The Toronto Society of Architects hosts three different guided walking tours on weekends where visitors can learn more about some of the city’s architecture.
From May 12th until October 7th, 2012, guides will show you some of Toronto’s most notable buildings, both old and new, giving details on their design and special features, as well as providing interesting and informative stories. These outdoor walking tours last approximately two hours.
Whether it’s the Art & Performance Tour, showcasing some of Toronto's buildings relating to art, theatre, and cinema, the Culture & Campus Tour, featuring museums, cultural centres, and various buildings on the University of Toronto Campus, or the Towers Tour, consisting of buildings making up Toronto’s downtown skyline, each session promises to be both informative and entertaining.

Tickets are $20 CDN for adults and $15 CDN for students and seniors. To purchase tickets, visit tsa-events.eventbrite.com. Exact meeting locations are given when you purchase your tickets. Tours always end very near a subway station.


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Toronto has many museums and art galleries, but one of the most interesting venues for
showcasing contemporary art cannot be found in any Toronto guidebook, but by walking
through the city. Many Toronto neighbourhoods are full of street art, and some of the most beautiful and eclectic work appears on the side of a wall, under a bridge, down a laneway or in an alley.
One such place known to many locals is called Graffiti Alley, or as Google Maps calls it, “Rush Lane”, located half a block south and running parallel to trendy Queen Street West, it is several blocks long. Walking through the alley changes the city into a walking art gallery. Almost every surface within the area, including doors, lighting poles, fire hydrants and fire escapes, are all covered with graffiti art. And if you also want to look at art you can purchase, there are several galleries on Queen Street West just a few steps away.
Although it’s an alley, the area is perfectly safe to walk through. The space, which was originally intended for delivery trucks, is usually busy with local pedestrians, street art fans like me, photographers, and of course graffiti artists.

From Spadina and Queen Streets, walk half a block south and westbound; the lane runs several blocks all the way to Portland Street.
Google map: bit.ly/QgjDk5

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Many Toronto neighbourhoods are perfect for exploring on foot, and if you’re looking for a themed guided tour with a local, one option is ROMwalks. This year, 42 free walks of 12 neighbourhoods are offered.
From May to October, the Royal Ontario Museum hosts free walking tours exploring Toronto’s architecture, art and history throughout the city. All walks take place on Wednesday evenings at 6pm and Sunday afternoons at 2pm and last just under two hours.
Walks do not begin at the Royal Ontario Museum, and meeting venues depend on where the tours start. Look for the blue ROM umbrella at the starting point of each walk.
Learn about the provincial and municipal governments on the Queen’s Park Circle walk; see Toronto’s first planned suburb for professional and upper middle class residents with unique architecture dating back to the 1800s on the Annex walk; or explore some of Toronto’s religious landmark buildings and the role of the church in Toronto’s early days on the Sacred Stones and Steeples walk.
Registration is not required, unless your group would like a private walk, in which case this can be arranged at any time. The cost is $10 CDN per person with a minimum of 10 people.

Check out the ROMwalk program here: www.rom.on.ca/programs/rom_travel/pdf/rom_walks_2012.pdf

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If you want to see Toronto through the eyes of a local, join any one of the themed walking tours hosted by Tour Guys.
There’s the Beer Makes History Better Tour, where you spend the afternoon visiting a few
unique and historical pubs, all while getting an introduction to Canadian beer, with a focus onlocal and regional craft brews, as well as learning the role beer played in the city through the last century.
The Graffiti Tour takes you through the back alleys and laneways of downtown Toronto, with an expert local guide who talks about the history of graffiti, the different forms and styles, and the many sides of the graffiti issue in the city, i.e. art vs. vandalism.
Tour Guys also offer a free Toronto Tour, which is a great intro to the city. The 90 minute tour takes you through the few blocks surrounding City Hall and its surrounding landmarks.
If private tours are your thing, you can arrange for someone to show you around for a few hours or a full day.

www.tourguys.ca
+1 647 230 7891

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Toronto’s downtown core has an underground tunnel system that links over 50 buildings and office towers, five subway stations, six hotels, parking garages and major attractions in the city, all with underground passageways full of places to shop.
According to the Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex linking 28 km (17 miles) with over 1,000 shops and services. Once a year, the PATH hosts the world’s largest underground sidewalk sale. The underground system also provides a great haven from the elements, with heating in winter and air conditioning in summer.
I love taking the PATH in the cold, winter months, where I can walk without a coat for miles at a time. I must admit, it can be a bit confusing getting around, but that’s all part of the fun.
Wandering around, not really knowing where I’m going on a lazy day, browsing shops, sitting in a café, it’s all great fun when the weather outside is dreadful.
To help you get around easier, each letter in the PATH is a different colour and represents a
direction: P is red and represents south, orange, A, directs pedestrians to the west, blue, T, directs them to the north, and the H is yellow and points to the east.

www.toronto.ca/path/pdf/path_brochure.pdf

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Looking to see Toronto through the eyes of a local? Sign up for a free visit to one of Toronto’s diverse neighbourhoods, led by a friendly greeter who shows you a different perspective of the city.
Toronto Greeters are not professional tour guides, but volunteers who love their city and want to share with visitors the special places that mean something to them. Visitors can select one of over 50 neighbourhoods that they would like to discover in-depth, or they can select one of 14 themed visits, exploring public art, architecture, music, and the waterfront. If you don’t know what to select, you can opt for “Greeter’s Choice” and be surprised.
Want to know where to go for the best shoe shopping? Where to stand to get the best shot of the CN Tower? Where the best walking trails are? Seeing a neighbourhood through the eyes of a local allows you to learn things you wouldn’t pick up on your own or read in a guide book.
This service is offered year-round to individuals, families, and groups of up to 6 people. Visits are offered in over 30 languages, including Arabic, Farsi, Marathi and Tagalog.
How to sign up: Fill out the online form, located on the City of Toronto website, at least one week before arriving: https://wx.toronto.ca/inter/city/tap.nsf/VisAppl?OpenForm.
Visitors are matched with greeters, based on language, age, interests, and neighbourhood. E-
mails are exchanged in advance to ensure the volunteer understands what the visitor is hoping to learn from the experience.

www.toronto.ca/tapto

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Opened in 2000, this microbrewery produces a premium pilsner lager with only four natural ingredients: spring water, malted barley, hops and yeast – all GMO-free.
Located in the historic John Street Roundhouse, just south of the CN Tower, the building was built in 1929 and functioned as a Canadian Pacific Rail steam locomotive repair facility. Tours with tastings are offered seven days a week, where you can learn how pilsner is made,
the history of the building, the green initiatives taken by Steam Whistle, and much more. A 45 minute tour costs $10 per person. Reservations are accepted Monday to Thursday, and are on a first-come basis on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Reservations can be made at josh@steamwhistle.ca
Some of Steam Whistle’s more recent awards include: Canada’s Most Admired Corporate
Cultures, Canada’s Greenest Employers, and Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies.

www.steamwhistle.ca
255 Bremner Boulevard, Toronto, M5V 3M9
+1 416 416 362 2337
Nearest subway: Union station
Google map: bit.ly/vPEwtI

* Giulia is our Been there local for Toronto. You can see her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/places/canada/toronto/index.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/GiuliaFalsetti

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The CN Tower is the tallest free-standing structure in the Western hemisphere, standing at 1,815 feet.
This communications and observation tower, located in downtown Toronto, is a familiar icon of the city’s skyline. Its name refers to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower.
In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Taking the glass floor paneled elevator up to one of the observation decks is an exciting
experience in itself. It takes about 1 minute to reach the Look Out Level at 1,135 feet.
Other observation levels include the Glass Floor Level, at about 1,120 feet, which allows you to see straight down to street level. Brave children can sometimes be seen jumping on the glass floor, while those with less nerve remain on the sidelines. Also on this level is the Outdoor Observation Deck, where you can get a bird’s eye view of the city. The Sky Pod level is one of the world's highest public observation galleries, at an elevation of 1,465 feet. In June 2007, the tower installed 1,330 super-bright LED lights inside the elevator shafts, which shoot upwards to light the tower from dusk until 2am. The tower changes its lighting scheme on holidays and to commemorate major events.
If you want to be pushed to your limits, literally, the CN Tower opened EdgeWalk on August 1, 2011, where thrill-seekers attached to a safety harness can walk full circle and hands-free around the 5-foot ledge encircling the main pod of the tower, at 1,168 feet.

www.cntower.ca
301 Front Street West, Toronto, ON
+1 416 868 6937
Google map: bit.ly/okKTb1

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Heritage Toronto Walks offers free neighbourhood walking tours, from April to October, covering all areas of the city. A walk may focus on architectural, historical, archaeological or natural heritage, depending on the area and the theme of the walk. Most walks are scheduled on weekends, although there are some on summer weekday evenings. Reservations are not required.

www.heritagetoronto.org/discover-toronto/walk

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You cannot visit the Distillery District without having a beer, and the Mill Street Brew Pub, which is located in the original Gooderham and Worts tankhouse, is the place to go for one or two. This open-concept brewery produces handcrafted beers and ale, offers extensive pub-style food, as well as tours and sampling. My favourites include the Original Organic Lager (with 100% certified organic ingredients) and the Coffee Porter, which is similar to a stout with notes of coffee.

www.millstreetbrewpub.ca
55 Mill Street, Building 63, Toronto, ON M5A
+1 416 681 0338
Google map: bit.ly/iLDR6E

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