PATH Underground

A cute idea, but not accessible all the way. You may be able to get in the PATH but in a couple building you will not be able to get to ground level, turn around and get out where you came in.

The PATH is a collection of office tower concourses all linked into one big mall (world’s largest underground city). The PATH map is a general layout of all the buildings attached to the PATH system and in no way an actual map to navigate the individual building you’re in. Each building has it’s own individual map which is located by each entrance.
The majority of the PATH is open til 11pm on weekdays but because the shops and stores hours all reflect office business hours don’t expect the mall to be open after 6−7pm weekdays. The odd store or two of each section may be open, but they are few and far between.
Part of the PATH connects through the Hudson Bay store which closes at 9pm so restricts access to the Eaton Centre from the PATH through Hudson Bay. But there are stairs up to street level to by pass the closed store to re-​enter the Eaton Centre where the PATH continues through to Atrium on Bay which like the rest of the PATH is a concourse level of an office tower so the majority of the stores there close at 7pm.
The actual end of the path at that end is the Dundas bus depot with plans for future expansion to College Park and then it was hinted it may even go as far as the Yonge & Bloor once the College Park connection has been established.
I don’t work nearby nor do have I ever worked in any of the towers above but I’ve explored the entire mall from end to end and I have never gotten lost navigating my way from north to south. I may have gotten turned around in an off shoot section but once I get my bearings it is easy to navigate.
I pity those who work in the towers above for years and still find it difficult to navigate or to find something as simply as a washroom.

The PATH is the most confusing waste of time ever.
I’d rather walk in the rain/​wind/​snow or whatever instead of spending 30min navigating this thing only to realize that I just walked in a circle
The map has no «you are here» dot
The signs only point you to one direction (either «west» or east”)
The stores in the PATH are crappy and overpriced

I think the PATH should be a tourist spot, just because of the rare architecture. Think about how some architects/​city planners would visualize a whole downtown, not just a building, built over a huge basement that connected to many transportation hubs. And they actually made the vision come true. I can’t even imagine the collaboration, finance and political will involved.
I think it will be cool to have some writings in the PATH to explain the history and development of the downtown PATH.
PRO of PATH:
1) Warm/​Air-​conditioned and dry regardless of the mother nature outside
2) Far reaching within downtown core
3) Very lively shopping and services area
4) Connect to Union Train and Bus Station and various subway stations
5) Lots of coffee shops
6) Unique among the downtown of North American major cities
CON of PATH:
1) Confusing even for those who have been working downtown for over a decade
2) Food from both restaurants and food courts are expensive
3) Goods and services are overly expensive
4) Susceptible to floods
5) Shops close early during weekdays and mostly a ghost town on weekends
6) Restrooms are hard to find

It’s like a giant shopping mall which spans half the downtown core. Very handy if its raining, snowing or extremely cold outside, and the good thing is that you can walk around without «outdoor» clothes. Bonus if you work at one of the connected buildings so you can easily get food without stepping outside!
It can get confusing at times, but you need to know exactly where you are going to use this efficiently — refer to the map and which building is the nearest to where you are going. The directions are colour coded — blue is north, red is south, orange is west, and yellow is east.

When I go into the path I seem to lose all orientation of where I am, and what direction I am headed. As previously mentioned the signage is pretty weak, luckily I don’t have a long journey down here.
It is great on a rainy day and in the winter. It’s a giant underground plaza with many repeats of the same store in different locations, and many coffee shops, and sporadic food courts in several buildings.

its underground and keeps you warm and dry :-)

The Path… Great for when it’s raining or a snow storm. Not a bad place to people watch. Everyone dressed up in office gear. Very confusing if you’re new to the location. My first few months I travelled above ground. Tourist can check it out but I usually recommend they walk above ground. Much more to see. The PATH lacks good shops. A few food courts but nothing worth their value. The best overall value items are Pad Thai at Exchange Tower, $ 9 and Mucho Burrito Monday $ 5 burrito and Wednesday $ 5 burrito salad at FCP (First Canadian Place)

One thing I miss about working downtown in the land of suits and other Corporates, is the PATH. All connected underground, it makes everything so convenient, and the retail down here also has improved quite a bit.
They’ve also recently opened up the passage way through Bay Adelaide Centre, meaning you can walk from Union to Eaton Centre all underground.
The ONLY thing they are missing are more maps! I always get lost down here if I’m going somewhere new. Just because you say «South to TD Centre» does not mean that I know where I am. At some point it’s all gut feel, and I spent a lot of extra time trying to get my bearings.
Today I met a friend for lunch at Commerce Court (King station). The food court here hasn’t changed much since 2 years ago. I used to get a yogurt parfait every morning, and lunches at the gourmet do it yourself store was always a treat. There’s also a great healthy veggie /​falafel option at Fit for Life, which I was surprised I’ve never been to!
There’s a Great American Backrub and a Smart Set /​Reitmans for all your therapies during the work hour if you need it.
After lunch, I walked through TD Centre. I would have to say they have the better food court in the area with a Hero Burger and Freshii custom salads. Take a visit to the Soup Nutsy (but get there earlier). There’s a Town Shoes here, and that got me distracted for a while.
Heading in to First Canadian Place, there’s lots of higher end food options here in their renovated market place. FCP also is known for their afternoon concerts, so check the listings! I came once to hear Sophie Milman and met her in person!
Stores here include an LCBO, Aldo, HMV, a really large Pharma Plus, Madison and Nine West shoes. There’s also a food court upstairs and a chinese restaurant.
From here, I went to Scotia Plaza. There’s a Winner’s here and a good Japanese restaurant, Ninki. At this junction, is where they opened up the new corridor to the Bay Adelaide Centre.
Everything in there was shiny and new, but not as much shopping. Here you can pass through to the Bay (Now you’re at Queen street) and into Eaton Centre.
So convenient!
With all these food options, there’s no need to bring your lunch to work! I miss it!

First off, the entrance to this undergrouond shopping/​eating place was veryy hard to find! Then there’s the issue of only street parking being available. When we went everything was closed. Even if everything was opened, based on the window view, nothing really looked like it was worth going into. Some of the labeled exits and directions were also wrong. I could see how one could get lost. I guess this place would be convenient for workers in the area. For anyone else, don’t waste your time or money.

I understand the draw in the cold Toronto winters… but due to Global Warming this cluster is best avoided. Yes there is food and shopping down there… but it just makes me feel like a worker bee or ant.
Half of the folks are zooming around — they have figured out this underground maze, they know how to get from the subway to their office to their lunch spot and back again. The rest of us are walking slowly, desperately trying to find a sign that means something to us.
The city should really hire an urban planner and a graphic designer and map this place out with nice signage. Then it could be awesome.
Anyway, I’m giving it more than 1 star because… well… sometimes it does rain or get really cold… and we all like to be comfortable.

Its great for winters… you can make your way from one end of town to the other without surfacing.
My fav food places are:
First Canadian Place
— Pumperknickles — make your own salad and add chicken breas or salmon
— Bourbon Chicken — two veggies items with one meat item
— Schezuan Express — Thin rice noodle soup with Shrimp dumplings, chicken, or beef
TD Tower
— Thai Island — Pad Thai, Rice noodle soup, or pineapple fried rice with spicy beef or green curry basil chickent
HSBC building
— There is a make your own pasta place accross Teriaki Express in the food court where there is a Wendy’s. It has the best shrim and clam pasta — i always ask for blush sauce and spaghetti

Toronto’s PATH network is the world’s largest underground commercial shopping centre. Located underneath the major office towers in the Financial District, the PATH is over four million square feet of retail space. This subterranean labyrinth connects over 50 buildings including six subway stops. It will take you from Union Station all the way to City Hall. It’s big enough for you, fella.
Most Torontonians know the PATH from their daily commute as it connects to the train station and most of the major bank towers. Retail-​wise there isn’t a lot of creativity down there. A friend once jokingly asked me to meet him at the Jugo Juice in the PATH. That’s like saying «meet me at the fire hydrant in Toronto.» Though it’s not the best for shopping, there are a myriad of food courts, which are usually packed at lunch time. These consist of mostly chains, but you can find a few standouts:
DeKefir
Ninki Sushi
Soup Nutsy
Four
Szechuan Szechuan
In spite of 100,000 people visiting the PATH daily, I can’t say there is much to draw a local there (besides work, I mean). It looks like any other mall, except it goes on forever and it impossible to navigate. It is however, the warmest way around the financial district on cold winter days. For that I am indeed grateful.
Obligatory Title Pun: This IS the beaten PATH.
Menu Readability: PATH isn’t even an acronym. Why is it all majuscule?
Need to mention: On their map: Red for south, Orange for west, Blue for north, Yellow for east. You will never use this information.
What this place teaches me about myself: I don’t miss the rat race. Not one bit.

Just think about how cold you would be if you had to walk outside in the middle of winter!!! It makes it easy to get lunch or a coffee without dressing for the outdoors.
You can definitely get lost down there. They need better maps. I’d recommend «street signs» so you can get an idea of where you are.
Anyway, even if it’s a labrynth it’s MUCH better than freezing.

Not easy to navigate at all! Could not easily find an entrance anywhere… then ended up in a department store that we couldn’t find a way out of! Nice try, but not very tourist friendly…

I like the idea of walking underground when outside is freaking freezing! But the PATH is really confusing!
It is OK if you are in no hurry and it can be fun to be lost… but if you are in a rush and you not familiar with the PATH, I would suggest just walk on street level.
And it is really strange when some of the buildings are connected through some backstairs… which further confused me and makes me more disoriented!
And also I felt like I walked through dozens of food courts, all the food calling my names… and all the stores I walked by are a little boring… zzzzzzzzz

the concept of having stores and paths underground is pretty useful, but the city should definitely invest more money to make it more userfriendly!!! perhaps some lines on the floor telling us which paths keep us on ‘the path’… or better maps, more maps, free maps?
i took my parents there while visiting toronto, just to show them what people do in the cold. we got lost MULTIPLE times. for a system that’s supposed to keep you underground and warm, we had to exit out to the streets a few times just because the ‘path’ signs were misleading and led us to dead ends. i thought the point was to stay warm and dry underground!!!
i think with some work, there could be some potential. maybe if you’re a resident downtown and you use the path often, you don’t need the maps. but as a tourist, i definitely don’t need to go through the path ever again

The PATH is a series of underground hallways that all connect to some major buildings in the downtown core. It is a great idea that has ended up being completely confusing and has probably been the source of stress for many tourists and locals alike.
It is not unique to Toronto — in particular, Montréal has a similar system that works MUCH more effectively. They may not have as many stores but you can get across huge portions of the city while keeping warm and walking fast, and their signage is clear and concise so less people get lost and confused.
If you are a GO train commuter, you love it because it takes you from Union Station to the Eaton Centre in the cold winters when the last thing you want to be doing is treading through snow to get to work.
But if you’re a tourist, it’s a strange novelty. While there are shops, food and services along the PATH, the PATH itself is so terribly and haphazardly planned that it is almost impossible to get anywhere decent while using it. It’s definitely worth checking out once while you’re here (look for the PATH signs with arrows pointing in random directions), but it’s important to keep in mind that it only covers about 10 city blocks in a very limited area of the downtown core.