Christmas in the City: Toronto Christmas Market

Amanda Dunning
Dec 28, 2016
2 min read

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Family, food and fun! Twinkle lights, shopping and an excuse to get together with loved ones! It’s such a magical time of year. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is visiting the Distillery District’s Christmas Market. Although it’s over this year, I wanted to reminisce about my experience there and hopefully inspire you to visit next year if you haven’t already been. Since I am completely finished with Christmas this year (tres sad), I wanted to continue on the Christmas Spirit for as long as I could...

This year the Market started charging a $6 entrance fee (on weekends only) because it was getting so busy. A tad depressing, but since it goes to the not-for-profit entity that puts it on, I could manage it. If you want to go for free, just go during the week (just not Mondays, its closed then). An added bonus of the entrance fee? You could walk around the entire district with your mulled wine or beer because it was all fenced in. Or maybe you couldn’t, but I did and didn’t get caught…either way, it was a definite perk.

Throughout the market, like its counterparts in Germany, are twinkly lights, and stalls of goods and treats. Some of my family opted for the roasted spiralized potatoes on a stick, but I was more drawn to the gingerbread cookies and German Haribo gummy bears (which are the best gummy bears, by the way!). The restaurants are crazy busy and don’t take reservations during the market time, because, well, why would they? Get there early if you don’t want to wait 2+ hours for a table. I’ve tried El Catrin, Pure Spirits, Mill Street, and Cluny – all of them are good.

Be prepared to pay through the nose for drinks. Two mulled wines with a shot of brandy in each cost my sister a whopping $34. I mean, it’s not Toronto unless you’re getting ripped off, but since that drink was more than enough to put me to sleep that night and give me a hangover the next day, I suppose you could say it was worth it. The beer drinkers decided to be rule-breakers and bought some $3 beers at the Mill Street shop and walked around then. Tsk tsk!

I was hobbling around this year, so I only managed to take one of my own photos, so I’ve left it to the pros to share with you the Christmas-magic of the Christmas Market.