In all Toronto guidebooks, you get the same five recommendations for spots not to miss. These include the CN Tower, the St. Lawrence Market, Casa Loma, the islands, and the Distillery District. These are good places to visit, but they do not give you any information about the city which cannot be found on a postcard. All five recommended sites are those which no guidebook mentions.
Based on research, you’ll find some Toronto hidden gems. I plan to visit them this summer.
R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant
The research says one of the most beautiful buildings in Toronto is a water purification facility. This statement sounds quite funny at first glance until you visit it.
Built in the period from 1932 to 1941 in the Beaches, R.C. Harris plant got its nickname “Palace of Purification” because of its grandiose Art Deco spaces and marble corridors. Even nowadays it is considered the biggest concentration of Art Deco buildings in the whole of Toronto. Moreover, it continues doing what was intended for it, providing Toronto with purified water which constitutes almost half of all of it.
Its surroundings are freely accessible for anyone since it is located right on the shores of Lake Ontario and people come here to enjoy magnificent views and calm atmosphere of the place. The building itself has already appeared in some films such as “Robocop” and “Strange Brew”.
Guild Park and Gardens
Guild Park is an experience of stepping into the ruins of antiquity amidst a Canadian forest. In this park located in Scarborough, there are over seventy architectural elements which have been relocated from Toronto buildings which were demolished during the period of 1930s to 1970s, which include Greek pillars, Roman arches, and carved stone faces.
The main feature here is the Greek Theatre which has been erected using eight marble pillars recovered from the Bank of Toronto building in 1966. These pillars are standing freely under the open sky, surrounded by tall trees, without any roof or protection by glass enclosure.
Entry into the park is free and a leisurely stroll through the park is better than taking a quick picture. Every element here was once part of a structure within the city, thus making it an open-air architectural museum for Toronto.
Aga Khan Museum
Since the Aga Khan Museum is situated at the north end of downtown, which does not contain any metro stations for tourists, the museum seems to be rather far from crowds. In the collection of this museum you can find some of the greatest artworks of the Muslim civilization, dating back to the period up to a thousand years ago, of the Middle East and other countries.
The most interesting thing about the museum is its garden, which is built following the traditions of charbagh style of Islam. It includes five reflecting pools, which are made of black granite.
Few places in Toronto have such a tranquil environment. If someone wants to relax for one hour after visiting various tourist attractions, he or she should visit this place.
The Bentway
Under the Gardiner Expressway, in a section of the city traveled daily by many drivers yet not really noticed, Toronto built something unique. The Bentway transformed the space underneath the elevated highway into an urban park complete with skateboarding trails in winter and performing arts in the summer, as well as exhibits throughout the year.
The creation made use of nearly two kilometers of abandoned urban space. This project has linked several downtown neighborhoods through the walkways beneath the highway itself, built specifically for drivers to move through the city.
The Bentway can be used for activities such as farmer's markets and movie evenings among others. People visiting the place with an idea that it is nothing more than a boring underpass will leave amazed by the level of activity there.
Cloud Gardens Conservatory
Hiding inside the Financial District area lies the Cloud Gardens Conservatory, a greenhouse that most of the people who work in the city don’t even know about. Behind a plain entrance hides a humid, lush space with a waterfall and a rainforest canopy.
Entry is free, and it is open all year round, acting as an oasis amid the concrete buildings of downtown Toronto. It’s the perfect place to warm up and experience some tropical weather on a freezing winter day in the heart of the Financial District.
Why These Spots Are Worth the Detour
These five points are spaced more distantly than your average downtown checklist, and some even lie outside the central area altogether. The distance is part of the payoff. Toronto is much larger and much odder than its skyline, and there is no better tale to be told than through the hidden architecture and green spaces of the city's outskirts.
All you have to do is get off the subway line, hire a car, arrange for a ride-share, and dedicate yourself to one extra day in the city.
Sources
- R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant – Wikipedia
- R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant – Atlas Obscura
- Beyond the CN Tower: A Local's Guide to Toronto's Hidden Gems
Next Steps
Wondering what to do next, you can do all of:
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