Get out, get active and enjoy our city this summer

Regular exercise has benefits for all ages and abilities including reducing your risk of developing many chronic diseases, increasing your energy, increasing your self-esteem, and improving your sleep.

Walking is free and easy and it’s one of the best ways to experience everything Toronto has to offer.

Our city has beautiful parks and greenspaces, and vibrant streets rich with history and culture. Check out the City of Toronto’s database of free self-guided walking tours with maps and deals.

Discovery walks: a series of free self-guided walks that link city ravines, parks, gardens, beaches, and neighbourhoods with informative signage to help you experience the area’s heritage and environment.

Urban walks: self-guided tours through the downtown core focusing on history, architecture, and accessibility.

Multi-use trails: trail networks cross-cross the entire city for pedestrian, cyclists, and in-line skaters.

Ready to try power walking?

Sing, gasp, talk test: Use this test while you’re walking.  If you have enough breath to sing, then you could work harder. If you’re gasping for breath, then you need to slow down. The ideal scenario is to be breathing faster than normal, while being able to talk at the same time.

Go for a bike ride

Toronto has a large bikeway network with a 563 km mix of bicycle lanes, off-road trails and signed routes. The relatively flat and grid- like layout of the city makes getting around by bike easy.

Toronto cycling app for Android and iPhone: GPS route maps updated with road restrictions, water fountains, location and availability of bike share stations. Also tracks calories burned and trip statistics.

Cycling maps: see maps of routes and trails, as well as information about bicycle transportation and services in the city

More cycling maps: maps of routes and trails by bicycle type for Toronto and all of Ontario can be found at ontariobybike.ca

Seven tips for safe cycling

1. Toronto police recommend riding 1 metre from the curb in a straight line
2. Look well ahead while biking and watch out for potholes, streetcar tracks and sewer grates
3. Watch out for opening car doors
4. Watch out for cars making right turns, they might not be looking for you coming up beside them
5. Shoulder check and signal before changing lanes or turning corners
6. If cycling in pants, tuck your pant leg into a sock or buy a leg shield/cuff clip
7. Follow the rules of the road – a bicycle is a vehicle which means you have to obey the same traffic laws as other drivers