Toronto Chinatown and Spadina Avenue
Shopfronts, signs and a neighbourhood walk that pairs well with Kensington.
Walking along Spadina Avenue brought us into an area with a very different street atmosphere. Shopfronts and Chinese signs made the change in neighbourhood immediately visible.
Toronto’s Chinatown was not always centred here. Earlier Chinese businesses and community life were concentrated elsewhere downtown before redevelopment and migration helped shift the area westward.
Spadina Avenue is longer than Chinatown itself. For this visit, focus on the streets around the main concentration of shops rather than treating the whole avenue as one district.
You do not need a restaurant reservation to enjoy a first look. A walk among the shops, signs and façades is worthwhile in its own right.
We recommend combining this area with Kensington Market. The short transition makes the differences between the neighbourhoods especially interesting.
It need not occupy an entire day, but it is more rewarding as a genuine walk than a quick photograph taken on the way somewhere else.
Practical notes
Combine Chinatown with Kensington Market.
Allow room for browsing rather than a rigid stop-by-stop schedule.
Planning and booking
More from our Canada trip
Kensington Market: colourful streets and a café break