Explore Toronto This Winter: Best Places to Visit & Activities

Skip hibernation and take the train to Toronto this winter! Canada’s most populous city offers sparkling streetscapes, eclectic restaurants, unique landmarks, plus arts and culture for all ages. Classic Canadiana awaits too, with ice skating, sledding, hiking, and winter festivals. All within easy reach of Union Train Station!

With its excellent (and wheelchair-friendly) public transit, easy-to-navigate downtown and accessibility features at most of the top tourist attractions, Toronto is definitely a laid-back book-it-and-go destination.

Whether you’re planning a fam jam or a romantic weekend à deux, here’s how to make the most of your big-city winter wonderland.

It all starts at Union Station

Pulling into Toronto’s Union Station is unforgettable. Located in the city’s historic South Core, this National Historical Site is surrounded by skyscrapers and urban landmarks. Linked to Toronto’s subway system this 1927 transport hub features its original Beaux-Arts architecture in a new and oh-so-improved complex of shops and restaurants, which skew local and independent.

With Union Station as your gateway, you’re within walking distance of top attractions like the Hockey Hall of Fame, CN Tower and Scotiabank Arena, home to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors. Foodies will want to refuel after their journey at St. Lawrence Market, which has operated in the same spot since 1803 and is currently home to 120+ food vendors, merchants and artisans.

Here are more ideas of things to do around Toronto’s Union Train Station.

Top hotels for families

Cut the commute by booking at the Fairmont Royal York, which is right on Front Street, just across from Union Station. This grand old hotel oozes historic charm, but includes modern amenities like a children’s wading pool next to the main indoor swimming pool, as well as a state-of-the-art fitness centre.

A few subway stops north, the Chelsea Hotel is another family draw. Its indoor pool boasts a unique corkscrew waterslide that loops outdoors over the sidewalk. Older kids will love the teen lounge with its arcade games and foosball and pool tables.

Top hotels for couples and friends

The opulent Hazelton Hotel is a brief subway ride from Union Station. It’s a sleek boutique property known for its services at Spa By Valmont, fine dining at the contemporary ONE Restaurant and prime location in tony Yorkville.

Essential places to learn and have fun

Yorkville has artsy and subversive roots from the 1960s, and it remains a destination for creatives today. The Bloor Street cultural corridor includes the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Gardiner Museum, Koerner Hall and Bata Shoe Museum as well as a handful of independent art galleries. Upscale neighbours include Chanel, Gucci, Tiffany and Co., plus prestige restaurants like Enigma Yorkville and Aburi Hana, which have each earned one Michelin Star.

For an edgier grown-up escape, grab a cab to Queen Street West’s Drake Hotel As much a cultural hub as a hotel, the Drake hosts bands and DJs at the Drake Underground nightclub. Its Parkdale location puts you in the heart of Toronto’s nightlife, with vibrant street art and boho shops and cafes surrounding you.

Discover Toronto's Roncesvalles neighborhood, near the Parkdale area.

It’s time to play outside!

Pull on some warm layers and discover the wonderland that is Toronto. The young and the young at heart will want to skate at the Nathan Phillips Square, rink, with its City Hall backdrop and Instagrammable “TORONTO” sign.

Other skating spots include The Bentway,an underpass park with a unique skating trail, or l’Evergreen Brickworks, which has an oval loop that weaves through the shell of an old brick factory. Brickworks’ indoor Saturday farmer’s market is open year-round and a worthy stop for local goodies like maple syrup, preserves and baked treats.

Tobogganing is more your speed? Buy a sled at Canadian Tire and make your way to Riverdale Park East, which offers an epic hill and view of the downtown skyline.

For a more relaxing stroll, visit High Park. Trails meander through the park, which includes forested areas, an off-leash dog park, playgrounds, and a small zoo. For more animal viewing, visit the Toronto Zoo, Canada’s largest—it’s an animal-welfare minded facility with over 3,000 charismatic creatures including tigers, camels, red pandas, and pygmy hippos, as well as over 10 kilometres of walking trails.

Dedicated walkers can get in extra steps along the boardwalks at nearby Sunnyside Beach, or head to the east-end Beaches where Winter Stations, an outdoor art festival, takes place annually along the Lake Ontario shoreline.

It’s time to warm up indoors!

Toronto wouldn’t be Toronto without institutions like the award-winning Young People’s Theatre or the ROM, with its blockbuster attractions like fossil dinosaurs, an immersive bat cave and a live coral reef aquarium. (Or, for that matter, its adults-only ROM After Dark parties, which feature DJs, interactive art, cocktails, and food pop-ups.)

The Art Gallery of Ontario is another must-see, with its 120,000-work collection that includes Indigenous and Canadian art, European masters, modernism and beyond. Bring the kids for hands-on creative play programs or bring your S.O. for the adults-only “Drawing. Drinks. Social.” (which is exactly as described).

Another attraction that lets you explore as a family or couple is Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Old Toronto, less than a 10-minute walk from the train station. Here you can admire thousands of undersea denizens including sharks, rays, schools of jellyfish, and a giant Pacific octopus. Treat the kids to an interactive stingray experience, or your partner to an adults-only evening of cocktails and live jazz beneath the sea.

Visiting Toronto during March Break? Look into day camps at the ROM, AGO, Toronto Zoo, or Ripley’s. It’s the best way to carve out some couple’s time to dip your toes into Toronto’s indulgent spa and wellness scene, for example, where you can enjoy toe-curlingly good massages or brave a sauna/cold-plunge circuit while your kids are safely edutained.

Food, food and more food

Finally, bring your appetite in Toronto! One of the world’s most diverse cities with 250 ethnicities and a foreign-born population of roughly 51 percent, it’s not surprising that you’ll find incredible global eats here.

If food is your love language, book a weekend getaway during Winterlicious(the next edition of which runs from January 31 to February 13, 2025), a two-week-long festival where 200+ Toronto restaurants serve up an array of prix fixe lunch and dinner menus.

Young and old alike will love slurping noodles at Chinatown’s King’s Noodle, trying Tibetan momos at Little Tibet’s Loga’s Corner or indulging in finger-licking southern BBQ at Barque or Smoque N Bones. They probably won’t turn their nose up at the burgers, pizza, arcade games, bowling, and VR experiences at The Rec Room, either.

If cozy date nights are on the menu, head to trendy Ossington Village, where you can pick between Rhapsody, an elegant resto-lounge with a Japanese-Peruvian menu; Soos, serving Malay street food in a dreamy candlelit dining room; or La Banane, a contemporary French spot with killer cocktails and seafood. That is if you don’t get distracted by Union, le Foxley, Oddseoul or Mamakas Taverna first!

So much to discover this winter in Toronto!

Looking to learn more about wintertime in Toronto? Visit Destination Toronto website for a comprehensive list of can’t-miss hotels, attractions, events, and dining across the 6ix as soon as you get off the train.

Book your train tickets to Toronto