Kensington Market and Chinatown: A Self-Guided Tour
Description
Explore the colourful streetscape of two of Toronto’s most popular neighbourhoods with Jane Herman of On the Town Tours. Start this self-guided GPS audio tour in one of the most “Instagrammable” spots: the south side of the Art Gallery of Ontario and end the tour at Kensington Market. Along the way, you'll pass by the iconic OCAD University and Chinatown. Jane expertly helps you navigate your way through the proliferation of street artists, vintage clothing stores, speciality markets, and unique eateries, providing invaluable suggestions about where to stop along the way. The tour is ready whenever you are. It plays audio automatically at exactly the right time and place using your smart phone's GPS and the VoiceMap mobile app, which also works offline. Start the tour in the app and put your phone in your pocket. The directions are clear and easy to follow and are great for both tourists as well as locals looking for a fun afternoon.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The Art Gallery of Ontario is an art museum in Toronto. Its collection includes close to 95,000 works spanning the first century to the present day. The gallery has 45,000 square metres of physical space, making it one of the largest galleries in North America.
Kensington is a vibrant, historic multicultural neighbourhood and marketplace featuring over 240 unique shops, restaurants, bars and cafes. There’s also a large population of writers, artists and musicians living alongside a diverse immigrant community.
On most days, the flavor of Chinatown literally spills right out onto the sidewalk. You'll pass an array of produce markets and grocers featuring mounds of exotic looking herbs, fruits, vegetables and dried seafood. Vendors line the sidewalk, some of them selling wares right out of grocery carts and pop-up tables.
Grange Park is a prominent and well-used public park in downtown Toronto. The Park lends its name to the Grange Park neighbourhood in the vicinity of the park. Historically, the park was the backyard of The Grange, a manor that eventually was expanded and became the Art Gallery of Ontario.
The Ontario College of Art and Design University is a public university located in Toronto. The school is Canada's largest and oldest educational institution for art and design. OCAD University offers courses through the Faculties of Art, Design, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and alternative programs.
The congregation of the historic Kiever Synagogue originally resided in the Ward. They purchased the property in 1914 from the Denison family estate and built a new synagogue.
Kensington occupies a tract of land that was originally owned by the Denison family. George Taylor Denison used the land now occupied by the park as a parade ground for his volunteer cavalry troop, which he commanded during the Rebellion of 1837.
Toronto Chinatowns are ethnic neighbourhoods in and around Toronto, with a high concentration of ethnic Chinese residents and businesses. These neighbourhoods are major cultural, social and economic hubs for the Chinese-Canadian communities of the region. There are multiple Chinatowns in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(8)
Complete disaster from the very beginning. The instructions never said exactly where to begin the tour. All I knew was to start in or near Grange Park. Once I figured out on my own to start at John St, the audio kept starting at the beginning. Temps were in the mid 90s and we got hot and tired enough of trying to figure out where to proceed since the audio was no help. So we just gave up. Luckily the cost wasn't very much so not getting what we paid for was a little less painful. Total waste. Would not recommend.
Hi there, I'm sorry that you were unhappy with your experience. When you were having technical difficulties, did you contact VoiceMap support via email or telephone? We are contactable by both telephone and email, so if you have technical difficulties, please reach out to us so we can identify what is going wrong. Again, I'm sorry about the poor experience you had.
What a groovy and eclectic area. If you are looking for vintage clothes, fresh fish or amazing food from around the world then look no further. Kensington market features so many different shops and restaurants that you need to set aside plenty of time to stroll the streets and check out the vendors. Clean is not the way I would describe the area but the people are friendly and it definitely feels safe. I’ve even brought my kids here before. It’s got a cool vibe and should not be missed
On the way back from Casa Loma we took the subway to get off for your visit. We toured part of Chinatown and to get to the market the streets were dirty, neglected, with some closed shops, with an appearance of latent insecurity, many drugged people shouting and taking drugs, so we decided to abort the visit and head instead to the downtown area.
Everything that was happen there and it was my first experience it was my first time to visit European countries and it was very nice I wish to go back with my family for more days
Great way to spend an afternoon. Your brought us through very hip locations and by great food. Our stop for dumplings was perfect, and Wanda’s Pie in the Sky did not disappoint.
It's an interesting walk. It's not short but it's informative. Kensington is a really cool place and I was able to appreciate that through this walk.
It was a great experience. I didnt want to join the group tour as they are bit expensive. But As a local I wanted know the history and story of Kensington market. This was the perfect way to stroll in the market and explore. Loved the experience. The route was also nicely curated.
This is a great way to take a tour. Its super affordable and you have a tour guide in your ear the whole time. The ups tracking is accurate and the directions are easy to follow. I liked this tour since it brought me through cultural neighborhoods and pointed out fun food places to eat
