Toonie Tours Toronto | Free Walking Tours, Private Tours, and More! — Local services in Toronto

This is a difficult one to rate as I think in part the challenge is Toronto. I've been on many walking tours in various cities, both paid and tips-based. On this tour, we walked to various points but in many destinations, I felt it was just a 'stopping place' used to illustrate a point (e.g. post office building next to old post office street, or walking a distance in the PATH just to get to a PATH map/ signage of someone's name, or stopped at the corner of John+Queen). There were some gems like the Lennox building and the BOM and the Canadian version of the Hollywood walk of fame, but we generally didn't hear about the buildings style etc at all, or much about the development of Toronto /downtown after the distillery era. The public art stop was sort of interesting, but it would have been more interesting to realise how much public art there was in downtown. Also, I cannot find any interpretation of Synthetic Eden that suggests the 3rd sculpture is anything but a budding flower (definitely not an apple). Tour actually started 25min after the meeting time, following the wait-for-group, tour introduction, and then Joel making all of us introduce ourselves to the group by saying our name, country and an interesting fact. I thought this was strange and unnecessary as we are a once-off tour group, not a uni group or colleagues. But maybe some people appreciate it, and obviously everyone remembered a bit about the others in the group (I doubt anyone remembered names). Similarly, Joel's presentation style (third person, trivia games etc) is not to my taste in a walking tour, but others may appreciate it. I lost interest in this tour quite early on. Partner thought tour was saved by his conversations with others on the walking tour, rather than Joel/the tour being very engaging or...

It was pretty awful. Our guide opened by telling us he doesn't want to live in Toronto anymore and would prefer to move to Guatemala or Mexico but needs to earn money and made several hints towards money throughout the tour effort telling us that the minimum amount of payment for the "free" walking tour is $30. DID NOT PASS THE VIBE CHECK. I wish I just left at that point. He could barely string a sentence together when it came to facts about the city and much of what he said was inaccurate as I lost confidence and started google fact checking. He made several references throughout about his difficult his life is including that it tastes him over 1.5hrs to get into town. He said the tour would take less than 3 hours but 3.5 hours later we were still schlepping around. I was really hoping to get at least one great bit of information (or rather a hint for some things I could look up myself given the inaccuracies) but after 3.5hrs I tapped out. And it was painful trying to watch him remember basic facts - people on the tour were helping him out. I should have just left to be honest but in the end I sprinted to catch up with him, threw my mandatory $30 at him (I wish I just left at the start, saved myself 3.5hours of mostly nonsense and therapy for this guy but as I stayed for the torturous 3.5hours thought I better give him the money). You know what if he didn't talk about himself so much it would have finished on time. So overall bad tour, bad vibes. I do a walking tour in every city I go to... This one was the worst. Do...

This was my second tour I did in Toronto and it gave me again new info about the city. Alex P was a knowledgeable and friendly guide showing us around and also answering questions about the city outside of the tour. Between the second last stop (walk of fame) and the last stop and generally within the entertainment district, there was more walking but not so much information. I think it would be an addition if also sports would be included in the last part as the hockey museum and stadium are in that area. However all in all, it's a great way to get an introduction to Toronto.

For my first tour I did the Discovery district tour having Rudyard as my guide. This tour is pretty new hence why I was the only attendee for this tour. Of course this way it was easier to understand what the guide was saying and ask questions directly. It was a great way to discover a part of Toronto which is not that touristic but still in the centre of the city. I learned a lot about the history and discoveries and accomplishments of the city and it's people. The university area is just beautiful and makes you feel like you are in the UK rather than Canada. Only remark I would do here, is to give a few moments so that participants can take photos. Saying that, I know I could have asked for it especially considering being the only one on that tour but I am a bit shy and don't want to interrupt the guide. I would also recommend this tour, especially if you are interested to get a deeper inside into Toronto and it's...