If you’ve just booked your flights to Toronto but are looking to explore the city on a budget, you may well be wondering where to start. Of course, as with most destinations, there’s literally hundreds of fantastic things to see and do, however here we bring you 16 of our favourites which won’t cost you a penny…

1. Bata Shoe Museum

Open every single day of the year bar Christmas day and Good Friday, the Bata Shoe Museum is entirely free to members and friends of the BSM as well as all children under the age of four.
Home to one of the world’s most diverse, large and exciting shoe collections, for those who think their own shoe collection is pretty impressive – the Bata Shoe Museum proves, when it comes to gorgeous footwear, you really can never have too many.

2. The Toronto Free Gallery

The Toronto Free Gallery is exactly as the name implies; an entirely free to visit art gallery situated in Toronto is a proudly not-for-profit organisation that works hard to provide ‘a forum for social justice, cultural, urban and environmental issues’ expressed and celebrated through artistic means, exhibitions and artworks.

3. Allen Gardens Conservatory

Over 100 years old, open 365 days a year and free to enter on every single one of them, the Allen Gardens are magnificently established and maintained making it a massively popular and much loved landmark and attraction in downtown Toronto.
One of the oldest parks in Ontario, Allen Gardens is today home to a stunning conservatory and expansive children’s playground and also offers limited free parking to its visitors.

4. The Gardiner Museum

Providing free year round and unlimited access to Gardiner members, the Gardiner Museum also offers half price admission to non-member on Fridays between 4 and 9pm and tours every day of the week. Those under the age of eighteen are also granted free admission to the museum.

5. Toronto Police Museum and Discovery Centre

Another, albeit very different, museum that offers free entry in Toronto and an insight into the history and culture of the region is of course the Toronto Police Museum.
No prizes for guessing the focus of this museum, the Toronto Police Museum makes for an interesting day out for the adults and exciting and interactive as well as educational experience for its younger visitors.

6. Cherry Beach

Being a public area, Cherry Beach is an entirely free and very popular place to find tourists and locals alike during the summer months in Toronto when kite boarders flock to its shores and waters.
 It is none the less also a lovely place to take a walk and enjoy some fresh air during the winter and autumn months too. Just remember to wrap up if travelling there during the winter season.

7. Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art

Back in 2013 it was a really exciting moment for locales as well as tourists when the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art announced it would from now on be providing visitors with free admission.
Founded back in 1999 and relocating to its current premises in downtown Toronto, the Museum is a veritable treasure trove of Canadian art and history and not to be missed when holidaying in Ontario.

8. Amsterdam BrewHouse

Amsterdam BrewHouse is the perfect place for travellers to Toronto to kick back and take a moment out of sight seeing to simply enjoy being in Toronto and on holiday.
Stunning inside and out, providing balconies on which to sit and enjoy a beer, coffee or some great Canada style pub grub, the BrewHouse also provides tours for visitors interested in learning more about its rich history.

9. Toronto Walking Tours

An unmissable experience when in Toronto and one which enables tourists and locales alike to mix, mingle and meet is a Toronto Walking Tour.
As well as getting visitors to Toronto out and pounding the pavements, it also providers tour guides with the perfect opportunity to extol just how great Toronto is.
Best of all, there is a choice of walking tours to choose from and all of the tours are free to join; tourists and tour goers are simply encouraged to ‘pay what you like’. Hence, this is one of the most fun, healthy, sociable and affordable ways to explore all that Toronto has to do and see.

10. Toronto’s China Town

Another attraction worth exploring on foot is of course Toronto’s very own china Town.
For an exotic alternative day out whilst in Toronto, its very own China Town is an explosion of Asian culture, fantastic (and affordable) Chinese cuisine and a community which celebrates Toronto’s diverse mix of cultures and where communities mix and come together.

11. High Park

A municipal park and Toronto’s largest, spanning over 150 hectares and home to recreational and sports grounds as well as cultural, educational and garden facilities alongside High park Toronto Zoo, High Park is a fantastic and free green space in which to get active, enjoy a picnic or just take a leisurely stroll.

12. Fact or Fiction Toronto Ghost Tour

Another tour provide by the Tour Guys in Toronto is that of the Fact or Fiction Ghost Tour. Unlike most of the walking tours available to holiday makers and as well locales in Toronto, this specific tour takes place, rather fittingly, at night.
The most ‘unique ghost tour offered in and of Toronto, the Fact or Fiction Ghost Tour is a really great way to spend an evening in Toronto without splashing the cash. The question is, dare you embark on it?

13. Bluffers Park Beach

Located at the base of the stunning Scarborough Bluffs in the east of Toronto is Bluffers Park Beach. Lesser known f amongst tourists than the aforementioned (and featured) Cherry Beach, Bluffers Park Beach is actually considered one of Toronto’s most beautiful and is the ideal place to spend a relaxing afternoon on any summer’s day spent in Ontario.

14. Riverdale Farm

Spanning the lower Don River in Toronto, Riverdale Farm is situated in the heart of downtown Toronto and offer free entry to its visitors.
Encompassing seven and a half acres, the farm is home to a wealth of walking trails through its wooded areas, ponds and butterfly gardens making it a great place to go for families, couples and even lone travellers looking for a retreat from the hustle and bustle.

15. Harbourfront Centre

Located on Toronto’s waterfront and all but unmissable thanks to its sky scraping structures, buildings and architecture, Harbourfront Centre is, as described via its official website: ‘[a] non profit cultural organization which creates events and activities to educate and entertain the diverse public of the Toronto’.
That is not to say though that its many attractions, sights and goings on cannot be enjoyed by its tourists though; better yet, entirely free for those wishing to explore it, Harbourfront Centre is supremely popular amongst tourists and locals alike.

16. Kensington Market

Whether arriving in Toronto as part of a family and along with the kids, travelling there alone or going for a romantic getaway, Kensington Market is somewhere not to be missed.
Situated in a culturally and ethnically diverse district of downtown Toronto, those looking to enjoy a family meal out, explore the stalls or simply grab a quiet beer and do so people watching are all equally likely to be impressed by this sprawling market. It is, after all, one of the best loved and most impressive in the whole of Ontario.