Visit Thunder Bay From Home

Tours and Exhibits

Explore Thunder Bay's long and storied past through various online historical exhibits or get down to street level in our region's National Parks from the comfort of your home.

Doors Open

In 2002,  the Ontario Heritage Trust launched Doors Open Ontario, the first provincewide event of its kind in Canada, attracting visitors to unique heritage sites and cultural tourism experiences in their local communities - and this year the event has gone virtual, so you can visit many of the unique sites in Thunder Bay from the comfort of your own home.

Thunder Bay Museum

The Thunder Bay Museum located in the former Fort William Police Station recently launched a 360/VR virtual tour, where you can explore the museum from anywhere. The museum website also has a great collection of web exhibits where you can begin to learn the histories of Port Arthur and Fort William and discover some of their most prominent and influential residents. 

Fort William Historical Park

 Fort William Historical Park is considered to be the largest living history attraction in North America and is a Canadian Signature Experience. A must-visit when you get here, you can take a virtual tour from home. First start by watching the short film - Hinge of an Empire - to learn about the importance Fort William had in the development of the Canadian fur trade and connecting Western Canada with the world. Once you've watched the film, "visit" any or all of the buildings at FWHP on the virtual tour.

Thunder Bay City Archives

City Archives preserves, promotes and makes public the City's corporate history and has since the early days of Port Arthur and Fort William - this means they have an incredible collection of materials. A massive collection of historic photos has been digitized and published on the City Archives Flickr page and they are constantly adding more.

They also offer an extensive collection of web exhibits exploring 125 years of transit, the amalgamation of Port Arthur and Fort William, the various City Halls that have existed over the decades, the history of the parks department and some of the over 100 city parks in Thunder Bay and so much more.

Golf Thunder Bay 

Get prepped for golf season with a birds-eye view of the course. Check out these awesome drone videos of Strathcona and Chapples Golf Courses. 

Parks Canada Virtual Tours

Thunder Bay is the gateway to the epic outdoor adventures found in Northwest Ontario and some of the best adventures are found in the region's national parks and conservation areas. You can hike through Pukaskwa National Park or get on a boat in the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area from Google Street View.

CCGS Alexander Henry Virtual Tour

Take a virtual tour aboard the CCGS Alexander Henry - video by Outdoor Rob.

The CCGS Alexander Henry was named in honor of the fur trader, who from about 1803 lead summer expeditions to the Thunder Bay area. Find out more about the CCGS Alexander Henry.

Other Online Exhibits and Tours

To learn more about the exceptional sports history in Thunder Bay check out the online photo exhibit from the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, or get an overview of the experience to be had at the Founders' Museum in this short video tour, or see real-time tracking of all the ships in port and throughout the Great Lakes (and the world) on the Port of Thunder Bay's Vessel Tracker.

Eat and Drink

Thunder Bay has a well-known food scene and many of our local favourites are available to be shipped to your home including Heartbeat Hot Sauce, Bay Meats Jerky,  Wolfhead Coffee (in Canada only) and Sleeping Giant Brewing Company (in Ontario only). If you are in Ontario, note that SGBC can include many other favourite tbay-made products in your beer shipment including Shumka Dust, and Tomlin 360 Mustard.

Thunder Bay, and the former Port Arthur and Fort William, have always been known for a music scene that punches above its weight. The city is where the inventor of the first music synthesizer and pioneer of electronic music Hugh LeCaine and musical director, band leader, and sidekick Paul Shaffer were born, where Neil Young crafted his sound and met Stephen Stills, and where The Guess Who played small clubs. It is also where Crocks n Rolls (just Crocks today) became an unexpected hub of Canadian rock music in the 90s hosting many of whom were on the cusp of becoming or already were some of biggest Canadian bands of all time - the Tragically Hip, Sarah McLachlin and many more. Throughout the years, many Thunder Bay-born artists have made their way to the pop charts from Bobby Curtola and Myrna Lorrie to Coleman Hell and The Honest Heart Collective today.

Listen to the #visittbayfromhome playlist for just a sampling of the music that has come from Thunder Bay over the years and some of the bands that are playing here live today - well, not today obviously, but when this is over.

When you get here be sure to take in a performance from the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, for now you can stream one of their albums on Spotify.

Watch

Check out a live hockey game by watching a live stream of the Kam River Fighting Walleye game live from NorWest Arena!

Or get a sneak peak of the city and it's attractions by watching some of the travel shows that have featured Thunder Bay and area in recent years: try this first segment of The Rick Mercer Report, or the second segment of the of the Rick Mercer Report, The Amazing Race Canada or Travelscope.

Then check out some of the short films made by award-winning film director Goh Iromoto in partnership with Tourism Thunder Bay and Ontario Tourism delving into the life-changing, outdoor experiences in Northwest Ontario - The Canoe, We Belong to It and Pull.

There are also some classic short films highlighting the incredible outdoors in the area - Bill Mason's Song of the Paddle (winner of the Canadian Film Award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary) and North of Superior, one of the first IMAX films ever made, which was restored and rereleased in HD in 2017.

Or this incredible video made by local cinematographer Damien Gilbert from Epica Pictures. 

If you're looking for more traditional movies and not travel shows and short films then you should definitely start with A Race for Ties - Canada's First Ever Amateur Feature Film directed by Dorthea Mitchell.

Fun for the Kids

Trying to keep the kids busy during the pandemic or later this year on the flight to Thunder Bay just got easier with these free printable Thunder Bay Colouring Pages from tbay with kids.

Plan your next Thunder Bay adventure 

Order a free copy of the Thunder Bay Experience Magazine and use our website to get inspired for your next visit. During the pandemic our visitor centres are closed to the public but our friendly, knowledgeable visitor counsellors are still answering phone calls and emails during regular business hours so reach out and ask any questions you may have or to request additional information.

Toll-free: 1-800-MOST-FUN (667-8386)
Email: visit@thunderbay.ca

Fun Facts to Know Before You Go

Some say we have an accent and some unique vocabulary. We definitely invented some pretty cool things and almost won the Stanley Cup. If you haven't already figured it out, Thunder Bay is an interesting place. Test yourself - did you know these things about Thunder Bay?