Toronto Things to Do

Spring in Toronto is a wonderful time of the year. The snow has melted the flowers and trees are starting to bud and flower, restaurants and bars begin opening up their patios and all of the people start coming out of hibernation. To help you plan a trip to Toronto in the spring here are some suggestions of things to do in the city that time of year.

The Royal Ontario Museum is one of Toronto’s top attractions and is one of Canada’s best museums. With over one million visitors a year it holds the largest world culture and natural history collection in all of Canada and is one of the largest museums in North America.

A Toronto visit isn’t complete without a trip to the Royal Ontario Museum—one of the largest museums on the entire continent, full of artifacts from cultures around the globe (six million of them!), dinosaur fossils, and hands-on exhibits. 1,000 of these scientific artifacts comprise a so-called ‘cabinet of curiosities,’ which you can see as you walk along the famous and stunning J. F. Driscoll Family Stair of Wonders.

Museums in major cities often will welcome visitors for free at the tail-end of the day (especially on days when business tends to be slower). In some cases, this means the museum will be, ironically, packed with people—like NYC’s MoMA on Friday nights. For the sake of artistic enjoyment and appreciation, most museums will at least offer a discount at some point during the week—or use the term ‘recommended donation’ instead of ‘admission fee.’ Here are some tips for when to go to some of Toronto‘s best museums.

The Toronto Free Gallery (TFG) is a ‘creative laboratory’ for artists to showcase their expressions of social justice and individual takes on issues like sustainability and gentrification. A not-for-profit exhibition space that fosters the work of visual artists as well as architects, activists, filmmakers and writers, this museum is a nice change of pace.

You think you have a hard time fitting all your boots, sneakers, and sandals in the small space at the bottom of your closet? The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto has over 10,000 pairs of shoes – and the four-story building itself resembles a shoe box. Already you’re excited.