27 researched places across 7 pockets — restaurants, shops, schools and parks.
An upscale restaurant in a historic downtown Collingwood building, known for gourmet European cooking, an elaborate tasting menu and a welcoming patio.
Local pick: A heritage-building tasting menu
Collingwood's celebrated craft brewery — a taproom and patio pouring the well-known Side Launch Wheat and seasonal beers, named for the town's shipbuilding past.
Local pick: An award-winning local brewery
A full-service O&B grill in the Westin Trillium House at Blue Mountain Village — seasonal menus of steaks, seafood, pastas and fire-roasted pizzas at the foot of the hills.
Local pick: Mountain dining at the Westin
A village pizzeria modeled after a northern firehall, serving gourmet pizza on a patio overlooking the Mill Pond and the Blue Mountain Events Plaza since 2003.
Local pick: Gourmet pizza over the Mill Pond
A family-run, award-winning Wasaga Beach restaurant specializing in house-aged steaks and fresh seafood — consistently ranked the town's number-one dining room.
Local pick: Wasaga's top steak and seafood
A Thornbury wine bar serving globally inspired, locally sourced plates, wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, house cocktails and a deep wine list in the heart of town.
Local pick: Wood-fired pizza and local wine
A contemporary Thornbury restaurant by the dam serving West-Coast-inspired pastas, seafood and steaks, with a winter fireplace and two summer patios.
Local pick: West-coast plates by the dam
Meaford's long-running pub for hearty comfort food, cold beer and good company — wings, burgers and fish & chips in a friendly downtown room.
Local pick: Meaford's go-to pub since 1999
Collingwood's handsome Hurontario Street downtown — a designated heritage main street of boutiques, galleries, cafés and shops near the bay.
Local pick: Boutiques in a heritage downtown
The pedestrian Village at Blue Mountain — boutiques, outfitters, cafés and après spots clustered along the Mill Pond at Ontario's largest ski resort.
Local pick: Shops at the foot of the hills
The beachfront shops, surf and souvenir stores, ice cream and patios along Beach Drive and Mosley Street — the heart of summer in Wasaga Beach.
Local pick: Beachfront shops and patios
Thornbury's Bruce Street — galleries, a renowned bakery, cheese and wine, home shops and cafés in a charming harbour town on the Beaver River.
Local pick: A pretty harbour-town main street
Meaford's Sykes Street downtown — independent shops, the farmers' market, cafés and the arts, in a Georgian Bay harbour town known for its apples.
Local pick: Shops in an apple-country town
The shops and general store along Highway 26 in Craigleith — shoreline essentials, cafés and outfitters between Collingwood and Blue Mountain.
Local pick: Shoreline essentials and a general store
A Simcoe County DSB public secondary school (grades 9–12) in Collingwood — the county's largest, offering an Extended French program.
Local pick: The area's largest high school
An independent JK–Grade 12 academy in Collingwood offering small classes and a university-preparatory program for the Collingwood and Blue Mountain area.
Local pick: Collingwood's independent school
A modern Bluewater DSB JK–Grade 12 community school in Meaford, opened in 2021 with room for over 1,000 students and an EarlyON centre.
Local pick: Meaford's JK–12 community school
A Bluewater DSB public elementary school serving Thornbury, Clarksburg and The Blue Mountains in the Beaver Valley.
Local pick: The elementary school for Thornbury
A Simcoe County DSB public elementary school serving families across Wasaga Beach near the provincial park and the Nottawasaga River.
Local pick: A Wasaga Beach elementary school
Collingwood's bayfront park on Georgian Bay — shallow swimming flats, a splash pad, the waterfront trail and famous sunsets over Nottawasaga Bay.
Local pick: Collingwood's swimming and sunset point
Ontario's largest mountain resort on the Niagara Escarpment — downhill skiing and snowboarding in winter, plus the Village, the gondola, mountain coaster and trails year-round.
Local pick: Ontario's largest ski resort
A Nordic spa set in ten hectares of forest near Blue Mountain — hot baths, cold pools, Finnish sauna, eucalyptus steam and quiet relaxation zones, open year-round.
Local pick: Hot-cold baths in the forest
An award-winning nature and adventure park atop the escarpment — caves and crevices, hiking trails, ziplines and a 420-foot suspension bridge high above the forest.
Local pick: Caves, a suspension bridge and ziplines
A Georgian Bay provincial park at the foot of Blue Mountain — flat fossil-bearing shoreline, swimming and paddling, camping and access to the Bruce and Georgian Trails.
Local pick: Fossil-flat shoreline camping
The world's longest freshwater beach — 14 km of sand on Nottawasaga Bay with swimming, the Nottawasaga River, dunes, trails and provincial park beach areas.
Local pick: The world's longest freshwater beach
A 34 km shoreline rail-trail along the old Northern Railway line from Collingwood through Craigleith and Thornbury to Meaford — cycling, walking and scenic bay lookouts.
Local pick: A 34 km shoreline rail-trail
Meaford's Georgian Bay harbour and marina beside Meaford Hall — a beautifully restored heritage performing-arts and cinema venue at the centre of town.
Local pick: The harbour and the historic hall