Toronto/West End

The neighbourhoods of the West End are some of the most diverse in the city, owing to its significant immigrant population and also to the gentrification of former industrial areas and formerly rundown neighbourhoods.

From the early 1900s, Italian immigrants who worked in railway and road construction began buying up affordable Edwardian-style homes and opening up shops along College Street, in the area now known as Little Italy. The neighbourhood has become popular with young professionals because of its great restaurants and cafes, vibrant nightlife, and proximity to the downtown core. More recent Italian immigrants have chosen to settle a little farther north, along St. Clair Avenue, in an area known as Corso Italia.

Little Italy also has a strong Portuguese presence. However, that presence is more visible along Dundas Street with neighbourhoods marked as Little Portugal and Rua dos Açores (street of the Azores) on the local street name signs. You can find authentic churrasqueiras (Portuguese BBQ restaurants) in these areas.

Ossington Village is an area of shops and restaurants between Queen Street and Dundas Street. Prior to gentrification, this was a semi-industrial area with a number of automotive servicing shops of which the only one is still in business; another has been converted into a restaurant with the dining room in the former service bays. Some Portuguese businesses are found towards the north end of the area.

High Park is a huge park on the west side of the district having gardens as well as naturally wild landscapes. There is also a pond big enough to be considered a small lake. The 506 streetcar ends just inside the park in a rustic setting.

Just east of High Park lies Roncesvalles Village, named after a valley in northern Spain, which, oddly enough, is the heart of the city's Polish community where you will find Polish restaurants and pastry shops.

North of High Park, centred on the corner of Dundas Street and Keele Street, you'll find The Junction, so named because of the railway lines that meet in this neighbourhood.

Along Queen Street west of Bathurst Street, formerly run-down neighbourhoods have been gentrified becoming very trendy locales. East of Dufferin Street is the ultra-hip West Queen West neighbourhood, an area home to many of the city's hottest bars, lounges and cafes, including the ever-popular Drake and Gladstone Hotels. Going west of Dufferin Street, we pass through Parkdale, the new "it" neighbourhood, with its antique shops and quaint Victorian-style homes.

South-east of King Street and Dufferin Street is Liberty Village, a former industrial area that used to be crisscrossed with railway tracks that served the many factories in the area. With gentrification, the factories in the eastern part of Liberty Village were demolished and replaced by condominiums. The central portion of the area became a small shopping area. On the western side, the factories have largely been preserved but converted to house numerous small businesses.

Adjacent to Mirvish Village is Koreatown between Bathurst Street and Christie Streets (just west of The Annex and north of Little Italy). The neighbourhood is home to dozens of Korean (and Japanese-Korean) restaurants and bars, as well as Korean grocery, clothing and bookstores.

Much further west, past High Park, lies Bloor West Village, an area with quaint shops, lovely grocery stores with fruits and flowers piled high outside and a wide variety of restaurants line Bloor Street from Jane Street to Runnymede Road, while older houses, many in the American Craftsman style, line the area's side streets. The area has a Ukrainian presence with its Annual Ukrainian Festival in September.

• 🌍 High Park (Subway line 2 to High Park Station or 506 streetcar to the High Park loop or 501 streetcar to Colborne Lodge Dr). High Park is a large recreational and natural park. One-third of its area, spanning 161 hectares (400 acres), remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology. The park features: (updated Dec 2015)
  • 🌍 Cherry blossoms. Roughly during the first week of May, the cherry trees bloom for a short time in High Park. A good place to see them is at a grove along the West Road near the north end of the park. Check the website for accurate predictions of when the cherry trees start to blossom. Parks elsewhere having cherry blossoms are on the Toronto Islands and beside the Robarts Library on the U of T campus and in Trinity Bellwoods Park, the latter also being in the West End but closer to downtown. (updated Apr 2017)
  • 🌍 Grenadier Pond. 
  • 🌍 Landscaped gardens.  just south of the 🌍 Grenadier Restaurant. 
  • 🌍 High Park Children’s Garden. castle-like playground 
  • 🌍 High Park Zoo. The zoo's nine paddocks are home to a variety of animal species from around the world including bison, llamas, peacocks, deer, highland cattle and sheep. Free admission. (updated Jan 2016)
  • 🌍 Colborne Lodge, 11 Colborne Lodge Dr. A City of Toronto historic site, this rare Regency picturesque cottage is a graceful monument to John and Jemima Howard, the couple who founded High Park. John Howard, one of Toronto's first architects, as well as a City engineer and surveyor, built Colborne Lodge in 1837. The museum features many original furnishings and artifacts and some of John Howard's own watercolours depicting images of early Toronto. A guided tour is included in the admission price. (updated Jun 2019)
• 🌍 Museum of Contemporary Art (former name: Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art - MOCCA), 158 Sterling Rd (505/506 streetcar to Sterling Rd, 500 metres north of Dundas St W), ☏ +1 416-395-0067. M W-Su 10AM–5PM. The museum’s facility is located in a former industrial, multi-storey building. Sometimes the museum is only partly open due to a change in exhibitions at which time the admission fee is reduced. The first floor of the museum is always free. (updated Jul 2019)
• 🌍 Roncesvalles Carhouse, 20 The Queensway. For railfans: the Roncesvalles Carhouse, at northwest corner of the Queensway and Roncesvalles Avenue in Toronto, is the oldest of the Toronto's streetcar depots opened in 1895 but the older building is from shortly after 1921 and there is a much more modern addition on the east side for the new low-floor streetcars. The south side of the facility is viewable from the public sidewalk. (updated Dec 2015)
• Sunnyside Boardwalk (Access by a pedestrian bridge at King Street West & the Queensway). Sunnyside Boardwalk is a 2-km pedestrian path running through parkland along the shore of Lake Ontario. Along the way, there are beaches and monuments with the Martin Goodman Trail for cyclists running parallel. The following are points of interest along the boardwalk. (updated Jul 2018)
  • 🌍 Freedom For Hungary Monument. A memorial dedicated to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. (updated Jul 2018)
  • 🌍 Marilyn Bell plaque. A plaque commemorates Marilyn Bell, who was the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. The plaque marks where the 16-year-old swimmer came ashore in 1954 after her marathon swim. Beside the plaque, there is a small but attractive flower garden. (updated Jul 2018)
  • 🌍 Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion (Sunnyside Beach Pavillion), 8046 Martin Goodman Trail. The Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion is fanciful structure and a remnant of the former Sunnyside Amusement Park, demolished in 1955. The arches and towers on the south side of the building seem similar to Mexican Colonial architecture. The south side overlooks a beach. On the west side of the pavilion there is an entrance to a courtyard containing plants and a water fountain. Be sure to go around to the north side of the building to see the rather grand-looking entrance. WC is available from the courtyard. (updated Jul 2018)
  • 🌍 Monument to Sir Casimir Gzowski. The monument is dedicated to Sir Casimir Gzowski, a Polish-born engineer who produced a number of engineering works in Canada. Inside the monument, there are plaques about his life and engineering accomplishments. Because he was considered a railway builder, there are a short section of railway track at each of the three portals of the monument. (updated Jul 2018)
  • 🌍 Joy Gas Station, Martin Goodman Trail (just west of Ellis Avenue, 60 metres north of the Sunnyside Boadwalk). Built in 1937, this fanciful structure is probably the cutest gas station you will ever see. It has a Château style of architecture with one corner of the building having a castle tower. No longer in use as a service station, it was moved to Sir Casimir Gzowski Park for preservation. (updated Jul 2018)
  • 🌍 Queen Elizabeth Way Monument (about 60 metres north of the Sunnyside Boardwalk and partly hidden behinfd trees). This monument commemorates the opening of the Queen Elizabeth Way by King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth in 1940. The highway was named after the mother of the Queen Elizabeth II. The monument has a stone lion positioned under a cameo of the royal couple. (updated Jul 2018)
  • 🌍 Humber Bay Arch Bridge, Martin Goodman Trail. The Sunnyside Boardwalk ends here at this very attractive pedestrian/bicycle bridge, but the Martin Goodman Trail continues on into Etobicoke's Humber Bay Shores neighbourhood, where there is a series of attractive lakeside parks The bridge is over the mouth of the Humber River, and offers a good view of the CN Tower on its south side. (updated Jul 2018)
• 🌍 Trinity Bellwoods Park, Queen St & Strachan Ave (501 streetcar to Strachan Ave). This is one of the largest and most pleasant parks in central Toronto. It has the feel of a communal back garden, with families picnicking, students reading while getting a tan, pickup baseball and frisbee games and children playing in the large playground. The park also has tennis courts and a dog run in the last remaining section of a dried up ravine. 
  • 🌍 Cherry blossoms (near Gore Vale Ave & Queen St W). There is a grove of Japanese cherry trees on the SE corner of Trinity Bellwoods Park. It is possible to take a photo of the trees with the CN Tower in the background. The trees bloom in late April or early May (depending on weather) and blooming lasts for only one or two weeks. There is a web page to find more precise information about when cherry trees bloom in Toronto. (updated Apr 2017)

• 🌍 Palais Royale, 1601 Lakeshore Blvd W (501 or 504A streetcar to Roncesvalles, then cross the pedestrian bridge over the Gardiner Expressway), ☏ +1 416-533-3553. M-F 10AM-6PM. This former big band hall has been renovated and reopened. It hosts a number of different events, from comedy to swing music. It also serves gourmet seasonal food. 

• 🌍 Revue Cinema, 400 Roncesvalles Ave (south of Howard Park Ave), ☏ +1 416-531-9959. The Revue Cinema, completed in 1912, is Toronto's oldest operating movie theatre. This community-run theatre is operated by the not-for-profit Revue Film Society since 2007. It shows 2nd-run Hollywood films and regular special-interest screenings. (updated Dec 2015)
• 🌍 Shakespeare in High Park (High Park Amphitheatre), High Park (east of the Grenadier Restaurant). Live theatre for Shakespeare fans in the summer. (updated Dec 2015)

• 🌍 Stackt Market, 28 Bathurst St (511 streetcar to Niagara St). Tu-Su Noon-8PM (restaurants until 11PM). This market is constructed mostly from shipping containers. A shop might fit into one container, or use two adjacent containers. The market includes a micro-brewery (Belgian Moon Brewery) occupying 3 shipping containers. Restaurant and brewery patios are popular throughout the warmer months. The market was intended to be temporary and easy to relocate at the end of 2020, but as of 2023 it's still popular and evolving. (updated Feb 2023)

• 🌍 Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St W (501 streetcar to Beaconsfield Ave), ☏ +1 416 531-5042. This hotel was opened in 1890 as "Small's Hotel". The hotel eventually fell on hard times, along with its neighbourhood. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was variously a punk bar, a rave den and a flophouse. It was renovated in 2001 and has become one of Toronto's most talked-about nightclubs and arts venues, a popular hang-out spot for those who want to see and be seen. The hotel contains nineteen rooms including an upstairs lounge, a dining room, a cafe, a rooftop patio named the Sky Yard, and a music bar called the Underground. $189-299 per night. 
• 🌍 Gladstone House (formerly Gladstone Hotel), 1214 Queen St W (501 streetcar to Gladstone Ave), ☏ +1 416 531-4635. Like the Drake, this hotel was built at the end of the 19th century and fell on hard times in the 1970s. It was renovated in 2001 into a boutique hotel with each room designed by a different artist in a different style. Since 2021, each room features an artwork and the lobby has a new ceiling mural. The hotel bar's weekend karaoke nights are extremely popular. $185-475 per night. (updated Sep 2021)

• 🌍 Parkdale Library, 1303 Queen St W (501 streetcar to Brock Ave), ☏ +1 416-393-7686. Daily including most Sundays between September & June. Wi-fi, computers with internet access. (updated Jan 2016)
• 🌍 Guardian Pharmacy Parkdale, 1488 Queen St W (501 streetcar to Lansdowne Ave or Jameson Ave). Open daily. Post office outlet. (updated Jan 2016)

Here is a list of adjacent districts:

• Entertainment and Financial Districts: CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium, Roy Thomson Hall, Union Station.
• Etobicoke: Islington Village
• Kensington-Chinatown: Kensington Market, Chinatown, Art Gallery of Ontario.
• Midtown: Casa Loma, Corso Italia
• Yorkville and the Annex: Royal Ontario Museum, University of Toronto, Yorkville.