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Best urban walks

B

buildup

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I'm looking for some new urban strolls which preferably end with a great mean somewhere.

Last night we walked from College & Bay to Leslieville and ate at a great spot called Joy at 884 Queen Street.

Other (obvious) areas include:

Liberty Village
Beaches
Queen (west of Spadina)
Parliament (south of bloor)
College around Little Italy

Does anyone have any other walking suggestions?
 
buildup said:
I'm looking for some new urban strolls which preferably end with a great mean somewhere.

Last night we walked from College & Bay to Leslieville and ate at a great spot called Joy at 884 Queen Street.

Other (obvious) areas include:

Liberty Village
Beaches
Queen (west of Spadina)
Parliament (south of bloor)
College around Little Italy

Does anyone have any other walking suggestions?
Click to expand...

- The obvious, Harbourfront. Walk west along the boardwalk starting west of Bay (Harbour Square), take in the shops, Harbourfront Centre, HT0 park, The Music Garden which is just before Bathurst (one of my favorate spots to relax), the Canada Malting silos then off to the end of Queens Quay which ends just east of Tip Top. You can continue on along the lake through the parkland to Ontario Place if your so inclined.

- High Park. Take the subway to High Park station, cross Bloor and walk south through the park

- Drive to Cherry Beach (a great kept secret) where there is free parking or take the 172 bus which runs every 20 minutes on Sat & Sun directly from Union station (S/E corner of Bay & Front) to the foot of the beach. The beach is great plus there are quiet and secluded walking/cycling paths east of the beach. On the way home get off the bus at Distillery District and take that in, hours of fun there.

- Little India, Gerrard Street East around Coxwell (Carlton streetcar runs there)

- The Island, get off at either Wards or Hanlan's & walk the length of the Island.

- Roncesvalles, take the Queen streetcar west & get off at Roncesvalles then walk north through the village

- Bloor west of Bathurst is colourful

- Forest Hill or Rosedale neighbourhoods if your into seeing how the "other" side lives. Quiet and relaxing

- Cabbagetown + there is Riverdale Park, The Necropolis and Riverdale Farm in that neighbourhood

There's a few ideas
 
Cabbagetown, The Annex, Yonge & St. Clair, Forest Hill, St. Clair West, Riverdale, The Danforth
 
...a few more areas

Oh! ...Chinatown around Dundas & Spadina, walk up Spadina to College then walk two blocks west and walk down Augusta which takes you into Kensington Market. That runs back down to Dundas, and has a few streets which branch off (i.e. Nassau, Oxford, Baldwin, Kensington streets etc.). I've read here not to hang out there later at night but it all happens in the daytime anyway. The last Sunday of each month from May to October is a great time to check out Kensington Market as they close the streets off to vehicular traffic. There's lots of outdoor food, music, shopping and one of the coolest places to "people watch" IMHO.
The Village, Church street south of about Isabella can be interesting, then head over to Allen Gardens at College & Jarvis which is a fairly large park with the most eclectic mix of people your likely to find in one place, then take in the amazing Allen Gardens indoor Botanical Gardens which is free.
Walking the grounds of University of Toronto is great. Start at Philosopher's Walk (entrance is just west of the ROM off the south side of Bloor) and go from there. Lots of hidden parks and great architecture to enjoy.
 
Start at Bloor, around Spadina, and walk north through the Annex and the "lower" part of Forest Hill, to St. Clair. There is a huge range of eateries on St. Clair, west of Bathurst, anything from fast food to some very nice white-tablecloth places.
 
Some other neat (residential) walks include the nearly gated community of Wychwood Park, Poplar Plains Road, Palmerston Ave, Vaughan Road, Hogg's Hollow, and Leaside.
 
Just a reminder re the "end with a great mean somewhere": two weekends ago, I made it an afternoon walk from Chester Station (for some Carrot Common-y shopping), all the way to Danf + Broadview, down into Riverdale Park, across through Riverdale Zoo, thru Cabbagetown, under the Hugh Garner Co-Op and hitting Our Lady Of Lourdes and on westward to the heart of the post-dyke parade Pride celebrations.

There's a little bit of "Family Circus" Billy in all of us...
 
I like starting at Union Station and walking East along Front, detouring through BCE Place, past the Flat Iron to St. Lawrence, then back westward along King St. through St. James Gardens and past the King Eddy etc. Lots of opportunities for archi-spotting, new and historic, and lots of opportunities for shopping and eating.
 
Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. A delightful walk in and of itself what with all the great trees and plants and funerary art and cool mausoleums (mausolea?) - it also connects to the Beltline and to the Moore Park Ravine.
 
Bloor-Danforth - walk along this street from Islington all the way to Birchmount. I did it a few years ago, alas in two sections. That's the best way to get just about a complete cross-section of the city, from suburb, to leafy moneyed nabe to City of York-like blight, to established ethnic neighbourhoods, to cultural and educational institutions, to office and high-class shopping, and return.
 
It must have been back in the early 90s, but one New Years Eve I decided, for the campy heck of it, to go up to Mel Lastman Square for the countdown--and then I walked all the way to my then-home at Bloor + St George...
 
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