Most travellers’ first visit to Toronto always includes the highlights you see in those top 10 lists: the CN Tower, Toronto sign, ice hockey and maybe Kensington Market for the more adventurous. This is not doing the city any justice. You can’t really understand a place without being there on the ground. Spend a weekend there and you’ll discover a very diverse and interesting city.
My first visit to Toronto was in mid winter and let me say, this is not the best time to visit as temperatures are way below zero. But if you do visit, know that you can traverse the city without going outside to brave the weather. The city infrastructure is built to accommodate the extreme winters that still allow the locals to lead a regular daily life, albeit wrapped up in multiple layers.
I always like to start with a map, one of those colourful ones you get at the hotel reception. It is a quick guide to the areas of the city and helps you orientate yourself before you set out to explore. The first thing that I noticed was that the city was defined not by names of areas like London, but by ethnic groups. The map shows that the city is in a grid system and the blocks are identified as Greek Town, Chinatown, Koreatown, etc. Just one look tells you how diverse and multi ethnic this city is. And to me, this means one thing, a very interesting food scene.
My last trip was just for a couple of days and enough to scratch the surface and not enough to get a deep dive but I did get to see a lot and got a good feel of the place.
I was there in late spring when the weather was warmer and it was quite comfortable to walk outside. It was also very safe, even for a solo woman at night.
A City That’s Actually Serious About Food
You can eat around the world in Toronto like you can in London. Pick an area to explore or just go to one of the markets or foodhalls where you can find a variety of different cuisines.
Book one of the Toronto hotels near the harbourfront or the financial district and you’re within easy walking (or streetcar) distance of some of Toronto’s best food neighbourhoods. Toronto doesn’t have one signature dish the way New Orleans or Naples does. What it’s got instead is sheer density: a Filipino bakery two doors down from a Jamaican patty shop, a Chinese dumpling counter with a queue out the door at lunch, like on a Tuesday, a market hall where the veg stalls sit right next to a century-old cheesemonger.
St Lawrence Market, a short walk from the financial district, has been trading on the same spot since 1803, and the peameal bacon sandwich is basically the local institution, expect a queue at lunchtime. I spent a couple of hours here, eating and trying the local specialities. It’s also a good place to buy edible souvenirs like real Canadian Maple syrup.
Kensington Market is a place to go freestyle
Kensington Market in Toronto is unlike Kensington in London but much more like Camden Market. It is a few streets crammed with bars, eateries and shops of all nationalities and colours. There are open-air bars, street art and live music. It’s a place that feels alive.
The streets are narrow, the shopfronts look peeling in a way that seems deliberate even when it isn’t, and the best bits tend to be the ones nobody could have told you about beforehand. A vintage shop with one perfect coat, a coffee window with three seats and a queue that moves slowly on purpose, a mural down an alley half the guidebooks miss completely.
The neighbourhood’s changed over the years, but it hasn’t lost its mix of immigrant businesses, independent shops, vintage stores and street art, which is exactly why it still feels lived-in rather than staged. It’s a great place to spend a few hours, eat something delicious and buy some unique gifts.
The Toronto Harbourfront Is More Than a Nice View
Toronto’s waterfront is not just scenic; it’s a must-visit spot. The ferry to the Toronto Islands leaves from the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal at Queens Quay West and Bay Street, and the crossing takes roughly 10–15 minutes, depending on the route. Here you will get a skyline view that beats any rooftop bar in the city.
The islands themselves are car-free and much quieter than downtown, with pedestrian paths, beaches, and plenty of room to slow down before heading back across the harbour.
Just don’t treat the ferry as a quick detour in summer. The city itself warns that queues can run 30–60 minutes at peak weekend times, so grab a ticket in advance and plan to spend a bit more time than, just enjoy the journey.
The Diversity Isn’t Just a Marketing Line
Toronto, like London, gets called one of the world’s most multicultural cities so often the phrase practically rolls off the locals’ tongues. Nearly half the population was born outside Canada, one of the highest proportions of any major city on earth. See this Social Atlas, which gives you some interesting data.
This makes Toronto a very unique city, with so many different communities shaping the food and culture of the place. Until, I my second visit, I got first hand experience of this that made my trip so much richer. I definitely need to go back and explore more at a slower pace.
Getting Around Toronto Is Easier Than It Looks
Toronto’s easier to navigate than its size suggests, especially around the centre. The subway covers longer journeys and streetcars are handy for the main east-west routes. Using Google maps, it was very easy to find my way. For a weekend trip, the simplest approach is grouping your plans by neighbourhood rather than criss-crossing the city several times a day.
A Few Things To know before you go
Toronto feels familiar in some ways and properly North American in others. Cars dominate more than in most British cities, distances are bigger than they look on a map, and a “short walk” means something rather different once you’re on a North American grid layout. Tipping is also just part of the cost of eating out, so menu prices will look cheaper than what actually lands on the bill.
What a Weekend Actually Gets You
A couple of days or 48 hours won’t give you the whole of Toronto. It will be enough time to get a feel for the city where food, neighbourhoods and everyday life are as much the attraction as the landmarks themselves.
They often compare Toronto to New York (and it has been used for filming TV shows based in NY) but the “New York but nicer” line, it turns out, undersells the place. By the end of the weekend you probably won’t have a neat, tidy definition of Toronto. You’ll just have a list of places you want to eat, walk and explore next time round.
How to get there
I flew WestJet to Toronto and had a better than expeced experience. For a budget airline, they offer the full service, meals and entertainment of a regular airline, albeit at better prices. Their check-in counters in Canadian airports are self-service, where you tag your own luggage and print your own boarding passes. There were many “counters” open and no queues. It’s only a 5 hour flight from London so you can easily hop over for a long weekend.
