Toronto is Canada’s largest city, the capital of Ontario and one of the most multicultural places on earth, spread along the north shore of Lake Ontario. Its downtown mixes glass towers with Victorian stone, and you can walk from a world-class art museum to a hockey shrine to the foot of the CN Tower in a single afternoon. It is a city that rewards walkers, because the best details are at street level.
The Toronto Scavenger Hunt and Self-Guided Tour is a city game you play on your own phone, walking 4.5 km with about 64 minutes of pure walking time plus however long you linger over the puzzles. At each of the ten stops a riddle sends you looking at the building in front of you, and once you solve it you get the story behind it. It is available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, works for couples, families and groups of friends, and starts whenever you are ready.
About Toronto Scavenger Hunt and Self Guided Tour
Highlights of Toronto Scavenger Hunt and Self Guided Tour
Play
Solve location based puzzles. Use logic, imagination and observation. No knowledge required.
Learn
Uncover fun facts, local legends and information about the attractions and the city with our optional voice narration.
Walk
Who doesn’t love walking as a way to explore a city? Do it at your own pace and discover hidden gems.
Flexibility
Start anytime. Time is with you and not against you. Customise your route. Snap photos as you go.
Team Building in Toronto: Riddles, Landmarks and a Little Friendly Rivalry
Locations and Route (Show Map)
In the map you can check the optimised route. You can change the order and adjust it according to your needs.
Download the World City Trail app from the store and after the purchase you will receive a booking reference. Fill in your details and you are ready to go!
A Toronto scavenger hunt is a self-guided city game you play on your phone while you walk, so there is no guide to meet and no fixed departure time. You start when you like, pause for a coffee or a photo, and pick the game up again whenever you are ready. At each stop a riddle sends you looking at the details around you, and the answer unlocks the next clue. The route covers 4.5 kilometres and about 64 minutes of walking, and it works in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
You begin at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Dundas Street West, one of the largest art museums in North America, known for its sweeping Frank Gehry redesign completed in 2008 and its Group of Seven collection. From there the trail leads to Nathan Phillips Square with its curved twin-tower City Hall and the Toronto sign, then past the Romanesque Revival sandstone of Old City Hall, opened in 1899 with its clock tower. The Hockey Hall of Fame follows, where the Stanley Cup is kept, and then the grand Beaux-Arts concourse of Union Station.
After Scotiabank Arena, home of the Maple Leafs and the Raptors, you drop into the old railway lands at Roundhouse Park, where a 1929 locomotive roundhouse and turntable survive beside the towers. Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada comes next, with its long moving walkway through the shark tunnel, and then the CN Tower, 553 metres tall and the city’s landmark since 1976. You finish at the Rogers Centre, the stadium with the world’s first fully retractable roof. Nearby you will find the Entertainment District, St. Lawrence Market and Kensington Market for peameal bacon sandwiches and butter tarts.
Important information about Toronto Scavenger Hunt
Smartphone
You will need a fully charged smartphone with internet access and World City Trail app.
Self Guided Tour
Nobody will wait for you. Start anytime and do it at your own pace. Pause and resume anytime.
Not Suitable
For wheelchair users, people with mobility impairments or unaccompanied children.
Important
Audio guide included. You don’t have to pay any entry fees.
Explore the attractions of Toronto Scavenger Hunt and Self Guided Tour
Art Gallery of Ontario – starting point of Toronto Scavenger Hunt
Your Toronto scavenger hunt begins at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Dundas Street West, one of North America’s largest art museums. Founded in 1900, it holds a celebrated collection of Canadian art, including works by the Group of Seven, behind Frank Gehry’s swooping glass-and-Douglas-fir facade. Look up: that curving timber gallery is the giveaway.
Nathan Phillips Square
Next you reach Nathan Phillips Square, the city’s public living room in front of the curved towers of new City Hall, opened in 1965 and named after the mayor who championed it. Here you’ll find the Toronto sign, the reflecting pool that becomes a skating rink each winter, and the Peace Garden. Perfect for a photo stop.
Old City Hall
Just east stands Old City Hall, a Romanesque Revival landmark in sandstone designed by Edward James Lennox and completed in 1899. Its great clock tower long ruled the skyline, and gargoyles near the entrance are said to caricature the councillors who squabbled over the budget. It served as a courthouse for decades. Look up and count the faces.
Hockey Hall of Fame
Down at Yonge and Front, the Hockey Hall of Fame fills a magnificent 1885 Bank of Montreal building with stained glass and a domed ceiling. Inside waits the Stanley Cup, first awarded in 1893, along with goalie masks, jerseys and the stories of hockey’s greatest players. A fitting riddle stop for any Toronto scavenger hunt.
Union Station
Toronto’s grand railway gateway on Front Street, opened in 1927, is a Beaux-Arts landmark whose Great Hall soars under a vaulted ceiling and tall arched windows. Carved into the stone are the names of Canadian towns along the old rail lines. Listen for footsteps echoing as commuters and VIA travellers stream through.
Scotiabank Arena
Home ice of the Toronto Maple Leafs and home court of the Toronto Raptors, this downtown arena opened in 1999 beside Union Station. It also hosts some of the biggest concerts to reach Canada. On game nights the whole block turns blue, and you can feel the roar from the sidewalk.
Roundhouse Park
A working piece of railway history in the shadow of the CN Tower: the John Street Roundhouse, built in the 1920s for Canadian Pacific, still curves around its turntable. Steam locomotives, a miniature railway and the Toronto Railway Museum sit on the site, once the yard where trains were turned and serviced.
Ripley’s Aquarium
Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada opened in 2013 at the foot of the CN Tower and holds millions of litres of water and thousands of animals. Its star is Dangerous Lagoon, a moving walkway that carries you through a tunnel while sharks, sawfish and green sea turtles glide overhead.
CN Tower
Tilt your head back: the CN Tower rises 553.3 metres over the waterfront, finished in 1976 and the world’s tallest free-standing structure until 2007. Glass floor, LookOut level and the harness-clad EdgeWalk around the pod are all up there. From below, it is your compass for the whole Toronto scavenger hunt.
Rogers Centre – ending point of Toronto Scavenger Hunt
Opened in 1989 as the SkyDome, this stadium was the first in the world with a fully retractable roof, four panels that peel open in about twenty minutes. Home of the Toronto Blue Jays and a giant concert venue, it sits right at the CN Tower’s feet, a fitting final stop for your walk.
You might also be interested in Montreal, Old Quebec, Ottawa
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