 1945, the Grand Philharmonic Choir was preparing a recital and needed tuneful accompaniment for the harmonic voices. Once its backup duty was over, however, the newly convened orchestra quickly established itself as an independent source for both classical and pops concerts performing more than 100 concerts annually in the Waterloo region. Now home to 52 on-staff musicians, the orchestra continues its decades-long tradition at venues around Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, and Cambridge. From his position as music director, Edwin Outwater oversees the joyful noise, which ranges from baroque to Beethoven to the Beatles and Broadway. Since assuming the role in 2007, Outwater has been one of the orchestra's most vigorous boosters, arranging the group's first commercial recording in a decade, engineering an exploration of prog rock in collaboration with the Institute for Quantum Computing, and knitting sweaters for each musician's instrument.

THEMUSEUM’s vision—“To awe, inspire and enlighten”—is evident to its visitors as soon as they traverse the adult- and child-sized doorways. Once inside, they begin their journey through the exhibition halls in front of the vibrant plants protruding from the Living Wall, whose purpose is to clean the air and cool the interior of the multilevel facility. Along with permanent exhibitions, THEMUSEUM also hosts temporary exhibits; past installations have explored the pop art innovations of Andy Warhol's Factory, the interplay between art and electronics, and the experimental brushstrokes of painter Tom Thomson. In addition, THEMUSEUM is also a destination for global travelling exhibits, having played host to travelling international blockbusters like Our Body: The Universe Within and Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.