Doors Open, Open Doors

A few weeks ago I talked about being a tourist in your own backyard. But if this is a challenge for you--from not knowing what's happening in town, to prohibitive costs for bringing the whole family--the  Doors Open is just your thing.

Doors Open is a great volunteer run, community based event, started in 2000, as a millennium project. Toronto hosted the first North American event and since then more communities have opted to take part in the annual event.

Visitors are provided the opportunity to explore interesting sites and buildings not always open to the public and get behind the scenes tours free of charge.

The first time I heard about this type of event was in my first week living in London, UK when I happened by an old stone church which had its catacombs open for the Open House London (as it's called there). It was thrilling and cheap (free). I felt welcomed to my new neighbourhood and learned a bit about it's rich history. When I returned to Canada and heard about a similar event in Toronto, I convince my parents it was something they would enjoy (which they did) I made them drive to as many locations as we could fit into the day.

Doors Open Toronto-Toronto Archives 2008

Doors Open runs in various Southern Ontario communities from April to October. This year the Ontario Heritage Trust has selected a theme focused on the War of 1812's 200th anniversary celebrations occurring in Southern Ontario. Check it out!


Fun travels! 


For a full history of Doors Open events check out the Doors Open Ontario website here.
Image from Doorsopenontario.on.ca
Toronto Archives image from Creative Common by Commodore Gandalf Cunningham