Updated: December 8, 2023

A city has never so quickly transformed into a magical winter wonderland before my very eyes. As I am spending my first Christmas holidays in Toronto, I get to appreciate the city as it unfolds and metamorphoses, and to experience the best things to do in Toronto during Christmas. As I go through my first Christmas in Toronto, I would love to share with you information on things to do in Toronto – Christmas 2022 edition.

When it comes to Toronto during the Christmas season, the city is not shy of events to attend. However, not all Toronto Christmas markets, or Toronto Christmas events appeal to everyone. In this article, I am sharing with you all the events that I am doing as I am spending Christmas in Toronto, and even more: the key Toronto Christmas events that I recommend. 

Things to do in Toronto – Christmas 2023 Edition

Let’s organize this a bit: there are so many Christmas events in Toronto that it can be overwhelming! We will split this into different categories: Toronto Christmas markets, Christmas Lights in Toronto, Best places to eat and drink at Christmas in Toronto, and other things to do in Toronto during Christmas!

Things to do in Toronto – Christmas Markets

The Distillery District Winter Village

The Distillery Winter Village (formerly known as the Toronto Christmas Market) is the largest Christmas market in Toronto. From mid-November until the end of the holidays season, Torontonians and visitors flock the Distillery district in search of some holiday lights, cheers, local finds and new memories! The distillery winter village was also the first ever Toronto Christmas market I attended, and it holds a special place in my heart!

That year, I was very cold, but had such a great experience that it remained one of my cornerstone Christmas events in Toronto. What I love about this Toronto Christmas market, is the fact there is a little bit of everything: amazing and enchanting Christmas lights, caroling at the distillery, shopping opportunities with a special emphasis on unique Christmas trinkets and artistic pieces, and so much more. As you are looking for things to do in Toronto during Christmas, this should be your first stop (or if not, at least on your list). 

Cost: free on weekdays, and tickets at 11$ on the weekends. 

Location: The Toronto Distillery District

Glow Gardens Christmas Market

Eventually all Christmas villages seem like they’ll be similar, but the Glow Christmas Market is like none others: this Toronto Christmas market is one of the largest christmas markets in North America, with similar chapters in the USA and other canadian cities. What I love about this? First of all, it’s indoors (it takes place at the Toronto Congress Centre): this means, you will be warm throughout your entire experience! Secondly, for a christmas market in Toronto, I loved the fact that there was a wide variety of offerings: amazing and unique christmas lights displays, Santa workshops for the kids, live performances, and countless photo opportunities sections!

The Christmas lights displays were unique in a way that they represent a bit of the Christmas culture in 6 different countries: France, India, Mexico, England, the Netherlands and China. I felt this was a pretty unique Christmas event in Toronto, and would definitely recommend it. 

Cost: 32$ for adult tickets. 

Location: Toronto Congress Centre (650 Dixon Rd, Etobicoke)

Stackt Market Holiday Hills

The concept behind the Toronto Stackt Market is pretty interesting. This is Toronto’s first shipping container market, where every booth/stall is installed in a shipping container. This market was inaugurated in April 2019, and I’ve also seen that they have summer events in Toronto.

 I found it to be a pretty creative Toronto Christmas Market. The Toronto Stackt Market features live music performances, a ferris wheel, an ice skating rink and a few more entertaining activities for adults and kids. I went there twice, but on both occasions, there were not as many people (Wednesday night and Saturday night – the latter was a windy night). I would recommend going there either on a weekend night (Friday – Sunday), or on a night when they have live performances. You can find the holidays market schedule here. 

Cost: Free

Location: 28 Bathurst St., Toronto

Things to do in Toronto – Christmas Lights in the city :

Bloor-Yorkville Holiday Magic

The Bloor Yorkville neighborhood is one of the popular and trendy neighborhoods for shopping and restaurant experiences in Toronto. It is also ranked as one of the cute and exciting places to see Christmas lights in Toronto. To this, I would add “one of the warmest places”. And by warm, I don’t mean “weather warm”, but warm as in… “it warms my heart to be there”. Walking around the Bloor and Yorkville area gave me a sort of “community vibe” that I did not really feel in other neighborhoods in the Greater Toronto Area, and I liked that. If I were you, I would add the Bloor-Yorkville holiday magic as one of the top places to see Christmas lights in Toronto. 

Cost: Free

Location: Village of Yorkville Park

The CF Toronto Eaton Center

It would be remiss not to add the sensational Toronto Eaton Center as one of the places to see the best Christmas lights in Toronto during the winter! The Toronto Eaton Center Christmas Tree Lighting is a tradition. However, this year, due to repairs happening on the roof of the building, the Christmas tree lighting ceremony was replaced with daily afternoon concerts at the Toronto Eaton Center. Either way, in addition to seeing their festive Christmas lights, it was a great opportunity to enjoy some local entertainment while shopping. Or if you’re like me, make it a day-time activity to go to the mall just to see the free Christmas live performances. 

I saw the Eaton Center holidays schedule on their Instagram page, and went there to see Steel Pan Fantasy perform traditional western Christmas carols in a Caribbean style! Definitely one of the top places to see Christmas and holiday lights. 

Cost: Free

Location: Toronto Eaton Center

Cavalcade of Lights (Nathan Phillip Square)

The Cavalcade of Lights is the event that opens the Christmas season at Nathan Phillip Square in Toronto. The mayor of the city, Mayor John Tory was present this year, and gave the official “go” to open the season with the Christmas Tree Lighting at Nathan Phillip Square. The one thing that makes this event special (in my opinion) is the sought-after skating rink at Nathan Phillip Square. If you’re into ice-skating, you can rent some skates (or bring your own) and play around on ice. There are also a few photo opportunities with pretty cool Christmas lights displays. Photography enthusiasts would love the amalgam of lights from old city hall to the buildings surrounding the square, and to the square itself.

Cost: Free

Location: Nathan Phillip Square

Things to do in Toronto – Christmas Holiday Fair in the Square

After the kick off of the Christmas Lights display at Nathan Phillip Square, there is a holiday fair that starts at the square. It’s pretty similar to a Christmas market, with a pretty decent variety of stalls, goodies, arts & crafts, and food options. I think this is a great place to stop after work, or  as the start of your Christmas walking tour in Toronto (but not as a stand alone event). You can tour the entire Nathan Phillip square within less than an hour, unless you choose to indulge in some ice-skating in the square. I stopped at Nathan Phillip Square after spending some time at the Fairmont Royal York hotel, and then followed my Christmas in Toronto night with some light dinner at Papi Chulo’s Mistletoe & Margaritas (also covered in this blog)!

Cost: Free

Location: Nathan Phillip Square

Things to do in Toronto – Christmas Festive Restaurants and Bars

The Thirsty Elf Cafe

From the time I did my research on all the best things to do in Toronto during Christmas, the Thirsty Elf Bar at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel made it to the top of the list. And it’s a pretty genius idea, if you ask me. Nestled on the second floor of this Toronto luxury hotel, The Thirsty Elf bar offers Christmas-themed cocktails (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) during the festive season, starting from mid-November. The bar opens from Thursday to Sunday, from 5:00 PM.

Beware though: the wait line is extremely long to get in, and each guest only has a maximum of 1 hour seated time. I went to the Thirsty Elf Café 4 times before I could actually get a seated spot, and trust me: the wait was painful each time, so much so that I didn’t want to spare the time. At my last attempt, I arrived at 4:22 PM and made the line for about 1 hour, after which I was able to get in the bar and get a seat.

Is it worth it though?

I think for the sake of the experience, it definitely is. It’s one of those things to do in Toronto that you want to do once in your life. Feel the experience for yourself. There are a lot of Instagram photo opportunities, the bar is decorated in a very festive way and they play holiday style music all night.

Cost: from $18-24 per cocktail

Location: Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto

Papi Chulo’s Mistletoe & Margaritas

I met someone at The Thirsty Elf Bar,  and she recommended Papi Chulo’s Mistletoe & Margaritas as our next stop for that very night! And since we were already in a festive mood, so said: so done! Having gone there, I can totally recommend this spot as one of the places to experience and things to do in the city during the holidays. The vibe was right, the decor was on point and you could feel the festive energy even before you got in! Also, I think they offer some of the best tacos I’ve ever had (and I am not a fan of tacos!).

Papi Chulos is a great stop at any point during your Christmas night tour in Toronto. You can stop there to kick off the night before heading out to see some Christmas lights in Toronto. You swing by to take a break from Christmas-tree hunting downtown, or you can decide to stop there to close in on a beautiful night of lights before heading home. This spot is very popular (and also pretty busy), but the food (tacos and more) is made pretty quickly, so you won’t have to wait too much!

Cost: varies, depends on the food and drinks you order. Mid range bar

Location: 121 Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON M6J 2Z2

Things to do in Toronto – Other Toronto Christmas events:

Netflix Holiday House 

This year for the first time, Netflix joined in the Christmas theme fun in Toronto by taking over the Campbell House Museum and decorating it into a dreamy Christmas house! This experience only happened over 5 days, and I am glad I was able to catch it over the weekend. It was my first time visiting the Campbell House Museum. This is the oldest remaining house from the original site of the Town of York (“York” was the former name of Toronto). I think having this historical site as one of the things to do in Toronto during Christmas added a layer of beauty to the site, and definitely made me want to visit it again, without the Christmas decorations.

This was also a great promotion opportunity for Netflix to remind us of current and upcoming special Netflix Christmas movies to binge watch for the season! 

Cost: Free

Location: Campbell House Museum (160 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5H 3H3)

There you have it! My top list of the best things to do in Toronto – Christmas edition! I will be updating this blog as I experience more activities as they come along. I hope this helps you to plan your holiday season in Toronto better!
If you want to relive these experiences with me in video, check out my YouTube channel and travel through a magical Toronto Christmas with me!