10 Most Instagrammable Places in Toronto

Nathan Phillips Square is directly in the heart of city centre and offers some of the best Instagram photo ops all year long, including the famed, lighted-up Toronto sign. The architecture here is a quirky blend of the old and the new, from the double arches to the Old City Hall. During the winter months, the area becomes a wonderland with ice skating on the pond and plenty of celebration.

The Toronto sign, of course, is the most popular attraction here, with its rainbow colours and maple leaf motif. Come early or late to grab a good photo, when it's not surrounded by other visitors.

Allan Gardens Conservatory is among the prettiest places in the city and offers tonnes of adorable photo ops of floral arrangements. If you can manage to snap photos, you'll get pictures of the gorgeous and lush flora in an entire rainbow of colours. The flowers represent both native breeds and exotic plants from all over the world arranged in artistic fashion

You can explore two tropical houses, a palm house, a temperate house, and Arid house. Each has its own variety of bromeliads, begonia, camellas, jasmine, palms, bananas, gingers, hibiscus, cacti, haworthia, and many others. The bottom line is, you'll find great photo ops, but be subtle. It's only 10 minutes northeast of city centre.

Graffiti Alley is a public pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare where the buildings are covered with gorgeous street art of just about every form you can imagine. The alleyway is technically called Rush Lane, but everyone in the city knows it as Graffiti Alley. The street art on the walls changes constantly as the local artists get new ideas, so if you see a piece you like, make sure you catch a shot for your Instagram feed before it's gone. This is your chance to immortalise great, if transient, art.

Graffiti Alley is in city centre Toronto, about 6 minutes east of the centre of the city. If you're walking, it takes about 20 minutes.

The Polson Pier Skyline View is an iconic place to capture the entire city in one shot to add a stunningly composed photo to your social media feed. It's near the city docks right on the waterfront, and besides capturing the city's skyline, you'll have easy access to other Instagram-worthy sites like the Rebel entertainment complex and the Cabana Waterfront Patio. The best times to capture the city skyline are at dusk when the sun sinks behind it, and after dark, when the city lights up like a Christmas tree.

Of course, the daytime also lets you catch images of the vibrant blue waters. The pier is only an 18-minute drive east along the waterfront from city centre.

The Kensington Market area offers a chance to stroll dozens of independent boutique shops offering gifts, arts, crafts, and food, all covered with brightly coloured facades and artwork. Check out the Cocktail Emporium while you're here; this building has a bright-pink exterior that just begs to light up your social media feeds. The entire area is walkable and is famed for its art spaces and bohemian vibe. You can easily fill up your Instagram feed with just the public art installations here, not to mention the Victorian homes and quaint, tree-lined streets.

After you grab a few photos, hit up the bakeries, speciality grocers, indie shops, and vintage boutiques. It's just about 10 minutes east of city centre.

The Toronto Music Garden on the city's inner harbour is an enchanted, fairy-tale-like landscape inspired by a Bach composition and offers gorgeous green space for your photo feed. Each section of the garden corresponds to a specific movement in Bach's 1st cello suite. During the summer months, the garden lives up to its name with free classical music performances from famed musicians who hail from all over the world. Here you'll wander an undulating riverscape, wandering forest grove trails, a wildflower meadow, conifer groves, formal flower parterres, and giant grass steps.

The garden is a hidden gem of Toronto. It's located about 16 minutes southwest of city centre, right on the waterfront.

Yonge-Dundas Square is a public square in city centre Toronto offering stunning architecture, public performances, art installations, and prime photo ops of many nearby local landmarks. In addition to the local art displays, you can capture shots of the Eaton Centre, Ed Mirvish Theatre, and Citytv Building, among others. The square is also lined by brilliant LED hoarding screens and displays, making it sort of like Times Square, only in Toronto.

After catching photos and performances here, hit up the City centre Yonge entertainment and shopping district for every kind of shopping, dining, and show you can imagine. It's directly in the centre of city centre.

The Museum of Illusions offers a mysterious adventure of learning and magic using optics, technology, and tricks, all while exploring the history of magic and illusion. This site is outstanding for students, children, adults, entire families, and even couples seeking to be enchanted on a romantic getaway. Here you'll experience exhibits like the vortex tunnel, mind-teaser dilemma games, and tilted rooms that challenge the laws of gravity, and each is personalised to enjoy over and over again.

For the little ones, the museum offers a smart playroom that encourages the development of problem-solving abilities, cognitive thinking, and strategy. See if you can photograph an illusion for your feed. It's only about 11 minutes east of city centre.

Sugar Beach is a beach park named for a nearby sugar factory and offers pink umbrellas, ornamental lighting, candy-striped rocks, Muskoka chairs, maple trees, and a walkable promenade. It's an ideal place to light up your feed whether you're grabbing a selfie, a landscape picture, or a romantic photo with your loved one. You can also relax in the shade on wooden chairs with your feet in the sand along the city's bayfront area.

Naturally, because it's a beach park, it tends to be more popular and pretty in the summer months, but it's open all year long. In fact, in the winter it offers some cute snow-covered shots. It's 20 minutes south of city centre.

The Distillery District offers picturesque, historic, and quaint locales that translate to astounding photo ops that will make you feel like you've walked back in time. The red-brick buildings and cobblestone paths date to the Victorian era, but today the area is an arts, culture, and commercial hub of independent shops selling unique items as well as numerous art galleries, restaurants, and pavement cafés. This is a area that's custom-built for Instagram users to rack up the likes.

While you're here, don't miss the love lock installation and the big red heart. It's just 14 minutes from city centre to the west and is sure to offer photos that will be the highlight of your social media feeds.