Toronto's upscale arts and culture district: the ROM, Gardiner Museum, gallery row, and the best expense-account restaurants in the city — here's how to spend a perfect day.
Yorkville sits at the intersection of Bay Street's financial power and Bloor Street's cultural institutions. In the 1960s it was Toronto's hippie district — Neil Young and Joni Mitchell both played here early in their careers. Today it's the city's luxury hub, but underneath the designer boutiques and hotel lobbies is a genuinely excellent cultural district anchored by two of Canada's best museums.
The Royal Ontario Museum (100 Queens Park) is Canada's most visited museum and one of the genuinely great natural history and world culture collections in North America. The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal — the controversial Daniel Libeskind addition — has become iconic. Allow a minimum of 2.5–3 hours. The dinosaur galleries are legitimately excellent; the Ancient Egypt collection is one of the best outside the British Museum.
The ROM has a good café inside and an excellent museum shop. If the lineup is long at the main entrance, members can use the side entrance — if you're planning to visit more than once, the membership pays for itself in two visits. Wednesday evenings have reduced admission for Ontario residents.
The Gardiner Museum (111 Queens Park, directly across from the ROM) is world-class and massively under-visited. The collection of international ceramics — European porcelain, ancient Americas, East Asian work — is exceptional. It's smaller than the ROM and typically takes 1.5–2 hours. Thursday evenings it stays open late with programming and a full bar.
After the museums, walk Yorkville Avenue and Cumberland Street — the two main gallery streets. The Mira Godard Gallery, Loch Gallery, and Olga Korper Gallery (slightly west) represent some of the best commercial gallery programs in Canada. All are free to enter; all have the kind of knowledgeable staff who welcome questions from serious browsers.
Gallery Row The stretch of Hazelton Avenue north of Yorkville Ave is quieter and worth exploring for its smaller contemporary galleries. The Hazelton Hotel courtyard has public art and is open to walk through.
Buca Yorkville (53 Scollard St) is the best neighbourhood dinner — exceptional hand-made pasta and a serious Italian wine list in a beautiful room. For a more accessible option, Sassafraz (100 Cumberland St) has been a Yorkville fixture for decades; the patio is the best people-watching in the neighbourhood. La Société (131 Bloor St W) does French brasserie food and has the most Parisian atmosphere in Toronto.
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Yorkville is a neighbourhood in midtown Toronto known for luxury retail, upscale restaurants, and two of Canada's best museums (the Royal Ontario Museum and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art). In the 1960s it was Toronto's countercultural centre; today it's the city's most expensive real estate district, but its cultural institutions are genuinely world-class.
Yes — the Royal Ontario Museum is one of the genuinely excellent natural history and world culture collections in North America, with a comprehensive dinosaur hall, exceptional ancient civilizations exhibits, and one of the best Ancient Egypt collections outside London. Allow 2.5–3 hours minimum. Admission is around $25 for adults; Wednesday evenings are reduced for Ontario residents.
Yorkville is known for luxury shopping (Bloor Street West is Toronto's equivalent of Fifth Avenue or Bond Street), world-class museums, upscale restaurants and hotel dining rooms, and a concentration of commercial art galleries. It's also where Toronto's elite hotel scene is concentrated — the Four Seasons, Hazelton Hotel, and InterContinental are all here.
Bay Station or Museum Station (both on the Yonge-University Line 1 subway) put you directly in Yorkville. Bloor-Yonge Station is a 5-minute walk east. The neighbourhood is very walkable from the subway and centrally located — it's directly north of the downtown core.
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