Wallet-Friendly Wonders: 10 Free Activities to Have Fun in Toronto

With its renowned CN tower, islands, vibrant, stylish districts, buildings, enormous markets, and an expansive vista of Lake Ontario peppered with skyscrapers; it may dazzle.

What Are the Various Free Things to Do?

With our list of 10 free activities, you won’t miss any of the major tourist attractions without blowing your budget.

1. Visit the Distillery District

Entirely pedestrian, this place will offer you a lot of nice little shops and bars that offer local and atypical beers. The walk to get there is not particularly interesting, but you will not be disappointed once you get there.

The neighborhood itself is very cute and, therefore, worth a good detour for a few hours at the end of the day. For gourmets, there are also many restaurants whose menus seem accessible and local products!

The buildings seem pretty different from most of the city and are mostly made of red stone. There are a lot of pubs, restaurants, and bars on site, many with terraces. In addition to tourists, this place is very popular with locals!

With so many amazing restaurants to check out, I recommend the Mill street brewpub: it’s the most famous distillery in town. The famous house bear, also a bestseller, is unforgettable! And the burgers too! It is fun to be Cool at the ice hockey game nights and enjoy the atmosphere.

2. Take a Trip to Niagara Falls

What remains of this wonder of nature transformed into Disneyland by the tourist industry? Is it still possible to be moved by the beauty of the place in the middle of this fair?

Well, yeah! The falls are sublime, and even in the midst of all the commotion that reigns there, the spectacle is well worth it. I advise you to go see them without taking an organized tour. You will have too much time to embrace it. The idea is to spend a night there to see the waterfalls brightened at night, and the fireworks here are breathtaking.

There are many attractions offered on the site of the falls: the best is the boat tour which allows you to go closer to the falls. If you have a budget (about 95 euros on this website ), flying over the falls in a helicopter is the most exceptional thing. It’s grand!

3. The Botanical Garden

When the pace of the city becomes a little too stressful and demanding, it is the ideal spot to replenish your batteries by completely immersing yourself in nature.

Its stunning aesthetic hedges and flower arrangements make it the ideal location for taking pictures and selfies to impress your friends and fill up your Instagram.

It is an actual environmental teaching facility that walks guests through ecological farming and sustainable gardening practices. You can learn about the regional flora and the natural world by exploring its seventeen subject parts.

A volunteer will provide information on the gardens during one of the free guided walks; several gardens have won awards in prominent competitions. You will also find there a library and a café to catch your breath after so much magnificence.

You may unwind and have fun while listening to the tranquil sounds of the sizable water fountain and pond throughout the spring, summer, and fall. The water feature transforms into an outdoor skating rink in the winter, where you may skate off some steam.

In summer, there is a weekly farmer’s market with an amazing versatility of locally based market products. There are also many food trucks where you may cheaply satiate your hunger if you’re a little peckish.

Nathan Phillips Square is also the perfect place to spend romantic moments with the chosen one of your heart or to try to find the hockey skills lost for quite some time.

5. High Park: With The Best Free Tours

However, this large park, which covers 161 hectares, has a distinct identity.

From the perspective of specialists, we can state that it is a true oasis in the middle of the metropolis. This park is a jewel with beautiful hiking routes, a rink for hockey, landscaped ponds and gardens, a free zoo, sports facilities, historic buildings, and many other free things to do.

Walking is especially enjoyable on the west side, where the Grenadier pond is located, in the summer. Spontaneous hockey matches in the winter might be enjoyable if you have temporary nets.

You can enjoy the springtime cherry blossom display, just like the tens of thousands of tourists who go specifically for it.

To go to the main areas of interest in the park, including the Colborne Lodge Historical Museum, you can take a “trackless train” or Maglev (a magnetic levitation train that pulls several wagons dressed to look like a red and white train) from spring to fall.

All year round, you can enjoy the zoo, the dog park, and the castle-shaped children’s playgrounds or laze around in this wonderful green setting.

6. Harbourfront Center for Year-Round Cultural Events

At Harbourfront Centre, boredom has no place. Musicians, artists, and filmmakers are all warmly welcomed at the cultural center on the lake’s shore.

Numerous free or almost free cultural events and festivals celebrating food, literature, dance, live music, and theatre are held annually at this large non-profit arts complex. There is something for every taste, and thus it is one of the most fun-free things to do.

In addition to these events, Harbourfront is home to arts and crafts studios, a number of galleries, well-stocked stores with items from across the world and -made goods, a restaurant, parks, an ice rink, and a small shopping center called the Queen’s Quay Terminal. Along with summer camps for kids, Harbourfront Center also hosts classes and workshops for people of all ages.

Don’t pass up this special opportunity because most activities are free, but try to get there a bit early.

7. Discover St-Lawrence Market

St Lawrence Market is a farmer’s market located in the city center, between the business district and the Distillery District. It is a very old covered market with many stalls and fresh products. The atmosphere is pleasant, and the products really make you want to!

Fruits, veggies, cheeses, and of course, maple syrup are all available in this covered market. If you wish, you may eat inexpensively on the terrace outside.

Another unmissable stand is where different types of Canadian mustard are sold. Every Sunday, the antique market is a privileged little spot for collectors from afar.

If you are interested, go to 92 Front St East. It’s open Tuesday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with an outdoor market opposite the Saint Lawrence Market, the Famer’s Market). Attention, it is closed on Sunday and Monday!

Yonge Street is the backbone: it separates the east from the west of the city, from the shores of Lake Ontario to the south, all the way to quite a distance, since it is the longest street in the world- 1,896 km! Taking a walk here is definitely on our list of amazing and free things to do.

The intersection with Dundas St marks the city’s heart. Dundas Square is the equivalent of Times Square in New York or Picadilly Circus in London. With huge billboards lit up all night, shopping malls, and entertainment. Eating on the 3rd floor of the Dundas Shopping Center is very convenient, and it has free Wi-Fi.

It is an alley that is not very easy to find. Not well indicated on the maps, it is located south of China Town. It starts from Spadina Av, between Queen St and Richmond St, up to Portland Av.

A tramp is sleeping on a foam mattress. A few unidentified guys, but in the end, no worries. And the walk is well worth the look! The pictures speak for themselves!

10. Participate in the CN Tower Climb

Culminating at 533 meters in height, this rocket-shaped tower was the tallest in the world for 34 years, from 1974 to 2010, since supplanted in particular by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (828m!!).

You can see it from wherever you are in the city, emerging like a futuristic beacon between skyscrapers, more traditional buildings, churches, squats, and road interchanges. The CN Tower is absolutely incredibly photogenic. Time and time again, you shall be stunned by the surprise of seeing it appear from a new perspective in the middle of the urban landscape.

WWF organizes the CN tower climb, free for Canadian nationals.

At 346 meters, you can walk on a glass floor called the skywalk, and chargeable. Super impressive!

The more adventurous can try the “EdgeWalk” or “Haut-Da-Cieux,” an attraction that allows you to walk outside on the ledge at 356 meters high with a safety harness. It’s the highest hands-free walk in the world!

Fun Facts About the CN Tower

• It took (only) 40 months and 1537 employees to build the tower.
• Lightning strikes the tower at least 75 times a year.
• The tower weighs 130,000 tons, or 35 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
• Between the bottom of the tower and its maximum height, there may be a difference of 10°.
• Its elevators which allow arriving at the observation point, offer a view of the skyline during the ascent and take 58 seconds to make the way, for a rhythm of 20 kilometers per hour.

The view offered by the CN Tower over the city is very nice, and I advise you to go there for sunset. The lights on the neighboring buildings are then very beautiful, and you will have to wait a few tens of minutes to appreciate the night view of the financial center illuminated in Manhattan style! It is one of the best free things to do , and it’s from here that you can take the most beautiful pictures.

Closing Thoughts

There are many free things to do which might just occupy your entire itinerary.

• Visit the Hockey Hall of Fame, the true temple/museum for all Hockey fans.
• Go to the famous Zoo, which has about five thousand species of animals.
• Go to Island if the weather permits, of course!
• So, for lovers of beautiful viewpoints, I recommend going to Polson Street by taxi, because it’s a bit far from the city center, but it’s worth it.

Last Updated on July 31, 2024 by Sathi Chakraborty