In another big win for tourism in the Kawarthas region this year, The Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough has been named in TIME’s list of the world’s greatest places to visit in 2025.
The recognition comes just two months after the museum was mentioned in a similar list published by the New York Times. In 2024, the museum was named one of the Best Cultural Spots on National Geographic’s Best of the World list.
TIME magazine published its list of 100 best destinations around the world on Thursday (March 13), with The Canadian Canoe Museum listed as one of the 15 greatest places to visit in North America.
“Newly reopened in a 65,000-square-foot building that is now, aptly, located lakeside, The Canadian Canoe Museum’s design evokes the hull of a canoe and is undoubtedly an aesthetic upgrade from its previous home in a former outboard motor factory,” writes Aaron Shaffer.
“The 5.3-acre waterfront property features 1,200 feet of shoreline with docks and boardwalks that serve as a launching point to explore Little Lake and the Otonabee River, both part of the 240-mile Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site that winds through Ontario. From May through October, the museum’s Canoe House offers ways for paddlers of all ages and levels to get on the water, including a guided tour in a 36-foot canoe.”
“Inside the museum is a storied collection of more than 600 canoes, kayaks, and paddled watercraft, among other artifacts, plus half a dozen exhibits that marvel at the engineering and craftsmanship of these complex boats and tell the culturally intricate story of a vessel that once afforded Indigenous Peoples the ability to travel and trade throughout the country’s interconnected waterways.”
Now in its seventh year, TIME’s annual list of the World’s Greatest Places seeks out “one-of-a-kind spots and experiences around the globe,” according to the magazine’s editors.
TIME solicits nominations of hotels, cruises, restaurants, attractions, museums, parks, and more from its international network of correspondents and contributors, as well as through an application process.
This is the second time this year that the Kawarthas region has made a tourism list from an American publication. In January, the Trent-Severn Waterway was featured in the New York Times’ list of “52 Places to Go in 2025.”
The list mentioned The Canadian Canoe Museum, Le Boat, 100 Acre Brewing Co., and Taste of the TSW as attractions along the waterway.
