A Tour of Toronto Day 2: Kensington Market, Little Canada and Harbour Cruise

Where and when: Toronto, Canada, August 2025

1000: On my second day on Toronto, we started with a walking tour of two of the most vibrant neighbourhoods of Toronto; Chinatown and Kensington Market. The tour was with Intrepid Urban Adventures. And best of all, the tour was free, thanks to #intrepidday2025.

The tour started at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The sculpture Couch Monster: Sadzěʔ yaaghęhch’ill, by artist Brian Jungen who has Swiss and Dane-zaa (first nation people of Canada who’s traditional territory is around Peace River in British Columbia and Alberta) ancestry. It’s a bronze sculpture but the elephant looks like it is made of ripped leather couches. The artist was inspired the story of Jumbo, a captive circus elephant hit by a train and killed in Ontario in 1885; and discarded couches in Toronto. The sadness at the plight of captive animals is caught in the subtitle of the work, Sadzěʔ yaaghęhch’ill, which means “My heart is ripping” in Dane-zaa. The sculptures are funded by the 1% rule – where 1% of the construction cost has to be spent in public art.

Behind the gallery you can see “The Grange” a Georgian Manor house built in 1817, by the wealthy Boulton Family.  Decendents of the family left the house to the art gallery foundation in early 1900s, and it became the first home of the art gallery.

The Grange is the 12th oldest surviving building in Toronto and the oldest remaining brick house. The art gallery was later expanded by adding a modern multi-storey building behind the original Georgian Manor. They painted it in sky blue, hoping that it will match the sky and won’t look out of place behind the original Georgian Manor. The jury is still out on whether it does or not!

From here it was a short walk to the edge of Chinatown. Chinatown was populated initially by Chinese workers who were brought to Canada to built the trans Canadian railway.

Next we head over to Kensington Market, which is not a market per se, but a neighbourhood.

Kensington Market is one of the oldest areas of Toronto, so the houses look very similar to those in UK and Europe.

In many ways, Kensignton Market tells the origin story of Toronto. This was also the first neighbourhood where many migrants to Toronto moved into before settling in to other parts of the city.

Today, Kensignton Market is a artistic and Bohemian Neighbourhood, home to many up and coming artist and performers (apprent Keanu Reeves lived here at one point). There are many quirky shops, vintage clothes shops, fusion food (think Mexican-Sushi!) and cafes here.

We also stopped at Jimmy’s Coffee – where different coffees are names after famous Jimmys. We also stopped by to have some Jamaican pasties.

There is a thriving street art and graffiti scene in Neighbourhood Market. Our tour guide also explained the difference between different types graffiti; quick, single-line “tags” and quick, bubble-letter “throw-ups” to elaborate, multi-letter “pieces,” large, blocky “blockbusters,” and complex, intertwined “wildstyle”.

1330: After the tour we headed to Little Canada, which showcases the country’s cities & landscapes through miniatures.

I specially enjoyed seeing the places I had already visited in miniature.

We visited Magnetic Hill Monckton, New Brunswick back on 2012; where it looks like you are going uphill although you are actually rolling downhill. The angle of the hill creates an optical illusion.

I was also exited to see Little Newfoundland which I will be visiting in the next couple of days.

I also really enjoyed seeing little Vancouver which we visited back in 2016.

One of the my other favorite features – you can miniaturise yourself. You step into a pod that photographs you in 360 degrees. Then you can order a 3/4, 2 or 5 inch figurine of yourself. (You can order it upto 6 months from your visit- I’m still thinking whether to get one!)

I really like Little Canada – there are few more areas to be opened; Little Rockies, Little Prairies and Little Morth. Looking forward to seeing these when they are open.

After Little Canada, we went on a harbour cruise. It’s a great way to see the  Toronto skyline and the islands.

That was the end of my short visit to Toronto. I really loved it, and look forward to visiting again.

---

Quick Links

• Overnight accommodation: With family
• Walking Tour: Toronto: Kensington Market & Chinatown with Intrepid Urban Adventures
• Harbour Cruise: Toronto Harbour Tours
• Visited: Little Canada