Visiting Toronto? Stay in leafy High Park neighbourhood

Hosts Larissa and Julian live in a beautiful Edwardian home in the leafy suburb of High Park in Toronto. Both enjoy meeting people and sharing what they love about Toronto with visitors. Their home is just a short stroll from High Park, the largest public park in Toronto, featuring hiking trails, a beautiful lakefront, a zoo, cafes and playgrounds. They are also within easy reach of restaurants, markets, galleries and museums.

Describe yourself and Julian

Julian and I met while working at an art and design university. Originally from Glasgow, he’s a design professor while I’m an editor and a writer.

Why did you decide to sign up as hosts on Homestay.com?

We realized at one point that we had all this space, which was a new phenomenon for us. We enjoy people and travel, we basically thought: why not?

What can your guests expect from their stay?

As a writer, I’m interested in everything: people, places, you name it. And Julian’s a charmer. I think the combination makes us pretty hospitable. We’re the type of people who are happy to help in whatever way we can, and who are equally happy just to do our own thing.

What do you love about Toronto?

Toronto is famous for its diversity, but this doesn’t just describe the people. We’ve got an incredible diversity of neighbourhoods: places defined by culture or small business, restaurants or art.

What do you love about your local neighbourhood?

We live in an area called High Park which has an incredible neighbourhood feel and amazing restaurants. There’s also a lake and Toronto’s biggest park. We’re also close to the subway and at the intersection of four primary streetcar lines, so getting to and from our area is fairly easy.

What is your perfect day in High Park?

A perfect day would include a walk in High Park, followed by a stroll up Roncesvalles Avenue, lunch or dinner in one of the dozens of restaurants on the strip, and some Parkdale vintage or antique shopping. Then perhaps a bike ride by the lake or a movie at The Revue Cinema. All are just a short walk away.

As a local, what do you recommend visitors to Toronto and your local area should do?

I’d recommend visiting the markets: St. Lawrence and the Brickworks for food, and Kensington because it’s so singular. The Art Gallery of Ontario is worth a visit for both its exhibits and its architecture, as are the smaller galleries along Queen and Dundas streets in Toronto’s west end. The new Aga Khan museum is supposed to be amazing, though I’ve yet to visit it myself.

If the weather is nice, I’d also suggest taking the ferry across to Ward’s Island (it’s a short ride) and then walking the boardwalk to Centre Island. There’s TIFF for films (it often has themed screenings) as well as the repertory cinemas (one of which, The Revue, is just up the street). And then there are the neighbourhoods, all of which are full of restaurants and life: Chinatown, Little Italy, Little Portugal (or Dundas West) and Queen West all the way to Roncesvalles.

What are you looking forward to about hosting guests?

Meeting new people, however briefly. And representing the city we love.

---

Stay with Larissa and Julian in their homestay in High Park

---