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Walk Toronto

Whether you have been resident for 30 days or 30 years, whether you are a tourist with a day to spend or on business with a stay-over weekend, these excursions will give you a good look at part of our city with very low cost.

Loosely speaking the city of Toronto is laid out on a grid, nominally East-West and North-South.

Toronto is on the shore of Lake Ontario, and in this part of the world water runs downhill, so you can generally get a sense of direction by observing the land. It slopes to the South.

The Toronto Transit Commission’s original philosophy was to move people by subway, and feed the subway with buses. You will find that the longest trips by subway train are the Bloor-Danforth line and the University-Spadina line.

Streetcars/light rail generally run East-West.

The map above shows the suggested walks. You note that they all run east-West.

I have laid out nine walks, each of about two hours duration (depends on how fast you walk, how many stores you visit, how many people you chat with …) based on the Bloor-Danforth subway line. Five of the walks are on this line – hop off the subway, walk, hop back on and go home.

Five of the walks are within easy reach of the Bloor-Danforth line – you will take a bus or subway ride off the Bloor Danforth line for about a ten-minute ride.

I’ll give directions for each trip on a separate page.

For what it’s worth, I live off the west end of the Bloor-Danforth subway line, so I take a 49B bus to Kipling subway, THEN ride the train to, say, Victoria Park station, and that takes me less than an hour on a Saturday morning.

Ask for a FREE “Ride Guide” at any subway station collectors booth. Although these are touted as maps, they are really put to better use as conversation starters. Open one up and stare at it blankly. Within 60 seconds someone will approach you and ask you, very politely, if they can help. Lie to them about being a tourist/business visitor/resident and enjoy the chat; they may well tell you their life story over a cup of coffee. And yes, this ploy works in every city I’ve lived in.

You will notice that in the first two walks listed here I’ve suggested you approach the centre from either end. This makes sense. If you have no idea of how long you’ll last, work in from Broadview on one trip, work in from Victoria park on a subsequent trip. If you get to Coxwell both times, well OK, but if you don’t make it Coxwell, you can invent your own walk trip and do the centre stretch on another occasion.

There is no timetable, no schedule. I want to encourage you to enjoy Toronto the way I do. Stop and help an old man pick up a carton of fruit, hold open a door for a mother with child. Say hello to people. Browse a bookstore. Be You.

There are no recommendations here. I have no idea of your dietary needs. Toronto is blessed with an amazing variety of restaurants, diners, cafes and coffee shops. Sit; eat; drink; walk.

I have broken the five Bloor-Danforth walks into sub-sections based on subway stations, so if your feet are sore, you’ll now where and when to hop on a train.

Walk 1: The Danforth, Broadview to Coxwell

Walk 2: The Danforth – Victoria Park to Coxwell

Walk 3: Bloor Street – Jane to Lansdowne

Walk 4: Bloor Street – Spadina to Lansdowne

Walk 5: Bloor Street Spadina to Sherbourne Street

Walk 6: Dundas Street West – University Avenue to Dufferin Street

Walk 7: Queen Street – Spadina to Lansdowne Avenue

Walk 8: King Street - University Avenue to Dufferin Street

Walk 9: St Clair Avenue – Yonge Street to Dufferin Street

Houses of Toronto

Like all large cities, Toronto has areas of "quaint" houses.

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Bonavista, Wednesday, June 03, 2020 9:26 AM

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