Old Town Toronto Food and History Tour with St. Lawrence Market
Description
Taste your way through Toronto’s Old Town on a food and history adventure packed with local favourites, iconic market bites, and fascinating stories. From St. Lawrence Market to a classic peameal bacon sandwich and buttery Canadian treats, discover the people, places, and flavours that helped shape the city.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your local guide in the heart of Old Town Toronto and begin your journey through the city's historic core. Learn how Toronto evolved from a small colonial settlement into Canada's largest and most multicultural city as you uncover the stories, people, and events that shaped modern Toronto.
Walk past some of Toronto's most recognizable landmarks while discovering the city's architectural and cultural evolution. Learn how business, immigration, and urban development transformed Toronto from a frontier town into a major international city. Your guide will share stories that bring these historic sites to life and reveal details many visitors overlook.
Visit a popular local coffee roaster and enjoy a freshly brewed coffee while learning about Toronto's early working-class communities and the role coffeehouses played in the city's social and economic development. Discover how coffee culture became an important part of daily life and local identity.
Explore the historic streets surrounding Toronto's civic and cultural landmarks. Along the way, learn about public gatherings, social reform movements, immigration, and the challenges of life in early Toronto. These sites help tell the story of how the city grew and adapted through periods of rapid change.
Step inside one of Toronto's most celebrated food destinations and discover why St. Lawrence Market has been a gathering place for locals for more than two centuries. Sample Toronto's iconic peameal bacon sandwich, enjoy a classic Canadian butter tart, and learn the surprising story behind Canada Dry Ginger Ale and its connection to Prohibition. Through food and storytelling, gain a deeper understanding of Toronto's diverse communities, culinary traditions, and local history.
Finish your experience at a beloved local pub in the heart of Old Town. Enjoy a complimentary ½-pint craft beer and learn about Toronto's growing craft brewing scene while reflecting on the flavors and stories encountered throughout the tour. Your guide can also provide personalized recommendations for additional food, drink, and sightseeing experiences around the city.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Perfect for food lovers, history enthusiasts, and first-time visitors looking to experience Toronto’s iconic flavours while discovering the stories that shaped the city.
- Do you need to bring ID for this tour? Yes, you do. You’ll need to show a valid photo ID to your guide at the start of the tour. It’s a quick check to confirm that everyone meets the minimum age requirement of 19.
- Is the tour vegetarian-friendly? This tour is designed with vegetarians in mind, and you’ll enjoy a hearty veggie-friendly option so no one misses out. However, we’re not able to accommodate other dietary needs like vegan, gluten-free, or allergies at this time.
- What is the amount of walking involved? The walking distance is approximately 2 kilometers (about 1.2 mile), making it a relaxed and accessible pace suitable for most fitness levels.
- Is this tour environmentally friendly? Yes — and more! This tour is carbon neutral and run by a B Corp certified company. That means your experience is designed with both people and the planet in mind. B Corp Certification measures how a business impacts its community, environment, and promotes responsible tourism. So when you join, you're traveling for good.
- Is this tour right for guests with mobility concerns? We're sorry, but this tour is not wheelchair accessible. It includes walking and a venue that can only be reached via stairs. If you have mobility concerns, please contact us before booking and we'll be happy to help determine if this tour is right for you.
Reviews(157)
It was a very good tour and a great way to see the markets and remet some goodies. Definitely skip lunch and come with an empty stomach because you get big sizes of food making it excellent value for money. Our guide Kieran was very patient and kind in spite of our group not being the easiest to deal with. I would recommend preparing for all the weather after all Canada seems to be famous for having four seasons in a day. Try food at many of the same places as Anthony Bourdain!
Great tour, guide was very knowledgeable about the city and it’s history sprinkled in with some tasty bites of unique Toronto food.
The tour was great. Joann, our tour guide, had a lot of knowledge about the history of Old Town Toronto. We had some tasty food tastings in the market. We also visited Mystic Muffin (great apple cake!) and took a tour of the old post office.
Joann was very knowledgeable on Toronto history. And recommended great dinner options at the end of the tour. Bring comfy shoes.
Kieran was an excellent guide. I learned a lot about Toronto and enjoyed some amazing beer while at it!
This tour combines a good bit of history of Toronto with a chance to visit a unique pub in Old Town and a local brewery in the Distillery District and sample a variety of Ontario beers. We also spent some time in St. Lawrence Market and learned so much about its history and present-day operations. I did this tour with my 20-year-old son, and he had a great time as well. Our guide, Dave, was perfect: well-versed in Toronto history, a true beer aficionado and, most importantly, a real pleasure to spend an afternoon with. We highly recommend this tour!
Kieran was an absolute delight to take a tour with. He was personable, knowledgeable, and recommended great beers. I do wish the beer tour had more stops as was many other beer tours I've taken in the past, but that's to no fault of Kieran who did their best to provide with company limitations. For the record, the beers you do get to sample are all great beers in their own rights.
Kieran was outstanding. The tour was the perfect mix of history and beer. We saw parts of the city that we would have never visited. We had a blast.
Had a great tour with Kieran! He was fun, knowledgeable, & we learned a lot about Toronto & its history. 2 excellent breweries for flights. Great stories as well. Highly recommend!!
We learned so much about the history of this part of Toronto from our guide. She took us to places and shared insights that we would have completely missed if not for our guide. Very personable and fun tour!
