Toronto is a vast city with a million little hiding places. This means that there are a lot of things to do that the tourist guides tend to forget about. A bus tour is going to show you the CN Tower, Casa Loma and the Royal Ontario Museum before calling it a day. But Toronto is so much more. Read on for our tourist guide of Toronto that features no hikes or museums.
Roam the gallery that is the streets
Toronto’s best art is – amazingly – free to admire. The street art found on the beautifully painted Graffiti Alley. It is an amazing collection of murals and street art contributed by hundreds of artists.
But it isn’t contained to Graffiti Alley. Artwork can be found all over the city, making for a vibrant and fun cityscape. They can be as bold as taking up the entirety of the side of a multi-story building and as subtle as the side of an electric box, making for a city-wide treasure hunt.
If you want to see everything found across the city, there are mural tours found online for you to follow.
Take a journey through The Gay Village
If you were to head to Church and Wellesley, you will quickly come across a rainbow-filled street. Flags fly over all the buildings, some of which have been painted in rainbow colours to showcase their love for all.
It’s an amazing place for drag fans, who can go from venue to venue sipping fruity drinks, dancing to Cher and enjoying the comedy and lip-syncing performances of the local drag talent.
There are also a couple of casinos around Church and Wellesley, and even more as you head closer to the coast, like Slotlady. However, if you don’t fancy stepping in to a stone foot casino – maybe you’re not dressed for it – you can always try your luck on these new slot sites from your cell phone, no Tux required.
Totally bail on some of the more iconic landmarks
If you’re a big movie fan who gets a kick out of spotting iconic places, you’ll love Toronto. Not only did the likes of Chicago, with the setting kick-stepping into the title, filmed in Toronto, but there are a number of locations around the city that have been featured in movies.
Big Adam Driver fans might recognize the name What If…? and then they might even notice the ongoing touches of Toronto scattered across the Daniel Radcliffe rom com that make for a charming little movie that more people really should see.
But going bigger, if you were to wander around Casa Loma you might find a bald man in a wheelchair asking you to join his team of super-powered heroes. That’s right: Casa Loma is the X-Men mansion (interior). The exterior is Parkwood Estate in Oshawa.
And then there is the crowning jewel of Toronto culture. If you were to open a copy of Scott Pilgrim, you’ll spot some iconic locations. The graphic novel reads like a tourist guide, showing locations that some of which, unfortunately aren’t there anymore, but if you want to see the iconic Pizza Pizza on 558 Bloor Street West, where the gang goes to lick their wounds, and the Lee’s Palace, where Scott and Ramona run into the Clash at Demonhead for a round of Black Sheep.
