Kensington Market
A quarter of Victorian houses turned into an open market: Caribbean grocers, thrift shops, cafés.
Duration
1 hr 30 min – 3 hrs
Best time
A Pedestrian Sunday, May to October
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Kensington Market is not a hall but a district: a few streets of Victorian houses whose ground floors became shops, with the goods spilling onto the pavements.
Every wave of immigration left its businesses — Eastern European Jewish first, then Portuguese, Caribbean, Chinese, Latin American — and they coexist rather than replace one another. On the last Sunday of each month, May to October, the streets close to cars for Pedestrian Sundays, and that is the best day to come.
Getting there
West of Spadina Avenue, north of Dundas. The 510 streetcar on Spadina, or St Patrick subway then ten minutes on foot.
Rules on site
Many businesses take cash only. Parking is next to impossible: come by streetcar, especially on Pedestrian Sundays.
