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Street smart

Forget the standard guided excursion – follow Pure Canada's guide to the best urban walking tours.

With travel options ranging from mega-cruises to helicopter tours and private concierges, it’s sometimes easy to forget that exploring a new place can be as simple as opening your eyes and ears and putting one foot in front of the other. Discovering a city, block by block, at your own pace can be refreshingly simple and remarkably illuminating.

 

[murmur] is a new project that showcases personal stories to bring Toronto to life, and it might be the most intimate tour ever conceived. “It’s like a sneak peek at the memories people have of the city, memories most of us don’t get to have access to,” explains Shawn Micallef, one of the project’s founders. “I like to think of listening to [murmur] stories as if you’re walking through town with a friend, or an uncle.”

 

Another group of inventive urban enthusiasts is the team behind Navigate the Streets. Every year, Vancouver and Toronto are transformed into playgrounds as Navigators compete in a unique contest. “It’s a really fun way to spend a few hours and get to engage with and discover a city,” says Tim Shore, the group’s founder. “You can think of it as something like The Amazing Race.”

 

In increasing numbers, residents and visitors alike are stepping out. And thanks to handy technologies – like Wi-Fi laptops and even your trusty cell phone – and innovative tours, there are more ways than ever to explore Canada’s cities and to linger and enjoy every street corner.

 

FRAG
Montréal, Québec

The rundown: The mottled history of Montréal’s historic St. Laurent Blvd. (a.k.a. the Main) is recreated in a 32-panel installation that lines the streets from St. Antoine in the International Quarter to Mozart St. in Little Italy. Each panel is a work unto itself, so read as few or as many as fancy dictates.
On the ground: Commemorating the people (poet Emile Nelligan), places (the legendary Schwartz’s deli) and events (a parade of circus elephants) that have marked the eclectic history of one of the city’s most iconic streets, each panel is a combination of archival photos, maps and quotes.
Highlight: A panel featuring the great songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen… just steps from his Montréal home.
Best for: History buffs and flâneurs (those who like to stroll about).
Cost: Free
Contact: atsa.qc.ca/pages/frags2home.asp
Bonus: Downloadable bilingual soundtracks, available online.

 

[murmur]
Toronto, Ontario

The rundown: Who better to tell you about Toronto than Torontonians? [murmur] is a multimedia project that has set out to capture stories about the city and replay them to anyone with a cell phone and sense of curiosity. Tours are self-guided; stories run from two to four minutes. Customize your route and spend as much time as you like.
On the ground: Look for green signs shaped like an ear with a telephone number and a location code. The signs, which now number almost 100, are spread throughout the city. Each code connects you with a different narrative, varying from historical accounts to personal histories.
Highlight: Don’t miss the [murmur] at Hart House on the University of Toronto campus for acclaimed filmmaker Atom Egoyan’s story about his very first tracking shot, filmed on the building’s second floor.
Best for: Story lovers and enquiring minds wanting to get the inside scoop on neighborhoods around the city. “People can be tourists in their own city, or visitors can get a snapshot of the everyday life of the place they’re exploring,” says Micallef.
Cost: Free
Contact: murmurtoronto.ca
Bonus: Also available in Vancouver and Montréal (murmurvancouver.ca and murmure.ca).

 

Historical Walking Tours of Whitehorse
Whitehorse, Yukon

The rundown: The historic buildings of the 1898 Gold Rush era are the focus of this urban tutorial. Tours last 45 minutes to an hour.
On the ground: The Klondike-costumed guides from the Yukon Historical & Museums Association are your chatty and erudite conduits to the past. Starting with the oldest building (dating from 1899), tour stops include the home of the real-life Sam McGee (made famous by the Robert Service poem) and the “skyscrapers” – a two-story and a three-story log cabin erected by an innovative and determined septuagenarian in 1947.
Highlight: The murals about town, like the White Pass Route train fresco at 4110 Fourth Ave., add a colorful countenance to an historical outing.
Best for: Gold Rush history buffs and Deadwood aficionados.
Cost: $4 (US$3.40)
Contact: Tours start at the historic wood-frame Donnenworth House facing Lepage Park at 3126 Third Ave. and are offered four times daily from late May through late August.
yukonalaska.com
Bonus: For a peek at the city’s more contemporary developments, stop by the $45-million (US$38.5-million) Multiplex center built for the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

Bryan Tasaka

 

Navigate the Streets
Vancouver, British Columbia

The rundown: Less tour and more race, this event has contestants solve 10 clues that lead them on foot, or by public transit, to different checkpoints around the city. Average race time is three to four hours.
On the ground: This is a scavenger hunt designed to explore Vancouver, and there’s a strong emphasis on technology – GPS locators, Wi-Fi laptops and mobile phones are the gadgets of choice to help decipher clues. Teams must photograph themselves at each checkpoint as proof to complete the race. “We always aim to make checkpoints interesting so even people from the city usually discover things that they didn’t know about their city,” says founder Tim Shore.
Highlight: Come home with 10 totally unscripted snapshots of the city!
Best for: Quick-footed problem solvers with digital cameras and a thirst for urban facts. Knowledge of the city helps but is not essential since you can make use of gadget “lifelines” to call friends (or helpful concierges) or surf the Internet.
Cost: $60 per two-member team (US$51.30)
Contact: Must register in advance at navigatethestreets.com
Bonus: A 2007 race is scheduled for Toronto, too; dates to be announced.

 

Getting here

Tourism Montréal, 514-873-2015, tourisme-montreal.org
Tourism Québec, 1-877-BONJOUR (1-877-266-5687), www.bonjourquebec.com
Toronto Tourism, 416-338-0338, toronto.ca
Ontario Tourism, 1-800-OnTarIO (1-800-668-2746), www.ontariotravel.net
Whitehorse Tourism, 867-667-6401, city.whitehorse.yk.ca
Yukon Tourism, 1-800-789-8566, www.travelyukon.com
Tourism Vancouver, 604-682-2222, tourismvancouver.com
Tourism British Columbia, 1-800-HELLO-BC® (1-800-435-5622), www.hellobc.com