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Old Toronto, Toronto — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Old Toronto is the pre-1998 core of Toronto, holding the CN Tower, Union Station and the Yonge Street spine.
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Where to stay in Old Toronto
Where visitors usually base themselves, and why.
Most beds concentrate downtown, along the Yonge Street and Bay Street corridors that thread the old city grid toward Union Station. Book central for walking. Waterfront hotels near Ripley's Aquarium of Canada and the CN Tower keep the Toronto lakefront and the entertainment district within reach, while quieter rooms around the Royal Ontario Museum trade the towers for the Bloor Street museum blocks.
Fort York sits west of the core. Pick by district.
Find hotels in Old Toronto
Direct booking searches for these neighbourhoods.
Union Station and the CN Tower base
The blocks between Union Station and the CN Tower put the rail concourse, Ripley's Aquarium of Canada and the lakefront towers a short walk from your room.Find hotels in Union Station and the CN Tower baseGuests pairing museum mornings with the Church of the Redeemer and St. Paul's Bloor Street.Bloor Street museum row
Hotels along Bloor Street sit beside the Royal Ontario Museum, the Gardiner Museum and the Bata Shoe Museum.Find hotels in Bloor Street museum rowWeekday visitors chasing the old banking district around Bay Street.Yonge and Bay financial core
Rooms on the Yonge Street and Bay Street corridors surround the Design Exchange and the Campbell House heritage lot.Find hotels in Yonge and Bay financial coreHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Things to do in and around Toronto
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- Fort York Heritage
- Art Gallery of Ontario
- Bata Shoe Museum
Churches & Religious Sites
3- St. Paul's Bloor Street Heritage
- St. Basil's Church Heritage
- Church of the Redeemer
Landmarks & Notable Places
3- Campbell House Heritage
- George Brown House Heritage
- CN Tower
worth knowingacross 3 categories in and around Toronto
About Old Toronto
What are the main landmarks in Old Toronto?
The CN Tower marks the skyline. Its shaft rises over the rail lands. Down at the water the John Street Roundhouse keeps its locomotive turntable beside The Power Plant gallery and Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, and the TORONTO sign draws crowds up at the civic square.
The Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario and Bata Shoe Museum hold the collections. Mackenzie House recalls the first mayor. St. Paul's Basilica anchors the east end.
What is the history of Old Toronto?
The district was incorporated as a city in 1834. Before that it was the town of York. When York took its charter it left behind the county town it had been under York County, and the young city then grew for generations by annexing the adjacent land and municipalities that pushed its edges outward across the lake plain.
Fort York guarded the early harbour. Mackenzie House recalls William Lyon Mackenzie, the reforming figure who served as the city's first mayor.
Where is Old Toronto?
Old Toronto covers the part of Toronto that matched the city boundaries before the 1998 amalgamation, spreading back from the Lake Ontario shore across the downtown grid toward the Bloor Street ridge. The lake edges the district.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Old Toronto?
Union Station and the CN Tower base: Rail arrivals who want the Old Toronto waterfront core on the doorstep.. Bloor Street museum row: Guests pairing museum mornings with the Church of the Redeemer and St. Paul's Bloor Street.. Yonge and Bay financial core: Weekday visitors chasing the old banking district around Bay Street..
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Updated October 2026