How to Explore Your City With Fresh Eyes
January has been a month of brand new inspiration for me. I’ve been doing my best to use my time towards gaining a new perspective on life. That includes my perspective on the city that I live in: Toronto. This uber-diverse, majorly multi-cultural powerhouse of a city has so much to do and explore, and as a local, I very rarely take advantage of that. For example, the last time I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) was in high school, and that’s almost 8 years ago! But places like the AGO are becoming more and more easily accessible, even for locals. If you’re starting to feel stuck at home or bored with your daily routine, try a few of these tips and see your surroundings in a brand new way.
VISIT TOURIST ATTRACTIONS
As a born-and-bred Torontonian, I tend to avoid tourist attractions altogether. More often than not, they’re crowded with people and seem to feel like a cliché. We’re often taken to the Royal Ontario Museum or the AGO, or even City Hall on class trips as kids, so what really has changed since I was 14 or 15 years old? What’s changed is my ability to appreciate my surroundings and be resourceful with my money. Here’s what I mean:
One of the drawbacks to visiting tourist attractions is the price. They practically ask for your firstborn child in exchange for admission. However, there are tons of ways to make it in without emptying your pockets. The best way to do so is by doing your research and finding out what days there are discounted entry fees. For example, the AGO offers free annual passes to anyone under 25 years old. If you plan to attend even once or twice a year, it’s more than worth it to take advantage of this discount while you can. Art and history are severely underrated, and I personally like to check out the Royal Ontario Museum at least once a year for their special exhibits. If you’re a post-secondary student, head over to the ROM on a Tuesday for free admission all day, or the third Tuesday evening (5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m) of every month for everyone else.
Quick Toronto Tip: If you’re hoping to spend a few days ‘staycation’ to revisit all of these attractions, it may be worth it to opt for a CityPASS. You’ll save 36% on admission to Toronto’s top 5 attractions including the ROM, CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium, Casa Loma, and the Zoo or the Science Centre. AND the passes last for over a week, so you can space out your visits.
GO ON A RESTAURANT CRAWL
Obviously, one of my favourite parts of my city is how many options there are when it comes to eating out. Toronto is one of the most culturally diverse cities I’ve ever been to, meaning you can get great food from all over the world. All you have to do is decide what you’re hungry for! There are pockets of cultures all around the city, making it easy to find what you’re looking for. Craving dim sum? Head to Chinatown at Dundas and Spadina. Maybe you prefer South Asian food, Little India at Gerrard and Coxwell is for you. By commuting to a new area of the city that you may or may not have been to before, you are opening yourself up to new experiences and new flavours. Make a list of some of the spots you want to stop at, and drop in for an appetizer or two to decide if you want to try something more!
Another great way to find places you’ve never been to before is to read restaurant guides or ask friends and family for recommendations. They may know of a hot spot you’ve never even heard of or a new take on your favourite dish. Most of the time I find new places to try in conversation with my friends that are scattered around the city. One lives in the east-end, a few in the west, and some even outside of the Greater Toronto Area completely. Have a look at blogTO’s neighbourhood guides, or if you’re visiting parts of the city for the first time, Lonely Planet is the perfect resource.
WALK OR TAKE TRANSIT INSTEAD OF DRIVING
By far, the best way to explore a city is on foot. Walking to and from places makes it so easy to stop in and check out cute spots along the way to your destination. Even when I’m on my way home from work, I like to look around at the store-fronts I pass because I tend to discover new restaurants to try or cool shops I’ve never seen before. Take a day to walk around a neighbourhood on the opposite side of the city. You’ll stumble upon places you’ve been meaning to check out or ones that you didn’t even know existed until you stepped outside your comfort zone.
If you’re not much of a walker, or you prefer to get places faster, most cities have public transit day passes to allow for easy on and off all-day. Get on, ride across town, get off, and explore. Day passes are usually flat-rate fees, but if you’re anything like me and you commute on transit regularly, you can just use your regular method of payment. A cool thing about the Toronto transit system is that you have 2 hours to do what you need to do in between payments, and transfers between transit lines are free!
Join me this week and explore the city that you live in with fresh eyes. It may make wintertime a bit more bearable. And share with me in the comments what city you live in! I would love to know who I’m chatting to every week.
❤
