Things To Do in Toronto in Winter 2021 2022

 

From ice festivals and art-infused light displays to top markets and natural locations, here are the finest things to do in Toronto in the winter.

In the Winter, There's a Lot to Do in Toronto

Winter in Toronto is cold, but it doesn't make it any less enjoyable. Visit some of the city's best attractions to keep warm, or brave the elements like a bold Canadian and venture outside for some fresh-air-fueled adventure.

Here are the greatest things to do in Toronto during the winter, from the coolest festivals and light shows to historic sites – as seen through the eyes of a warm-blooded local.

Temperatures in Toronto in the Winter

While the temperature in Toronto can drop to a bone-chilling -20C (-4F) or lower in the winter, the average winter temperature is closer to -4C. (25F). So bundle up and head outside, or whizz from art museum to retail mall without ever getting your tips red. Everything is fine.

These top Toronto attractions, winter events, and activities will help you discover the finest of the city, whether you're visiting for a day or live here all year.

Skating in Toronto During the Winter

We went ice skating since my hubby is obsessed with hockey and all things ice. Quite a bit. I'm still the worst skater on the ice, but on the positive side, I get to spend time outside and experience other parts of Toronto while we try out several rinks.

Nathan Phillips Square is Toronto's answer to Rockefeller Center for Skating.

The rink at Nathan Phillips Square, a lively skating location with music and a carnival atmosphere, is probably the most popular with leisure skaters. It's ideal for visitors to Toronto because it offers skate rentals and is conveniently located near City Hall on Queen Street.

Skating at the Harbourfront - A View from the Rink

The Natrel Rink at Harbourfront, a gorgeous position overlooking Lake Ontario, is another Toronto rink featuring skate rentals and a fun location. On Saturday nights, their DJ Skatenights are the new way to celebrate.

The Bentway Trail is the best place to skate in the city.

The Bentway Trail, a 1.75-kilometer figure-eight skating path beneath the Gardiner Expressway, is the place to be these days, and while we were hesitant to go ("Who wants to skate under an expressway?" said my husband), this urban chic hotspot (or should I say cold spot?) is actually a lot of fun.

The Bentway, which runs east of the Fort York Visitor Centre at 250 Fort York Blvd., is right next to the Fort York National Historic Site.

You don't have any skates? You may also rent them here.

The Distillery District is a must-see.

If you're not familiar with the Distillery District, it's a cobblestoned assemblage of Victorian industrial buildings with a historic distillery and plenty of brick facades. It's now a pedestrian-friendly leisure area with galleries, boutiques, and eateries.

With two big seasonal events, it really picks up during the winter.

Winter Distillery Village

The Distillery's Toronto Christmas Market, now rebranded as the Distillery Winter Village, is by far the most well-known Christmas market in town, running from November 18 to December 31 in 2021. This year, instead of the normal buzzy festive free-for-all, they're reportedly aiming for a more sophisticated 'intimate' ambience.

The Distillery Winter Village is a fitting place to celebrate the holiday season, with a 55-foot tree, festive lights, some swanky new food cabins (is that the sophisticated term for food stall? ), an array of artisanal gifts to buy for your nearest and dearest, and, of course, all the chic shops and restaurants the Distillery District is known for.

Weekend tickets are required (as is the tree lighting ceremony on November 18), but otherwise admission is free.

The Distillery District hosts the Toronto Light Festival.

Don't worry if you missed the Distillery Christmas Market. The Toronto Light Festival, an extravagant display that beams down on the Distillery District in January, can nevertheless bring rays of light into a chilly Toronto winter.

Thousands of lights, lit sculptures, and luminous installations are spread out over 13 acres and 44 structures at the Light Festival.

It spans from January 17 to March 1 in 2022.

Finding your way to the Distillery District

While the Distillery District is not located in the heart of the city, it is easily accessible by public transportation. From downtown, I normally take the King Street streetcar east to Parliament, then walk south to Mill Street. It's also a twenty-minute walk from Union Station along the Esplanade.

Spicy Hot Chocolate is a great way to turn up the heat.

Not all of the best things to do in Toronto during the winter are outside. Hot chocolate has been raised to an art form in our sub-zero metropolis, and there are several fantastic locations to taste it.

Chocolate Soma

Mayan hot chocolate with cayenne, ginger, and orange peel is just one of Soma Chocolate's drinking chocolate options, and it's a surefire way to keep the winter chills at bay.

Soma has two sites in the Distillery District and at 443 King Street West. Do you prefer your coffee with a kick? Bicerin, a hot drink topped with dark chocolate, espresso, and semi-whipped cream, is a great way to go Italian.

Jesus, sweet Jesus,

The hipster-friendly Sweet Jesus at 106 John Street is another artisanal hot chocolate venue in Toronto. For a unique flavour experience, try their salted dark hot chocolate.

70 percent cacao

A Black Sesame Hot Cocoa from the chocolate sipping bar Cacao 70 on 485 Queen Street West is sure to warm you up.

Are you looking for the greatest restaurants in town? Check out my essay about Toronto restaurants.

A Drive-Thru Experience of Snow Magic at Ontario Place

The new Snow Magic drive through trail will be open at Ontario Place from November 12, 2021, to January 17, 2022. It's a great way to stay socially isolated and heated in your automobile, billed as a "wonder filled trip inspired by fire, ice, and light."

This 1.7-kilometer route features 18 works by Canadian artists, including a metallic fire-breathing dragon, which I'm quite sure is a part of this mythological universe.

Snow Magic tickets range in price from $45 to $65 per car and must be ordered in advance.

The Toronto Zoo's Terra Luminata

After your drive-through adventure at Ontario Place, how about a walk-through adventure at the Toronto Zoo?

Terra Luminata is a 1.5-hour night walk that transports you to a fictional year 2099, when nature and humanity coexist, woods glow, and an arctic environment awaits you. Take a look at it here.

Warm up with an Imax film in the Cinesphere at Ontario Place.

Another mild winter pastime at Ontario Place is to see a movie at the space-age-looking Cinesphere, which shows a range of IMAX movies.

955 Lake Shore Boulevard West is the address for Ontario Place.

The Art Gallery of Ontario is hosting a show called Classic Winter Landscapes.

At the Art Gallery of Ontario on Dundas Street, get a different perspective on winter in Toronto and explore how Canada's snowy sceneries have influenced painters throughout the years.

The AGO is one of Toronto's main tourist attractions, and their Thomson Collection of Canadian landscapes is fantastic.

Seeing some of the AGO's winter-themed artwork can help you (or at least me) see winter in a different perspective. And I need as much positive light as possible in TO during the winter, otherwise I won't leave my flat till spring.

Check out classics like Paul Kane's Scene in the Northwest – A Portrait from 1845, or one of Lawren Harris' freezing highland scenes.

Just so you know, Lawren Harris is a member of the Group of Seven, Canada's most well-known group of landscape painters, and his work is a favourite of actor Steve Martin, putting him firmly on the celebrity artist radar.

The Royal Ontario Museum has dinosaurs on display.

Back when the world was covered in glaciers, tropical forests covered much of what is now Canada, and dinosaurs roamed the country. Travel back in time with a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum, one of Toronto's most famous tourist attractions.

The ROM includes one of the world's most extensive collections of dinosaur skulls, including a triceratops and a Corythosaurus with a helmet-crested crest. (And who doesn't want to see a Corythosaurus with a helmet?)

This is the place to go if you're seeking for winter activities in Toronto with kids.

Gordo, a large Barosaurus skeleton and one of only three complete Barosaurus skeletons on exhibit in the world, is the main attraction.

Duck-billed dinosaurs, a flying Quetzalcoatlus, and the museum's most famous fossil skeleton, the tube-crested Parasaurolophus walkeri, are among the other dinosaur attractions. If you can spell any of them, you'll get bonus points.

Visit Some of Toronto's Best Natural Areas

When you get out in nature, you can truly appreciate the beauty of a Toronto winter. Here are a few of the best places to go exploring.

The Islands of Toronto are a group of islands in

While the Toronto Islands are popular in the summer, they're also a terrific place to visit in the winter. What more could you want for than frozen lagoons, waterfront walks, and skyline views? The ferries run all year.

High Park is a neighbourhood in New York City.

When the weather cools down, one of my favourite places to visit is High Park. Go for a stroll around Grenadier Pond. If the ice is frozen, you may watch the skaters or take a walk along the pond's paths to see how the plucky duck families keep warm.

Indulge with a Spa Treatment

When the cold winds become unbearable, it's occasionally necessary to soak away the shivering. One of Toronto's premier spas with features like a steam room, hot tub, or pool is a fantastic spot to do this.

If you're going with your significant other, the co-ed lounge at the Ritz-Carlton Toronto's Spa My Blend by Clarins spa is a relaxing way to unwind. With (segregated) luxuries like an aroma-infused hot tub, sauna, and eucalyptus steam room, it's as opulent as the Ritz can get.

The soon-to-be-opened Stillwater Spa at the refurbished Park Hyatt Hotel is another high-end spa I'm excited to visit.

Bloor-Yorkville Icefest — Ice Ice Baby

Yorkville, Toronto's posh neighbourhood, is a popular tourist attraction all year. I'm prejudiced because it's my neighbourhood, but it's a terrific spot to hang out and people watch, with plenty of high-end art galleries, the Hazelton Village Mall, and the most urban of urban parks.

When it comes to winter activities in Toronto, however, the Bloor-Yorkville Icefest, which takes place over two days in February, is the best time to visit Yorkville.

With ice sculptures and ice-carving demonstrations, this historic neighbourhood comes alive (and freezes). (By the way, I once had to learn how to ice carve for a television show, and it is truly an impossible art form — at least for me.)

Icefest will take place from March 12 to 14, 2022, though you can watch the ice creations melt away for much longer.

Eat Well For Less This Winter With Winterlicious

Eating is one of the most satisfying things to do in Toronto during the winter. After all, how would we stay warm if we didn't have fat storage in our bodies?

Winterlicious is the answer.

Winterlicious, which will take place from January 31 to February 13 in 2022, is a long-running food festival that allows hungry clients to eat at some of the city's greatest restaurants for a cheap price.

Meals are prix fixe, which means you pay a predetermined fee for a set menu. Many restaurants provide lunch and dinner. The best restaurants book up quickly, so make your reservations as soon as possible.

Do you want to go ultra-local? Explore Canadian cuisine at restaurants such as Bosk in the Shangri-La Hotel, Luma in the TIFF Bell Lightbox building, and Bannock, which all focus on local products.

At a Hockey Game, Support the Maple Leafs

My husband insists that I include it, so I do. Check out a Maple Leafs game at the Scotiabank Arena on 40 Bay Street for a truly unforgettable winter in Toronto experience.

If you can't get tickets, you can stand in Maple Leaf Area, the outdoor public square where games are aired live on an 80 by 50 foot screen, and freeze.

My husband insists that I include this as well: go to a Toronto Marlies AHL game for a less packed and more cheap experience. He began to tell me about other leagues as well, but I had had enough of writing about hockey.

The Stanley Cup is on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Since we're on the subject of hockey, here's one more thing to do in Toronto.

Why not pay a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Front Street, where you can learn everything there is to know about Canada's most popular sport and see where the Stanley Cup is kept when it isn't on the road?

Views from the Top of the CN Tower in the Winter

Winter is sometimes best viewed from afar, in my opinion. The 1,815-foot (553-meter) CN Tower, the world's ninth tallest building, provides a new viewpoint on all of this chilly weather. It can be experienced in a variety of ways.

You can take a glass-fronted elevator, stand on a glass floor, and gaze out panoramic glass windows at our frigid Ontario scenery.

The 360 Restaurant of the CN Tower

You can dine in elegance as well. The 360 Restaurant, which rotates, serves Canadian cuisine. Many of Canada's finest goods, such as Fogo Island Cod, Malpeque Oysters, and Atlantic Salmon, are featured on the winter menu.

Walk along the cliff's edge

If a hands-free walk on the ledge that encircles the CN Tower at a measly 116 storeys above is more your style, you may raise the cold factor by conquering the CN Tower's Edge Walk.

The Edge Walk is, in my opinion, one of the most adrenaline-pumping things to do in Toronto during the winter. I still want to do it, though. Your blood will boil just thinking about it.

Inside Toronto Activities - Get Off the Beaten Path

I know I should be brave and proud to welcome winter, but I despise being cold. The Path may be one of Toronto's lesser-known winter destinations, but when I need to get some exercise and can't face the wind, snow, or sleet, I go there.

What exactly is the Path?

The Path is a pedestrian walkway that runs beneath the Financial District and downtown. It's a maze of stores and restaurants that connects office buildings, hotels (including the Sheraton), metro stations, and Maple Leaf Square over 30 kilometres of underground passages.

You can always hop up an escalator to see where you are, which is probably nowhere near where you think you are, with 125 entry and departure locations.

The Path's Best Route

I normally begin at Union Station subway station and delight myself by attempting to navigate the huge underground tunnels that run beneath the financial sector to the Eaton's Centre.

It took me a year to figure out how to get from Union Station to the Eaton's Centre, a toasty warm downtown mall, but I've forgotten how to do it now, so I'll have to face that fascinating challenge again this year.

Is it true that I know how to have a good time in the winter?

Wrapping Up the Winter in Toronto

That's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the city. There are fresh restaurants to try, fascinating museums to visit, and world-class events to attend.

Hopefully, the popular winter activities in Toronto listed below will help you enjoy the season rather than slog through it.

The article "Things To Do in Toronto in Winter 2021 2022" was seen originally on Wandering Carols

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