Saturday

4. Go to (Another) Market, 8 A.M.

Located in Toronto’s Old Town, the St. Lawrence Market opens at 5 a.m. on Saturdays; you’ll want to get there as early as you can to beat the crowds. Ontario farmers have been selling produce at this spot since 1803, but the modern version, named the world’s top food market a few years ago by National Geographic, includes bakeries (try St. Urbain Bagel) delis and cheesemongers (Scheffler’s, Olympic Cheese Mart), sweets makers (Eve’s Temptations) and a local legend, Carousel Bakery, with its renowned peameal bacon sandwich. Essentially thick slabs of pork on a kaiser roll, its humble charms have beguiled Anthony Bourdain and Emeril Lagasse, among other culinary celebrities.

5. Ward’s Island, 10 A.M.

Toronto doesn’t lack for green space, with popular neighborhood parks like Trinity Bellwoods, wilder expanses like High Park, preserves like the Leslie Street Spit, as well as a unique network of urban ravines. But if you really want to detach, head for Toronto Island, a hot spot in the summer that clears out in the cooler months. Take a 10-minute ferry ride to the Ward’s Island terminal, the only stop open during the winter, to service the small residential community nearby. From there enjoy relative solitude along with incredible city views, acres of parkland and a 1.5-mile boardwalk along Lake Ontario. Rectory Café, just off the boardwalk, is open year round — the salads are the standouts. Ferries run every 30 minutes.

Bobby Kordonis, a bartender at Antler, makes a Northern Harvest cocktail, which contains Crown Royal Rye, Aperol, liqueur, and lemon juice. Credit Eugen Sakhnenko for The New York Times

6. Distill Life, 2 P.M.

The 47 buildings that make up the Distillery Historic District, the oldest dating to the 1850s, would be notable even if nothing was in them — together they make up what’s billed as the largest collection of Victorian industrial architecture in North America. But beginning in the early 2000s, the once-dilapidated former site of the Gooderham & Worts Distillery was resurrected as a 13-acre cultural district. The cobbled lanes are lined with an array of artisans, and the factory buildings host shops (don’t miss Distill, featuring Canadian made jewelry and clothes) and galleries (Arta, Corkin, Thompson Landry) as well as artists’ studios. Worthy dining options include El Catrin, a cavernous modern Mexican cantina with excellent ceviche and a two-story fever dream of a mural by the Mexican street artist Oscar Flores. A truffle (or four) at Soma Chocolatemaker makes a fine chaser.

7. Tagspotting, 5 P.M.

Street art has evolved from its illicit origins to become a source of civic pride in Toronto, thanks largely to the efforts of groups like StreetARToronto. There are head-turning splashes all over the city, but the most concentrated display is along Rush Lane, a stretch just south of Queen Street West, between Spadina and Portland, known as Graffiti Alley. Stylistically, the works are by turns macabre (elaborate skulls), whimsical (cartoon characters) and fantastical (an undersea array that covers most of a building) — and most are stunning. You’ll never look at a can of spray paint the same way again.

Toronto takes pride in its street art, here showcased in Graffiti Alley. Credit Eugen Sakhnenko for The New York Times

8. Do I Drink It? Or …?, 6 P.M.

BarChef is to mixology what CERN was to your high school physics class. Created by the modernist cocktail wizard Frankie Solarik, this dimly lit booze laboratory turns out multisensory concoctions that dazzle the eyes before they tickle the taste buds. These include a hickory-smoked vanilla Manhattan (45 dollars) that actually smokes and rotating creations (Spring Thaw, the Essence of Fall, 30 dollars), served amid foliage and soil and designed to evoke the changing of the seasons. Over the top? Absolutely, with prices to match. But when’s the last time you got to drink a season?

9. Canadian Cooking, 8 P.M.

A walk down Queen Street West is an essential part of any Toronto visit. This frenetic strip of bars, boutiques, galleries and restaurants is in a constant state of flux — sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Montgomery’s, a deceptively ambitious farm-to-table restaurant, opened in August, falls in the former category. Its stripped-down aesthetic extends to its rotating menu, which focuses on Ontario ingredients prepared with unassuming sophistication. Highlights include the goose creton with fried bread (12 dollars), steamed new potato with cured roe and Brie de Meaux (9 dollars) and raw vegetables with spinach dip and purple sweet potato miso (7 dollars).

